The Film Look: Not For You

Have you noticed all the videos in camera Youtube talking about the film look? Or the cinematic look? The other day I even came across one talking about how to get the disposable look.

Just what is the film look exactly? I guess people have become tired of modern movies, you know the ones where you can see into the depths of every shadow, leaving no bad guys a place to hide. It's as if everything has been filmed at mid day.

Someone, after watching one of these 2 dimensional films must have turned on the 80s classic Blade Runner and been blown away. I can almost hear them saying it, "what is this place where shadows are dark, and everything is grimy? It must be because of the film!"

I don't believe it is because Blade Runner was recorded on 35mm film, it's probably because the people who made the movie understood how light works, and how things look in the real world, and the use of smoke.

The reason modern films look so terrible may also be linked to the incredible dynamic range of modern cameras. Cinematographers and photographers alike must be thinking that because the cameras have such dynamic range, they must use it in every single shot.