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From American Horror Story i Stranger Things i Euphoria i Game of Thronessome TV shows are difficult to watch because of their dark subject matter – while others are not the easiest to enjoy because of dark lighting.
Some programs have become known for being harder to watch and cinematographers have weighed in is the issue on the viewer or the content itself.
“I don’t know why this tendency now to shoot is extremely dark, but I think — I’m not going to name names — there are two sides to it,” Shasta Spahnwhich has worked on American Horror Stories, say Vulture in November 2023. “There’s a version where people know their exposure and balance and they know how to make a scene look a certain way that technically has darkness. And then there’s the other side of it where people don’t know what they’re doing. They make it look very dark.”
Spahn referred several examples on the filmmaker’s side, adding, “They have no light in the actor’s eyes. They have no separation between the foreground and the background, and it’s unprofessional and looks horrible. … Night scenes can be done and are done so beautifully, but they are also done so badly.”
Meanwhile Moncrief Lake, who brought movies like Five Nights at Freddy’s to life, questioning whether there was “more television” was to blame.
“They tend to have a 16:9 format. We are no longer in this 4:3 TV analog age where the differences between TV and movies, at least in terms of composition and aspect ratios, are so extreme. Before 2000, that aspect ratio was forced upon you when shooting television,” Moncrief noted. “You’re seeing a lot more projects, and they’re shooting 2.39:1 with letterboxing and things of that nature that used to be a struggle to get. That cinematic influence has had a direct impact on streaming shows, but in the past, that wasn’t the case.”
Dragon House cinematographer Pepe Avila del Pino has had his own view on the subject. He specifically called out “over-processed color correction” which has become all too common with everyone’s favorite TV shows.
“The blacks are not blacks. And there is a standard look. A lot of TV is starting to look the same, and that has to do with a lot of things. One of them is the technology we all have now, such as the use of LED lights, which are faster and more practical,” explained Del Pino. “The cameras are also faster and the lenses are more sensitive to light. All those reasons tend to push the day-to-day work flow on set with television on a very rushed schedule, usually.”
He continued: “I think it’s more a result of the tools being used, rather than an artistic vision. A lot of people have been doing television very quickly in recent years. Things are pre-produced, produced, then distributed to post-production, and then sent back to the streams in a very short period of time. All of these factors lend themselves to these low light levels and an overly color-corrected look on screen.”
Keep scrolling to see examples of some shows known for being too dark visually:
