Poll: The "Big Three" of recent annoying production trends in Cinema

Re: Poll: The "Big Three" of recent annoying production trends in Cin

I do really like 3D, and never get the big hate it seems to get a lot on this board, but yeah I would maybe have to say its use in films that don't need it.
2013's Iron Man 3 and The Wolverine would be good examples IMO, soley done to get more money from ticket sales.

 

Re: Poll: The "Big Three" of recent annoying production trends in Cin

I'd go with 3D because most of the time it's really not needed. I saw Man of Steel and Star Trek Into Darkness in 3D and in 2D and noticed that the 3D really didn't enhance my enjoyment of those movies at all.

 

Re: Poll: The "Big Three" of recent annoying production trends in Cin

Cracked.com nailed several of these issues a while back (link).

 

Re: Poll: The "Big Three" of recent annoying production trends in Cin

I really don't care about 3D, because it can be easily ignored. Of the other two, it's hard to choose which is worse. The desaturation is a big part of the blandness of contemporary entertainment, but shaky cam is really irritating-- I don't want everything to look like an episode of Cops.

 

Re: Poll: The "Big Three" of recent annoying production trends in Cin

LENS FLARES!!!! Oh, wait...that's just Trek...

Shaky-cam all the way. "Cinema Verité" has to be one of the worst cinematographic devices ever conceived.

And if it sounds French, it has to be bad! That's a bit of a trollish attitude in my part - and partially tongue-in-cheek, but regardless of its provenance (another French word - ick!) I still find the practice reprehensible and has made many shows and movies in recent years virtually unwatchable IMO.

3D is annoying but not a showstopper for me. My only gripe with 3D is it always seems to show a darker picture than conventional films. Probably an artifact of the polarized lenses of the glasses.

Same with color disaturization. It seems to serve its purpose for flashbacks or dream sequences. Washing out an entire film to provide "atmosphere" is a tad bit annoying and pretentious, but nowhere near as bad as shaky-cam.

 

Re: Poll: The "Big Three" of recent annoying production trends in Cin

I went with 3-D but I'm shocked that JJ Abrams lens flares were not on the list.

Anyone wanna make a bet if he uses them or not in Wars?

 

Re: Poll: The "Big Three" of recent annoying production trends in Cin

I don't mind any of them if they're well done. I won't watch a 3D movie unless it's been designed and filmed in 3D rather than being converted after the fact. I had to see Ironman 3 in 3D though, as the 2D option wasn't available, and the lack of choice is what actually bugs me more.

 

Re: Poll: The "Big Three" of recent annoying production trends in Cin

Inception bongs.
Incessant ramping (especially when combined with circular dollies and jump cuts)...enough already.

 

Re: Poll: The "Big Three" of recent annoying production trends in Cin

Shaky cam.
Lens flares.
Intentionally bad framing and composition.

To me, art history seems to repeat itself in films. Years have went into the perfection of the image, and then all the expressionists and impressionists and dadaists just shit on the canvas.

And not only the desaturation of color, it's the falsification of colors. Orange & Teal color timing being the most prominent.
Films where grass is green and the sky is blue get rarer and rarer.
Maybe it's cheaper today, but I get the impression that back in the day coloring was achieved on set with colored lights, and less with color filters. Today it seems they shoot with flat lighting and create color contrats during post production.


3D is great. HFR is great as well. Clear image, no stuttering, and depth. That's a great step. I hope the Avatar sequels are in HFR as well.

 

Re: Poll: The "Big Three" of recent annoying production trends in Cin

I can't remember where, but I'm pretty sure I read a qoute by Cameron saying that they would be.

 

Re: Poll: The "Big Three" of recent annoying production trends in Cin

3D will forever suck.

 

Re: Poll: The "Big Three" of recent annoying production trends in Cin

You do know that the Inception bong was just the wakeup music slowed down.

 

Re: Poll: The "Big Three" of recent annoying production trends in Cin

I rather like 3D (even bought myself a 3D television).

My vote would be for shaky cam - headache inducing and impossible to see what is going on.

 

Re: Poll: The "Big Three" of recent annoying production trends in Cin

Well, Paul Greengrass sued for defamation. Since then, other filmmakers have decided it's not worth the legal hassles.

 

Re: Poll: The "Big Three" of recent annoying production trends in Cin

I'm not at all interested in seeing a movie at the cinema that isn't 3D.

 

Re: Poll: The "Big Three" of recent annoying production trends in Cin

Non of these trends bother me as long as they have an artistic purpose. I think that was part of the point of the cracked article

Even 3D has an artistic niche to fill.

The Trinity slow motion, for example, served a thematic purpose. Similarly, the slow/speed-up pace changing, while mind numbing in something like 300, actually fits in a Superman film. Smallville used it a lot as did MoS, and it kind of suggests the idea that is how Clark perceives things.

But, like all the others, it is overused way too much. And I think that's the problem. They're no longer artistic devices but just boring clichés now.

So the answer is really non of the above and all of the above.

 

Re: Poll: The "Big Three" of recent annoying production trends in Cin

I actually thought they had sold me a ticket for the 3D by mistake because it said "IRON MAN 3 - D"

The D was for digital.

 

Re: Poll: The "Big Three" of recent annoying production trends in Cin

Shaky cam. Usually, I can (and will) watch a movie in 2D. I can't, however, watch a version of a movie without shaky cam.

 

Re: Poll: The "Big Three" of recent annoying production trends in Cin

3D and color desaturation can work if done right. If 3D is done right it can really do a lot to help bring you into the movie, and the world that it takes place in. At the same time if it is done well, color saturation can do a lot to help build a mood, and especially in post apocalyptic movies it can help make the world feel old and run down IMO.
Shaky cam on the other hand, almost always annoys me. It just makes things confusing and hard to see. It can help to make things seem more frantic and crazy, but it also makes it really hard to follow the action. If a character is going to be kicking bad guys ass, I actually want to be able to see the kicker and the kickee.

 

Re: Poll: The "Big Three" of recent annoying production trends in Cin

This is one of my biggest pet peeves, right here.

I don't have a problem with 3D -- far more effective in recent uses than it ever was during its earlier vogues -- and "shaky cam" doesn't bug me too much if it's motivated by the plot or by some aesthetic consideration. But horrid, fake-looking use of color is doubleplusungood.

(I'd also vote for overuse of digital effects, and for a widespread tendency to confuse kinetic action with excitement [or to use it as a means of keeping the audience distracted].)