Would you be able to do a video about house of the dragon lighting? I felt it was so unnatural and distracting. Would love a comparison between HOTD and GOT.
There's a nice detail that goes over most viewers' heads: In the Arcade they play on old machines, which are really really...bad to film off the screen. So they put modern screens in those machines that work better on film, rather than CGI-ing in the image.
Finally someone appreciating naturally lit scenes and acknowledging why The Lord of the Rings looks the way it does. So many people nowadays bring up Helms Deep and expect every scene they watch to be lit like a football stadium so that they don't have to get up to close their curtains or reposition their tv away from direct sunlight.
Everything has a different look for a different reason and it's good to understand why. I prefer naturally lit, but lord of the rings totally makes sense and it adds to the movie
The non-stop handheld camera was really tiring, and sometimes the lighting just didn't look good. One episode was especially rough to watch because of all the shakiness, and one shot even had to be fixed with warp stabilizer. Plus, you could easily spot some distracting background artifacts and bad skin correction too. If you wanted to go for "natural" Children of Men would be the perfect example of it.
Thank you so much for making this video! The Last of Us is one of my most favorite series so far. I’m an aspiring filmmaker who is leaning toward l cinematography. Some of the things that make it intimidating for me too learn is trying to make out the subtle differences in the shots and how they were made. I love how you explained the choices made using the Arri Alexa mini and Cooke lens and what they are! TH-cam channels like yours really makes a difference in helping young cinematographers like me! 🙏😊
No problem at all! A lot of times you can find a lot of articles from the DP's after the shows are completed! Lots of interesting things you can learn reading, but I love adding historical perspectives about where the equipment comes from and why people use it.
Much of the "handheld" footage was done with a ZeeGee rig on a Steadicam arm. It allowed for a much wider range of booming and less fatigue on the operator. It was also used to make the "handheld" less shaky at points.
The shakey cam has this weird in between of being way too shakey and being too "steady". I watched a few episodes with some buds that aren't into cinematography and even they pointed out how obnoxious it was at times. The show is pretty faithful and is great overall but I really wish they took a more cinematic approach to the camera work
Oh my gosh so glad someone finally said it. I was feeling the same way throughout. The show had great lighting, and intresting sets but would get tampered by the handheld nature of the camera work
Completelty agree. I don't understand why more people don't feel this way or aren't talking about this. The shaky cam was incredibly distracting and took away from the otherwise high quality production. Huge miss in my opinion.
@@FrameVoyager I have literally not gone to bed yet working on a stupid TH-cam Short for my channel. lol My goodness I need a better workflow. lol Learning a lot though! haha Someday, when I grow up, I wanna be just like you!
I thought in many scenes that camera shake was post added, looks so unnatural for me. I like overall cinematography process of this show, Alexa+S4 combo and natural light scenes, but camera operating choices was so weird, i dont get it.
i have to agree, the shake in this show in particular can be so obvious and distracting. even my friends who don't know anything about cinematography pointed out how obvious and annoying it is. its just not a good decision imo
Thought I was the only one who felt that, it took me off a lot of times. Also I felt there were too many shot/reverse shot situations, making the scenes feel uninspired or unengaging. Not to mention the game which actually had really good shots and blocking.
Couldn't agree more. I've taken a lot of shit from fans for voicing this criticism but honestly the shake was laughable at points. In moderation I can see it being effective, but when 90% or more of your show is shot that way then you've made a bad call.
Resolving resolution of arri cameras is unreal! I was playing with arri raw 2.5k files before and i need to constantly remind my self that is not 4k :)
You mentioned the light from the window in episode 3 reflects of the tablecloth, but there is no tablecloth on the table to reflect or spread the light.
I disagree, personally I thought the show's cinematography didn't do justice to the videogame's beauty. To me the shots were too basic, at times the color grading wasn't quite up there. It was slightly off putting. Not to mention Kathleen's substitute teacher level of acting on episodes 4 and 5
It's been interesting the debate on this show. Some connect with it and love it and others have similar opinions to your own. Not saying it's wrong, just fascinating there is a large divide in opinion
@@FrameVoyager I didn’t feel as immersed as I would’ve loved to; specially being such a fan of the games. The show was good, but I expected better. Great analysis nonetheless
I remember seeing a tweet of behind the scenes photos of the night street battle and it had overhead lights, this explains why I noticed just how well lit/graded all the scenes were even at night. With movies and TV shows depending on natural light a little too much, not lighting it in real-time or severely colour grading it, I find most visuals to be too underexposed. With The Last of Us taking place in a post-apocalyptic setting, it would've been expected that it would take the same dark route but it didn't. The sets and excellent CGI backgrounds made you feel the tone and setting already, no need to make it visually impaired to the detriment of your watching experience. The Last of Us has really satisfied what I look for in an image: 1. Full 16:9 aspect ratio, we all paid for 16:9 screens let's use what we have. "Cinematic" feel comes in different ways such as writing, acting, sets etc... not losing 1/3 of your screen. 2. Clean and sharp, no grain. 3. Not severely color graded/contrasted. Subtle colour grading goes a long way, it gives the cinematic look but at the same time looks within the boundaries of reality. I'll definitely be looking out for all the cinematographers work in the future, excellent work.
Great video, man. I tried that Alexa camera at the BSC expo in London, UK a few weeks ago and believe, it’s out of this world. I’m currently watching this TV series, actually just finished watching ep. 01 of the first series, and wow…., we pay attention at those small details the rest don’t. It amazing! (Didn’t care about the spoilers here, lol)
Holy shit, they used Minis? My guess was LFs because of the font of the data in the surround frame. Never would have guessed that HBO still lets anybody shoot under 4K
Yep! I looked real hard to see if the LF was mentioned but everything said the Mini. HBO doesn't seem to be like Netflix, but it looks like it was post converted to 4K. Still excellent quality
I mean, it's about 400 pixels below what Netflix considers 4K. And not that many broadcast channels show true 4K so... It's great to have true 4K. But it's not like the show is not going to be able to survive long term because of 400 pixels. Game of Thrones, for the first few seasons was just 2.5K. Now that's a huge leap to 4K.
@@Jorge_Ambruster Oh, for sure! I mean honestly ARRI cameras at 2.5k are no problem quality wise. I like that they really focus on pixel depth and quality over getting into a resolution war. I love high resolution don't get me wrong haha
seeing the shots where they "handhold" the camera while on a steadicam arm... I'm thinking... well, but of course you should be able to do that. Now I want to test it out... if only I can get my hands on a steadicam rig to misuse like that. :D
While watching a “behind the scenes” video I noticed a Sony CineAlta logo on one of the cameras they were shooting with. Any ideas what that was used for?
Funny how suddenly the "gear doesn't matter" sh*tstorm feels irrelevant. That dinner scene with poor lighting and grandma' set design looks gorgeous only because shot on a f*ckin' Alexa with Cooke lenses.
I've always thought that the "gear doesn't matter" line was kind of misleading. Gear matters, but you need to make sure you understand what it does to get the best out of it and make it fit with your vision. Like how the batman used a specific vintage lens set to give their footage a dirtier look. That being said, high end gear does make the job easier in some regards as long as you understand how it works.
There are so many way cheaper cameras and lenses you can buy right now, that put on that set, would produce a picture that's 'about the same.' I don't have anything bad to say about Alexa and Cooke lenses, since I've shot with both, but let's not pretend that they are somehow magical. There was obviously a great deal of care going into that production design as well as how to light it in a very limited way.
@@haysoos123 yeah no I got the point I know, BUT recently we did a bi-cam with a Komodo AND a Raptor (one is 6000$ and the other 40.000$...) and on the SAME set (lights, costumes...etc) the Raptor always felt a bit more "cinematic" and "professional" see what I mean ?
I agree. As long it’s not like the Jason Bourne type of shaky handheld, I don’t mind it. Besides, it’s hard to imagine this series being shot static or on smooth gimbal. I think this look is the best choice.
I certainly like the cinematography. But why do I feel that this series is going to wind up disappointing an awful lot of people? Like Game of Thrones, they may not be able to keep up the quality of the storytelling. They’ll introduce some wacky ideology, and that’ll be the end of it.
This is an imperfect video. Really far from perfect as a matter of fact. Having a negative title and thumbnail for a mostly positive video sounds like clickbait to me.
80% to 90% shot handheld? What the hell is this? A rollercoaster? There's a reason why camera cranes and later stabilization techniques were invented. Let us see the detail. Don't force viewers how to feel 90% of the screen time. That's just not respecting the viewer.
You lost me at 0:54 - "4K UHD in pro-res ...bla blah, ARRIRAW format which only captures at 34 /24 by 22 - 0 - 2, not technically 4k". I love cinema, and shooting styles........ but I'm clearly not welcome here.
The fact that so many people got up for this show telling me I ‘have to watch it’ shows me how much we have lowered our standards of quality writing, acting, and visuals
What other films have you seen try to go for the "IMPERFECT" look and succeed or FAIL miserably?
Would you be able to do a video about house of the dragon lighting? I felt it was so unnatural and distracting. Would love a comparison between HOTD and GOT.
There's a nice detail that goes over most viewers' heads:
In the Arcade they play on old machines, which are really really...bad to film off the screen. So they put modern screens in those machines that work better on film, rather than CGI-ing in the image.
Finally someone appreciating naturally lit scenes and acknowledging why The Lord of the Rings looks the way it does. So many people nowadays bring up Helms Deep and expect every scene they watch to be lit like a football stadium so that they don't have to get up to close their curtains or reposition their tv away from direct sunlight.
Everything has a different look for a different reason and it's good to understand why. I prefer naturally lit, but lord of the rings totally makes sense and it adds to the movie
I was so immersed in the story and set design so similar to the original game, my brain couldn't cope with noticing the cinematography. 😮
That's when you know it's done well!
@@FrameVoyager Totally!
The non-stop handheld camera was really tiring, and sometimes the lighting just didn't look good. One episode was especially rough to watch because of all the shakiness, and one shot even had to be fixed with warp stabilizer. Plus, you could easily spot some distracting background artifacts and bad skin correction too. If you wanted to go for "natural" Children of Men would be the perfect example of it.
Thank you so much for making this video! The Last of Us is one of my most favorite series so far. I’m an aspiring filmmaker who is leaning toward l cinematography. Some of the things that make it intimidating for me too learn is trying to make out the subtle differences in the shots and how they were made. I love how you explained the choices made using the Arri Alexa mini and Cooke lens and what they are! TH-cam channels like yours really makes a difference in helping young cinematographers like me! 🙏😊
No problem at all! A lot of times you can find a lot of articles from the DP's after the shows are completed! Lots of interesting things you can learn reading, but I love adding historical perspectives about where the equipment comes from and why people use it.
Much of the "handheld" footage was done with a ZeeGee rig on a Steadicam arm. It allowed for a much wider range of booming and less fatigue on the operator. It was also used to make the "handheld" less shaky at points.
The shakey cam has this weird in between of being way too shakey and being too "steady". I watched a few episodes with some buds that aren't into cinematography and even they pointed out how obnoxious it was at times. The show is pretty faithful and is great overall but I really wish they took a more cinematic approach to the camera work
Oh my gosh so glad someone finally said it. I was feeling the same way throughout. The show had great lighting, and intresting sets but would get tampered by the handheld nature of the camera work
i unfortunately agree.
Huh? I didn't even notice it at all.
Completelty agree. I don't understand why more people don't feel this way or aren't talking about this. The shaky cam was incredibly distracting and took away from the otherwise high quality production. Huge miss in my opinion.
Yeah I thought that too. The game isn't that shakey.
YAY! Frame Voyager video!
🎉🎉🎉
@@FrameVoyager I have literally not gone to bed yet working on a stupid TH-cam Short for my channel. lol My goodness I need a better workflow. lol Learning a lot though! haha Someday, when I grow up, I wanna be just like you!
I thought in many scenes that camera shake was post added, looks so unnatural for me. I like overall cinematography process of this show, Alexa+S4 combo and natural light scenes, but camera operating choices was so weird, i dont get it.
i have to agree, the shake in this show in particular can be so obvious and distracting. even my friends who don't know anything about cinematography pointed out how obvious and annoying it is. its just not a good decision imo
Thought I was the only one who felt that, it took me off a lot of times. Also I felt there were too many shot/reverse shot situations, making the scenes feel uninspired or unengaging. Not to mention the game which actually had really good shots and blocking.
Couldn't agree more. I've taken a lot of shit from fans for voicing this criticism but honestly the shake was laughable at points. In moderation I can see it being effective, but when 90% or more of your show is shot that way then you've made a bad call.
Resolving resolution of arri cameras is unreal! I was playing with arri raw 2.5k files before and i need to constantly remind my self that is not 4k :)
You mentioned the light from the window in episode 3 reflects of the tablecloth, but there is no tablecloth on the table to reflect or spread the light.
I disagree, personally I thought the show's cinematography didn't do justice to the videogame's beauty. To me the shots were too basic, at times the color grading wasn't quite up there. It was slightly off putting. Not to mention Kathleen's substitute teacher level of acting on episodes 4 and 5
It's been interesting the debate on this show. Some connect with it and love it and others have similar opinions to your own. Not saying it's wrong, just fascinating there is a large divide in opinion
@@FrameVoyager I didn’t feel as immersed as I would’ve loved to; specially being such a fan of the games. The show was good, but I expected better. Great analysis nonetheless
I remember seeing a tweet of behind the scenes photos of the night street battle and it had overhead lights, this explains why I noticed just how well lit/graded all the scenes were even at night. With movies and TV shows depending on natural light a little too much, not lighting it in real-time or severely colour grading it, I find most visuals to be too underexposed. With The Last of Us taking place in a post-apocalyptic setting, it would've been expected that it would take the same dark route but it didn't. The sets and excellent CGI backgrounds made you feel the tone and setting already, no need to make it visually impaired to the detriment of your watching experience.
The Last of Us has really satisfied what I look for in an image:
1. Full 16:9 aspect ratio, we all paid for 16:9 screens let's use what we have. "Cinematic" feel comes in different ways such as writing, acting, sets etc... not losing 1/3 of your screen.
2. Clean and sharp, no grain.
3. Not severely color graded/contrasted. Subtle colour grading goes a long way, it gives the cinematic look but at the same time looks within the boundaries of reality.
I'll definitely be looking out for all the cinematographers work in the future, excellent work.
Great video, man. I tried that Alexa camera at the BSC expo in London, UK a few weeks ago and believe, it’s out of this world. I’m currently watching this TV series, actually just finished watching ep. 01 of the first series, and wow…., we pay attention at those small details the rest don’t. It amazing! (Didn’t care about the spoilers here, lol)
Hopefully not too many spoilers for you haha! I tried to not show too much
Great video!
Appreciate it! Hoping to do more like this in the future if there is an audience for it
Great video. Thanks for creating it.
Glad you liked it!
Holy shit, they used Minis? My guess was LFs because of the font of the data in the surround frame. Never would have guessed that HBO still lets anybody shoot under 4K
Yep! I looked real hard to see if the LF was mentioned but everything said the Mini. HBO doesn't seem to be like Netflix, but it looks like it was post converted to 4K. Still excellent quality
I mean, it's about 400 pixels below what Netflix considers 4K. And not that many broadcast channels show true 4K so... It's great to have true 4K. But it's not like the show is not going to be able to survive long term because of 400 pixels. Game of Thrones, for the first few seasons was just 2.5K. Now that's a huge leap to 4K.
@@Jorge_Ambruster Oh, for sure! I mean honestly ARRI cameras at 2.5k are no problem quality wise. I like that they really focus on pixel depth and quality over getting into a resolution war. I love high resolution don't get me wrong haha
Great video!! Thanks!! What is skip lighting?
Ellie in the bathroom with hole in ceiling is a set piece, not on location. great vid!
Thanks for the info!
seeing the shots where they "handhold" the camera while on a steadicam arm... I'm thinking... well, but of course you should be able to do that. Now I want to test it out... if only I can get my hands on a steadicam rig to misuse like that. :D
I want a set of Cooke lenses! 😆
SAME
While watching a “behind the scenes” video I noticed a Sony CineAlta logo on one of the cameras they were shooting with. Any ideas what that was used for?
THIS!
Where is the Abel Cine link mentioned in the video?
Oh shoot, thanks for reminding me! --> th-cam.com/video/CM09x8Zk3_k/w-d-xo.html
Am I the only one who noticed that Pedro Pascal is like the modern Burt Reynolds?
Approach used in this video seemed a bit scattered and hurried.
Sometimes taking a breath is better.
Funny how suddenly the "gear doesn't matter" sh*tstorm feels irrelevant.
That dinner scene with poor lighting and grandma' set design looks gorgeous only because shot on a f*ckin' Alexa with Cooke lenses.
I've always thought that the "gear doesn't matter" line was kind of misleading. Gear matters, but you need to make sure you understand what it does to get the best out of it and make it fit with your vision. Like how the batman used a specific vintage lens set to give their footage a dirtier look. That being said, high end gear does make the job easier in some regards as long as you understand how it works.
There are so many way cheaper cameras and lenses you can buy right now, that put on that set, would produce a picture that's 'about the same.' I don't have anything bad to say about Alexa and Cooke lenses, since I've shot with both, but let's not pretend that they are somehow magical. There was obviously a great deal of care going into that production design as well as how to light it in a very limited way.
@@haysoos123 yeah no I got the point I know, BUT recently we did a bi-cam with a Komodo AND a Raptor (one is 6000$ and the other 40.000$...) and on the SAME set (lights, costumes...etc) the Raptor always felt a bit more "cinematic" and "professional" see what I mean ?
This series is difficult to watch on an 85-inch Samsung Neo Qled. Obviously, not 4k!
hopefully this distracts that guy complaining about you complaining about 3-D.
This episode sponsored by Cooke. I dislike this hand held trend though.
Depends on how it's done. This added just enough movement but not too much to take you out of it. Don't love the shaky cam look
I agree. As long it’s not like the Jason Bourne type of shaky handheld, I don’t mind it. Besides, it’s hard to imagine this series being shot static or on smooth gimbal. I think this look is the best choice.
I certainly like the cinematography. But why do I feel that this series is going to wind up disappointing an awful lot of people? Like Game of Thrones, they may not be able to keep up the quality of the storytelling. They’ll introduce some wacky ideology, and that’ll be the end of it.
Intentionally messy or lazy / lacking skill 🫢😶
Depends on how you look at it 😉
This is an imperfect video. Really far from perfect as a matter of fact. Having a negative title and thumbnail for a mostly positive video sounds like clickbait to me.
Except it's not clickbait when the video literally delivers on the title and thumbnail. It was "imperfectly" filmed. It's just a good title
80% to 90% shot handheld? What the hell is this? A rollercoaster? There's a reason why camera cranes and later stabilization techniques were invented. Let us see the detail. Don't force viewers how to feel 90% of the screen time. That's just not respecting the viewer.
The only imperfect thing is Ellie's actress looking like a jumbo jet hit her in the face
You lost me at 0:54 - "4K UHD in pro-res ...bla blah, ARRIRAW format which only captures at 34 /24 by 22 - 0 - 2, not technically 4k".
I love cinema, and shooting styles........ but I'm clearly not welcome here.
Lol ok
The fact that so many people got up for this show telling me I ‘have to watch it’ shows me how much we have lowered our standards of quality writing, acting, and visuals