4 ms·

One would think that movies would be produced for the viewers but apparently the monopolistic landscape of modern entertainment allows film-makers to make insan

One would think that movies would be produced for the viewers but apparently the monopolistic landscape of modern entertainment allows film-makers to make insane, ego-driven choices without consequences. People need to be able to see and hear (the audio side is arguable getting even worse) what is happening. That is the absolute baseline for making a good product. This is the equivalent of making a website where people struggle to read the text and the designer yelling that it is not made to be viewed on cheap mobile phones. Even in our current world of user-hostile web design, most professional designs try very hard to be accessible on a very large range of devices. And no "naturalism" has nothing to do with it. I don't think unnatural lighting is such an immersion breaker compared the horrible CGI that people are forced to made on crunch time but sure if you want to only use natural lighting, go ahead BUT you still need to make sure the scenes are well lit. There are lots of avant-garde movies with natural lighting that are well lit.

lotsofpulp 4y ago
>One would think that movies would be produced for the viewers but apparently the monopolistic landscape of modern entertainment allows film-makers to make insane, ego-driven choices without consequences. Where is the monopoly?
- cardanome 4y ago
  > Where is the monopoly? Disney, Netflix, Amazon and so on. (And yes I am aware that technically they would be an oligopoly. I am purposely using the broader, more practical definition of monopoly that is useful for describing the real world.)
  - lotsofpulp 4y ago
    As a consumer, I currently have the option of consuming video media from ~9 large companies (Disney, Netflix, Amazon, Apple, Comcast, Paramount, WarnerBros Discovery, Sony), and then you have smaller ones like AMC Networks and whatever film studios there are, and then you can go all the way down to individuals who upload to Youtube or whatever website they want to host their media. This is just US media too, I am sure there are many more large companies around the world. And there is zero or near zero friction in consuming media pretty much all of this media thanks to broadband internet and capable computing devices in everyone’s pocket, other than the price you are able and willing to pay. I would not classify it as a "monopoly" or an "oligopoly", at least in the sense that anyone is restricting viewers from watching what they want or anyone is restricting media creators from making what they want.
- astura 4y ago
  People nowadays think "monopolistic" is a synonym for "something I don't like."
tomjen3 4y ago
Audio is great, iff you have a soundbar or a good set of headphones. The problem is that a decent portion of the audience don't and there is no fallback to more classic audio mixing. This means that you either have to create for the lowest common dominator or accept that what they get is shit. As you said we would expect to be chewed out if we did that, but for some reason films are different. To be honest I can see it both ways, as I don't have a soundbar or an oled display, but at the same time why should that hold back those who have paid 4 or 5 times the cost of my setup? If what I have is crap, shouldn't I expect that movies are not looking very good? You can do some truly amazing things with just audio[0], but it does require a certain dynamic range on the receiver. As an example: https://darkerprojects.com/lostfrontier/st-lf-season-1-ep-001-hope/ https://darkerprojects.com/lostfrontier/st-lf-season-1-ep-00..., which is a podcast radio play.
- b112 4y ago
  Audio is great Some cases, yes the sound setup helps. Other cases, such as actors "mumbling", sound setup does nothing. Gibberish is just gibberish.
  - tomjen3 4y ago
    I don't believe actors mumble in general. I am ESL, but I can follow along just fine without subtitles, as long as I use my headphones. The same show with just the speakers in my Macbook and the actors were heard to understand. Of course there are a couple actors that makes it harder: Marlow Brandon or people who speak with a pronounced Southern Accent. But in general I keep hearing this complaint from people who are using the inbuilt speakers.
- nemo44x 4y ago
  I think dynamic range is so foreign to people nowadays since music hasn’t had any in over 20 years. People aren’t used to it anymore. And you’re right, many people don’t have the things you need to make it sound good. It’s almost like they should have a mastering for bad TVs with crap audio.
  - 4y ago
corbulo 4y ago
>film-makers to make insane, ego-driven choices without consequences. Isn't that their job description? Which filmmaker doesn't fit this? The best art is often made by an 'insane' person.

lotsofpulp 4y ago

>One would think that movies would be produced for the viewers but apparently the monopolistic landscape of modern entertainment allows film-makers to make insane, ego-driven choices without consequences. Where is the monopoly?

cardanome 4y ago
> Where is the monopoly? Disney, Netflix, Amazon and so on. (And yes I am aware that technically they would be an oligopoly. I am purposely using the broader, more practical definition of monopoly that is useful for describing the real world.)
- lotsofpulp 4y ago
  As a consumer, I currently have the option of consuming video media from ~9 large companies (Disney, Netflix, Amazon, Apple, Comcast, Paramount, WarnerBros Discovery, Sony), and then you have smaller ones like AMC Networks and whatever film studios there are, and then you can go all the way down to individuals who upload to Youtube or whatever website they want to host their media. This is just US media too, I am sure there are many more large companies around the world. And there is zero or near zero friction in consuming media pretty much all of this media thanks to broadband internet and capable computing devices in everyone’s pocket, other than the price you are able and willing to pay. I would not classify it as a "monopoly" or an "oligopoly", at least in the sense that anyone is restricting viewers from watching what they want or anyone is restricting media creators from making what they want.
astura 4y ago
People nowadays think "monopolistic" is a synonym for "something I don't like."

tomjen3 4y ago

Audio is great, iff you have a soundbar or a good set of headphones. The problem is that a decent portion of the audience don't and there is no fallback to more classic audio mixing. This means that you either have to create for the lowest common dominator or accept that what they get is shit. As you said we would expect to be chewed out if we did that, but for some reason films are different. To be honest I can see it both ways, as I don't have a soundbar or an oled display, but at the same time why should that hold back those who have paid 4 or 5 times the cost of my setup? If what I have is crap, shouldn't I expect that movies are not looking very good? You can do some truly amazing things with just audio[0], but it does require a certain dynamic range on the receiver. As an example: https://darkerprojects.com/lostfrontier/st-lf-season-1-ep-001-hope/ https://darkerprojects.com/lostfrontier/st-lf-season-1-ep-00..., which is a podcast radio play.

b112 4y ago
Audio is great Some cases, yes the sound setup helps. Other cases, such as actors "mumbling", sound setup does nothing. Gibberish is just gibberish.
- tomjen3 4y ago
  I don't believe actors mumble in general. I am ESL, but I can follow along just fine without subtitles, as long as I use my headphones. The same show with just the speakers in my Macbook and the actors were heard to understand. Of course there are a couple actors that makes it harder: Marlow Brandon or people who speak with a pronounced Southern Accent. But in general I keep hearing this complaint from people who are using the inbuilt speakers.
nemo44x 4y ago
I think dynamic range is so foreign to people nowadays since music hasn’t had any in over 20 years. People aren’t used to it anymore. And you’re right, many people don’t have the things you need to make it sound good. It’s almost like they should have a mastering for bad TVs with crap audio.
- 4y ago

corbulo 4y ago

>film-makers to make insane, ego-driven choices without consequences. Isn't that their job description? Which filmmaker doesn't fit this? The best art is often made by an 'insane' person.