#filmmaking tv lighting cinematography russiandoll

[lukemcmanusdirector]

The brilliance of Russian Doll (and how technology influences filmmaking aesthetics)

“Buildings aren't haunted, people are".

I'm so late to the party but Russian Doll...👌 Brilliant acting, ingenious writing, and those Easter eggs are just great. The premise should make it boring and/or silly but it is neither and it is the first video game influenced show that I thought was actually good and wore those influences cleverly...

I loved the near-gaudy colours of the lighting and production design too - nice to finally see the end of the muted low-contrast look. I was thinking about this the other day, and the way that technology influences aesthetics in filmmaking.

<nerdiness> That low-contrast flarey look came in around the same time that shooting log became commonplace at the high end with the Red and Alexa. Now that log is available at pretty much every budget level (bar mobile phones, except using the brilliant FilmicPro App I think...) it is no longer the signifier of high production values.

In fact, poorly graded log is now everywhere, so it's actually starting to feel cheap and nasty. So the flight to high saturation and popping colour in shows like Russian Doll and films like the Safdie Brothers Good Time isn't that surprising.

It is also driven by techology - the arrival of new reliable multi-coloured LEDs to the film set. Previous lights were a single colour and to alter that colour involved attaching coloured gels which would make them murkier. Now you can just dial in whatever exact bright colour you want.

The only thing, it is tricky to do well. So expect to see loads of gaudily over-coloured lighting in the near future as the trend gets jumped on </nerdiness>.

In the meantime, watch Russian Doll on Netflix.