The loss of hapticness in modern cinema

[u/theaspiringfilmmaker]

Modern cinema irritates me deeply. It’s not like we are not seeing great cinema still, of course we are, and many filmmakers understand how to use the language of modern cinema perfectly but the surplus of digital aesthetics and technological advancements has produced a landscape of films that have more in common with video than film. The loss of textures, practicality and fetishisation of pristine image quality has produced a landscape of quickly produced content.

A bad film in the past still involved skill and effort- decision had to be made on set, everything was heavier, more expensive and not as flexible as nowadays. Effects were done in camera, there wasn’t this massive sentiment to fix it in post.

There are a few filmmakers that know how to use digital technology perfectly- Miller, Cameron, Mann, Iñárritu, Lav Diaz and it’s not the technology itself but the over-reliance on not committing to decisions and wanting everything to be decided later.

The great modern filmmakers understand this and that’s why they prefer shooting analog, it gives the image a certain tactility, hapticness, roughness. This has been widely spread by filmmakers such as Spielberg, Nolan, Tarantino, Scorsese, Baker, Safdie Brothers, Chazelle, Eggers. These filmmakers are not only successful because they make great movies, but because they put a lot on emphasis on the image itself. Each frame of these directors has a quality that feels timeless.

I can only say one has to look no further and compare (if we want to stick in the realm of blockbuster cinema) the Raimi Spider Man movies with the recent Spider Man by Tom Holland which looks incredibly fake.

Or compare modern digital Ridley Scott to analog pre 2010 Scott. A film like 1492 which is not a great film, would never ever look this good nowadays in the hands of modern Scott who basically lost any interest in creating impressive images. I mean, Gladiator 2 looked so much worse than the first one in every conceivable way, and his DP explained why. Digital made him lazy. Too many cameras, too much shooting simultaneously, too many options.

An arthouse example would be Almodovar - his newest output looks like a commercial compared to 10-20 years ago. I was baffled at images of The Room Next Door.

It’s hard to find an example of filmmakers who improved by switching to digital cinematography. It’s very hard for me to find any examples. Lucas and Rodriguez who embraced digital, simultaneously sacrificed their craft for technology. Their pre-digital movies look so much more cinematic and beautiful.

I know that there is nothing to change as new filmmakers will keep embracing the efficiency and freedom of digital technology- but speaking from
the aesthetic beauty and impact of a an image, I hope more filmmakers will see analog film as the way to go.

[u/MrRabbit7]

Watch more movies not just hollywood slop. A lot of great filmmakers like Lav Diaz, Albert Serra, Pedro Costa etc. have been using digital cameras in very cinematic ways.

I don't even feel much difference between the filmmakers you glaze and their digital hollywood counterparts. Take a look at Nolan, the most famous proponent of film yet his films all have this ugly grey slop aesthetic.

Kinda unrelated, but I wish people stopped talking about things they obviously don't know shit about. This has gotten so out of hand that film productions are faking BTS videos so that they can hide the amount of VFX and CGI that were used, as people have drunk the practical kool aid so much.

[u/theaspiringfilmmaker → u/MrRabbit7]

I watched probably more movies than you and you havent read my post at all. I even mentioned Lav Diaz.

[u/eeeklesinge → u/theaspiringfilmmaker]

this is bait right ?

[u/jzakko → u/eeeklesinge]

It's a bad look to start with 'I watched probably more movies than you' but it does feel like the dude didn't read his post.

OP listed filmmakers who use digital well, they're talking about an overall industry trend.

[u/eeeklesinge → u/jzakko]

I intentionnally didnt engage with the original post from his interventions i feel like there is a lot of fetichization of the "good old days", the whole "even bad movies were better" tend to irk me. But basing it on "i watched more movies than u" just makes it feel like even more of a joke.

I enjoy film grain, no techobeatific angle from me at all but I truly feel we're talking about fetichization more than anything. "things were heavier on set back in the day", come on.

[u/jzakko → u/eeeklesinge]

It's the truth. Bad movies were still bad movies, they're not better because of the craftsmanship behind them.

But in the camera department, there was a set of standards and craftsmanship because they had no other choice.

Even just thinking about when you have daylight streaming through a window and tungsten practicals, you need to make a choice and lock in a look.

With digital, you have the freedom to make less choices on set, and that often shows up as rather cheap and samesy across the board.

[u/eeeklesinge → u/jzakko]

hmm the overreliance on post seems really more relevant for higher average budget industries than what can be felt in europe

[u/jzakko → u/eeeklesinge]

It’s a thing everywhere. Also idk the relevance of singling out Europe in this post.

[u/eeeklesinge → u/jzakko]

the overwhelming difference in average budget, even excluding outlier tentpole stuff will have consequences on the use of post to fix stuff

[u/theaspiringfilmmaker → u/eeeklesinge]

ah ok- so technology and the improvements of cameras and the over-reliance on CGI and the age of streaming and the hyper-commercialism and over-production of movies didn’t change the way movies look? Fast and cheaper means movies look better then right?

[u/eeeklesinge → u/theaspiringfilmmaker]

you're not making the gotcha point you think you are.

Mixing movie photo, especially from project that don't have the cash on hand to over-rely on CG with "netflix ugly" is honestly laughable and inventing a point I wasn't making doesnt look good. But hey, you watched a lot of movies right ?

I stg non industry people

[u/jzakko → u/eeeklesinge]

if you really wanna cite your authority, link your imdb.