#as Dogme movies were supposed to be filmed on 35 MM film

[pb-dot]

I agree, and let me tell you a surprising group that agrees with me: The Dogme 95 directors.

Now, for those of you not in the know, Dogme 95 was a Danish film movement headed by Director And All Around Pretty Fucked Up Dude Lars Von Trier. Dogme 95 was an effort to put the craft of filmmaking, storytelling, and acting into focus in a film world where studio control, special effects and gimmicks had taken primacy.

The Dogme rules are rather strict, stating no "superficial" sources of tension such as violence or sex is to be employed in the storytelling, no special effects in lighting or post-processing, no taking the plot forwards or backwards in time, music is only allowed if it is produced on location and in the plot, and so on. If one were a cynical soul one could call it a "no fun allowed" kind of list, but there is no denying it makes things a great deal more realistic.

HOWEVER, the rules of lighting states the following:

(If there is too little light for exposure the scene must be cut or a single lamp be attached to the camera.) from Wikipedia

This is to say that even in the most restrictive rulesets for filmmaking in the name of realism ever codified, at least to my knowledge, exceptions are made to allow extra lighting if the alternative is pitch fucking black. Film is, after all, an audiovisual medium.

directors using colorful or "impossible" lighting to convey mood and meaning and beauty my beloved. directors making night scenes impossible to see for the sake of realism my beloathed.