MovieChat Forums > Roger Deakins Discussion > his recent films are ugly

his recent films are ugly


Am I the only one who thinks Roger Deakins's recent films have been something of an eyesore? They always have that ugly mesh of grey, brown, and orange to their color schemes, which comes out looking both unnatural and unattractive.

I know his philosophy is that cinematography isn't necessarily just about making films look pretty, but when it begins to look straight up ugly, that's when the DP's fucked up in my eyes. I don't care how precise, methodical, or even how technically innovative his work is. If it looks bad, it's bad.

For me, his work has been nowhere near as effective as it had once been ever since he went digital. He's a cinematographer I respect more than I actually like now, as while I can be in awe of learning how methodical and meticulous his pre-production and lighting setups are, I can't look at his films and honestly say to myself that it looks good. Modern digital color grading has ruined him.

Who's with me?

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1917 and Blade Runner 2049 both had pretty bleak settings. I thought they looked great, though, even if what was on camera wasn't necessarily nice to look at.

I haven't seen Empire of Light or the Goldfinch.

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