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The future of cinema is very dark. Well, why lie to us: his present too. For once, we do not talk about the crisis of the industry (how strange) when we slide down this slide of grays that ends in total darkness. A pixelated darkness depending on which TV.

Film experts agree on an apparent neo-noir trend in modern fiction: both movies and series. They are not the most, but neither the least. But they are mainstream enough to be talked about on Twitter and Forocoches. Also in specialized magazines on the seventh art, of course.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Game of Thrones, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Euphoria, Queen's Gambit, Dune, The Batman, Elite... even the rainbow Disney seems to have jumped on the bandwagon with its low-saturation live action. It was seen in Tim Burton's Dumbo, and has been confirmed in the most recent Peter Pan and Wendy or The Little Mermaid. And not because Tinker Bell and Ariel are black, not (that's another matter): the lighting of many productions is so low that sometimes it is impossible to know what is happening in a scene.

In the final fight between Darth Vader and Obi-Wan in the Kenobi series, lightsabers danced in absolute nothingness if you weren't lucky enough to have a 4K player in your living room. And in the Battle of Winterfell in Game of Thrones you could hardly distinguish any enemy for the same reason. Such was the controversy with the latter that its director of photography had to defend himself in a statement, claiming that it was "a conscious aesthetic decision".

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Cinema.

Halle Bailey, Black Mermaid and Beyoncé's protégé

  • Writing: RAQUEL R. INCERTIS

Halle Bailey, Black Mermaid and Beyoncé's protégé

Television.

The uncertain future of HBO: the house of 'The Sopranos' and 'Game of Thrones' changes hands and strategy

  • Editor: PABLO SCARPELLINI Los Angeles

The uncertain future of HBO: the house of 'The Sopranos' and 'Game of Thrones' changes hands and strategy

There are three reasons that justify this burning darkness, as Buero Vallejo would say. The first is ascribed to the narrative premise: experts argue that we have been obsessed for years with the idea that the end of the world is near, and that idea is unconsciously imprinted in fictions. This crazy interest in the extinction of humanity could explain the drift towards increasingly dramatic terrain in superhero franchises, as well as the overdose of post-apocalyptic titles in film and television, but also in video games such as The Last of Us.

The so-called "catastrophe cinema" – which drinks with a straw from film noir and gore, among other subgenres – already had its fans in the 70s, but experienced a new upturn from 2010 with the dystopian sagas. Resources that until then belonged to an auteur or more experimental cinema began to be monopolized by the big Hollywood studios. "A commercial cinema spectator is used to narrative cinema, that is, to 95% of productions. The lighting of classic cinema, which is very concrete and denotative, has been gradually replaced by connotative lighting, which responds to a specific intention," explains Arturo Serrano, director of Cinematography at the TAI School. The Matrix, Jurassic Park and The Lord of the Rings are perfect examples of how both the scripts and the aesthetics of franchises have darkened over the years.

Still from the live-action movie 'The Little Mermaid'.THE WORLD

"There is a new aesthetic that is being promoted in order to better tell stories whose own plot is dark," summarizes Asier Gil, researcher and professor of Audiovisual Communication at the Carlos III University of Madrid. Television, which until the emergence of streaminghad been perceived as an ultraluminous medium thanks to contests, magazines and other entertainment programs, wanted to change third as a result of the success of series such as Breaking Bad. "It is natural that HBO is committed to an audiovisual language closer to the cinematographic. In Euphoria they want to reflect problems of adolescent identity, mental health, drug use... And playing with the setting is the best asset."

Serrano agrees in this sense, for whom the genesis of this proposal is the re-education of the spectator that the platforms have allowed. "Directors are braver when it comes to producing these types of dark series and films, because, even if they do not sweep Netflix, it is more viable to make money if you present your product to an international audience."

There is a new aesthetic that is being promoted in order to better tell stories whose own plot is obscure.

Asier Gil, researcher and professor of Audiovisual Communication at UC3M

The second reason behind the changes in setting and photography responds to a purely practical question: those who work in CGI recognize that, the blacker the background, the less errors in the special effects are noticeable. "'Just Paint It Black' is literally the answer to everything," digital technician Nicholas Kay said in a conversation with Variety about Alien post-production a few months ago. But the abuse of these visual resources has driven a race for spectacularity that ultimately is harmful to the viewer... and that forgets to take care of some important details. "This type of lighting is designed for white skin, it's a fact," says Gil. "And it's a problem because you promote diversity in storytelling, but then you don't do it effectively on screen. More films are needed that take this into account, like Moonlight."

There is one more compelling reason for this trip to the audiovisual Avernus. Or rather two: directors can and their films are worth it. It's that simple. 30 years ago technology did not allow many virguerías, but today it makes possible everything or almost everything. "Cinema has always been an art constrained by forms, and now we have experienced a revolution," says Serrano. "As you have recording systems with better resolution, you can capture images in really low light, which leads to much more experimentation in post-production. In any case, the availability of a technology is not enough if there is no compelling reason behind it," concludes Gil.

Directors are braver when it comes to producing this type of series and films thanks to platforms

Arturo Serrano, Director of Cinematography at the TAI School

The question of feasibility is obvious. When shooting in analogue, with 35-millimeter film, directors had to make sure they captured as much as possible on set. There was very little room for error and even less for magic. The leap to digital has multiplied the tools available to filmmakers, but this ends up bouncing in those viewers who do not have high-tech equipment in their homes to enjoy movies as in theaters. According to Gil, "most of our televisions are not prepared to see this type of content with the clarity for which they are designed."

In short, the fetish for darkness forces you to watch movies with the blinds down, a homemade trick – and relatively effective – when the adjustment of color and lighting in our devices does not have the desired effect. But Serrano insists that "a seasoned spectator is a spectator who always tries to take care of the conditions of consumption." That we have become accustomed to playing content on the tablet or mobile, whether in an airport cafeteria or in the supermarket queue, should not be usual. The trailers of the movies on YouTube always have a much lower quality than those that can be seen in the theaters, because the encoding of video in different formats implies a high compression process that charges infinite nuances along the way.

The best, however, is not to fall into generalizations. Today there is room for all kinds of styles and filmmakers: in front of the gloomy Euphoria stands Sex Education, and in front of Matt Reeves' Batman stands Taika Waititi's colorful Thor. Different stories, different universes and different atmospheres. It will be for alternatives.

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