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GoT's Long (and very dark) Night
WARNING: this is a discussion about the Game of Thrones episode "The Long Night", and may contain spoilers. It's mostly about complaints that the cinematography and/or post-production processing and/or HBO's encoding/compression approach may have yielded a feature-length episode that was "too dark" to watch on most viewing devices. If you don't want to encounter spoilers for any aspect of the series, you probably don't want to read beyond this post. EDIT: now that the series is done, this thread is also about the ending if you wanna talk about it, which makes it extra spolierrific. Apr 30 19 12:47 pm Link So, I LOVED the fact that we were all plunged into gloom for most of this episode, which takes place at night (as the title makes obvious), and that there were aspects of the action (like the airborne dragon battle in the midst of a storm) that were admittedly hard to make out. For us, it drew us in, that we were struggling along with the characters to see through the darkness... that Jon and Dany were flying blind and even dragons couldn't quite get their bearings, lost in the murk... that during the invasion of Winterfell you can occasionally catch a glimpse of a familiar face for a few seconds, and then the camera hard-pans away to some horde of wights rampaging as basically a hyper-animated bundle of killer shadows. Personally, I really enjoyed that on many occasions, we were forced to endure what the characters were enduring: the sense of dreadful urgency that is experienced when you're struggling to see at night in the midst of utter chaos. And yet, when something major happened, you could definitely see it happening. What did you think? Muddy mess or immersive impact? Apr 30 19 12:47 pm Link Muddy mess. Disappointed. Apr 30 19 06:00 pm Link I was fire and ice on the matter, ahem, but no really, I loved the scene when the flaming sword hoard went screaming into the dark field, that was really flipping cool. There were times where the dark and noise felt like the old days when cop shows shook a camera for long periods of time to try to act like that was action and I was left feeling left out of the story. Some great twist even if short-lived, like the night dude leader being an unburnable person. Dang he probably had a lot of experience with dragons, hadn't seen that coming. but then Ayra went and ended that line. good girl. Daenerys was all but pointless. I thought John snow and Beric would be shown as undead in some way that must be yet to come. speaking of whitch.... I want Cersei to catch Jamie and Brianne going at it like cats. Ayra will night the hound when she takes the throne. Apr 30 19 11:42 pm Link Randy Poe wrote: That would definitely make up for all the boring as hell parts I've watched over the years. May 02 19 08:51 am Link I am not a GOT Fan ( but i gave it a try by watching the whole first season ) I have noticed on Social Media that there is some criticism as well that not enough significent characters were killed off ( as i guess that has become typical for the show ) Strange May 02 19 10:12 am Link Here's an interesting technical look at it with before/after images of "some dark shots, with the exposure brought up about a stop, whites raised, highlights raised a little, and shadows generally left." https://fstoppers.com/originals/heres-h … ark-363735 May 02 19 10:16 am Link Garry k wrote: Two things; May 21 19 10:32 am Link Model Sarah wrote: I think they were referring to the big battle with the dead / undead May 21 19 12:18 pm Link kickfight wrote: Garry k wrote: the joke is; the first people to die in that episode was the lighting crew. May 21 19 12:22 pm Link dp there were many scene in previous episodes that were "dark". notably inside the guild temple of the many face god. with a properly calibrated monitor, the deep shadows just separate. the colorist just did not allow for an "average" tv set nor a viewing with extraneous lighting. there was a lot of material to cover in only 6 episodes for the last season. they should have stuck to the normal number and allow the proper development for the ending. just got lazy. the certainly should have the budget for it. was a strange decision. May 21 19 12:25 pm Link Garry k wrote: Oh yeah, that I agree with. I expected Greyworm, Jorah, Brienne, and even Jamie to die. The way they wiped out the Dothraki...and then there's still hordes of them int he finale was so weird. But people are ranking battles. This is how I feel: May 21 19 01:53 pm Link Leonard Gee Photography wrote: That's interesting you point that out. One of my partners is a cinematographer/editor for a living. He mentioned; "Why don't people get better televisions?" And I kind of rolled my eyes at that. I said; "You realize people aren't as invested in visual movies as you are?" It didn't really occur to him that most people don't really understand that aspect of cinema like he does. May 21 19 01:56 pm Link I was personally very satisfied with the way it ended, even though the last episode absolutely felt rushed and trying desperately to push towards a resolution that had been hinted since pretty much the very beginning (and along the way at other crucial moments... we'll always miss you, Hodor). But I *really* wish they had taken better care to establish that there were significant time leaps in the last episode between the end of Dany and the Iron Throne, and the Dragonpit meeting where the entity known as "Bran Stark" + the very concept of "destiny" or "fate" or "causality" or whatever are finally unified as being pretty much the same thing, and then the end bits with the new Small Council. Those time skips are not exactly trivial from a narrative standpoint, and yet they felt like they were utterly smashed into each other. But overall, successful wrap-up, no major objections otherwise. May 21 19 03:25 pm Link Model Sarah wrote: I have an new (expensive) TV and that episode was visually very hard to follow. A big disappointment. May 21 19 08:09 pm Link kickfight wrote: One of the worst series finale in the history of TV. May 21 19 08:12 pm Link What Fun Productions wrote: Well, you're certainly not alone in being disappointed by it, if that's any consolation. May 21 19 08:51 pm Link What Fun Productions wrote: "expensive" is meaningless. considering the target market audience, the home setup/ambience factors all affect how the video looks. just like studio monitor speakers vs home soundbars, there can be a world of difference. i've setup home theaters in the 1/2 mill to 1.5 million range and still needed to calibrate the video monitors, sound and environment. the setup requirements for those are still slightly different from the requirements of a editing station. there is no doubt the colorist tended toward a bit darker than optimal for most viewers. What Fun Productions wrote: it was ok, just didn't match the quality of the preceding story line. it may be better than average, but it didn't meet expectations from the audience compared to what came before. May 22 19 11:29 am Link Finally saw it.....just a beautiful and tragic ending. I think this was a finale to be proud of. I know a bad finale when I see one, Soprano's I'm looking in your direction. this ending here made sense...didnt go in some overy artsy direction to preach to us about our nature like the Soprano finale....it gave us a proper ending. May 23 19 09:20 pm Link I went back to look at the first season...So much better than the last two or three seasons.... May 24 19 08:00 am Link Tony From Syracuse wrote: I mean, on one hand, I get it. I get why people are upset. It's CLEARLY rushed. But come on, how did anyone not know it wouldn't be with only 6 episodes to wrap up a 10 year show?! I went in with this knowledge and I'm fine with the ending. Am I pissed the writers are assholes and wanted to start the new Star Wars trilogy over doing this show justice? No. I understand that. It's just a show people. I'm fine with the ending. I didn't like the jumping in time, Tyrion (a prisoner) speaking - right after Grey Worm telling him to shut up - recommending Bran and all of a sudden Bran knew it was coming and he wants it? That part I hated but everything else was fine. May 27 19 12:19 pm Link SPOILERS warning for those who have not seen it yet.... I'll start off by stating that I'm a huge fan of the show and still believe that it's the best show that's been produced, although this last season left me somewhat unsatisfied. The Long Night episode was a little dark, but otherwise I was on the edge of my seat for practically from beginning to end. I'm okay with how the Night King was defeated, but I would've loved to see Jon Snow go against him instead. As far as the season goes, I was a little disappointed with the last 2 1/2 episodes due to poor writing and pacing issues. For me, a specific plot point (Mad Queen) wasn't earned well enough so it seem way too rushed. And the ending was pretty anti-climatic. Some of the character arcs and prophecies that the show placed on the forefront ended up not making sense or mattering at all. There were other issues that were mainly due to poor writing, IMO - like the death of the 2nd dragon, Euron and Jaime fight scene, Cersei's unsatisfying death, and Jon Snow's behavior. He seemed out of character in the last few episodes especially for being who he is and what he's done. These were just a few examples. Regardless of my dissatisfaction with the last few episodes of GOT, I'm actually looking forward to the prequel series next year. May 27 19 02:28 pm Link |
