Yet the director most famous for his muted colors, Christopher Nolan (who is red green colorblind and intentionally avoids color), is also famous for refusing to use CGI when practical effects are available.
It’s a movie where the stills/screenshots aren’t that visually interesting but that the actual video (accompanied by a killer score/soundtrack) is somehow visually stunning. Agamemnon’s armor draws the eye in every scene it’s in (especially the opening of Troy’s gates), the giant Laestrygonians seemed terrifyingly strong and powerful, the visuals of Odysseus’s men slurping down Circe’s soup, all had visual qualities that make an indelible impression.
And obviously the dull, darkly lit, grayed out scene of the dead characters talking to Odysseus from beyond the grave really sells that scene, too.
Like the scene where Zeus is destroying the ship, and for some reason he does it with rain and wind? And this was changed from the original story, where Zeus strikes with, obviously, a gigantic fucking lightning bolt. Is there some artistic reason for this that I missed? I know Nolan hates CGI, but come on.
I enjoyed the movie well enough, but it never wowed me.
At the same time, I’m wondering how prominent of a trend it is. There have been a few recent examples of big budget movies that have made use of high saturation bright colors: the 2 Wicked movies, Project Hail Mary’s key scenes, the Avatar movies, Barbie, the Spider Man movies, etc.
Obviously kids movies and animated movies have always been colorful, but we’re also in an era where many studios are competing for kid eyeballs: Disney/Pixar of course, but also Sony (Kpop Demon Hunters, Hotel Transylvania, Spiderverse), Dreamworks (the Shrek universe, Kung Fu Panda, How to Train Your Dragon, Wild Robot), Illumination (Minions/Despicable Me Franchise, Mario, Sing), Paramount (Sonic, Paw Patrol, Spongebob), and the occasional independent (like Flow coming out of Latvia and winning an Oscar for best animated film). So it seems also that there’s plenty of work being done in bright colorful spaces.
Yet the director most famous for his muted colors, Christopher Nolan (who is red green colorblind and intentionally avoids color), is also famous for refusing to use CGI when practical effects are available.
I don’t think one dude is a good example when talking about trends. Nolan is an outlier in more ways than one.
If anything other directors are copying him without understanding why it works in his films and not in every film.
Does it work though? For being the first film shot totally in Imax, The Odyssey was kind of dull to look at.
It’s a movie where the stills/screenshots aren’t that visually interesting but that the actual video (accompanied by a killer score/soundtrack) is somehow visually stunning. Agamemnon’s armor draws the eye in every scene it’s in (especially the opening of Troy’s gates), the giant Laestrygonians seemed terrifyingly strong and powerful, the visuals of Odysseus’s men slurping down Circe’s soup, all had visual qualities that make an indelible impression.
And obviously the dull, darkly lit, grayed out scene of the dead characters talking to Odysseus from beyond the grave really sells that scene, too.
Maybe I don’t have a subtle enough eye.
But still, there could have been some spectacle.
Like the scene where Zeus is destroying the ship, and for some reason he does it with rain and wind? And this was changed from the original story, where Zeus strikes with, obviously, a gigantic fucking lightning bolt. Is there some artistic reason for this that I missed? I know Nolan hates CGI, but come on.
I enjoyed the movie well enough, but it never wowed me.
At the same time, I’m wondering how prominent of a trend it is. There have been a few recent examples of big budget movies that have made use of high saturation bright colors: the 2 Wicked movies, Project Hail Mary’s key scenes, the Avatar movies, Barbie, the Spider Man movies, etc.
Obviously kids movies and animated movies have always been colorful, but we’re also in an era where many studios are competing for kid eyeballs: Disney/Pixar of course, but also Sony (Kpop Demon Hunters, Hotel Transylvania, Spiderverse), Dreamworks (the Shrek universe, Kung Fu Panda, How to Train Your Dragon, Wild Robot), Illumination (Minions/Despicable Me Franchise, Mario, Sing), Paramount (Sonic, Paw Patrol, Spongebob), and the occasional independent (like Flow coming out of Latvia and winning an Oscar for best animated film). So it seems also that there’s plenty of work being done in bright colorful spaces.
Yeah I watched supergirl at home and it really showed off my tv’s ability to pair vibrant colors with deep blacks