MovieChat Forums > High Anxiety (1977) Discussion > ?Is it my imagination, or is this movie ...

?Is it my imagination, or is this movie lit for TV, not film?


One thing that has always bugged me about this movie is that instead of a 3-to-1 contrast ratio for presentation in movie theaters, it appears to have a 2-to-1 contrast ratio, which is what you'd expect in video or TV movies. Maybe the DP was trying to emulate the slightly overlit work of Hitchcock's cameraman, Robert Burks. But Burks images for Hitch were beautifully sharp and colorful, as opposed to what see see in High Anxiety, where the Deluxe processing of the Eastmancolor negative looks grainer than usual, as if they saved on the lighting and pushed the film another stop or two. It's odd for a Hollywood film in that respect.

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I can't add anything to this, I'd just like to tell you how *beep* nice it feels to read something smart on these boards every once in a while.
Thanks.

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