We are in a habit of beautifying visual media at the moment, which in the movie and entertainment sphere is fine, it is a reality of entertainment that tastes change as tech changes.
The shift that I have noticed is this is creeping into all things visual including news media.
BBC and ABC (Australia) news, commercials even documentaries are all getting the “treatment” and the problem is, they are no longer showing the world as it really is. Not since the era of black and white has the world as we see it been represented in a less realistic way.
One commercial, for a charity no less, made starving children look like they were in a Netflix drama. It not only looked commercial, but possibly deceitful as the whole thing screamed “professional set”.
A lot of footage from Gaza was far too pretty. The place and people should not look soft, bright and warm, it does them no favours to look so sanitised, so…..ok. I remember seeing one old man explaining he had nothing and nobody left to live for, all the while looking good enough to star in a TV drama.
Not the best example, but still, too good to be true?
Fashions come and go, but at what point are we perpetuating a world of make believe when we should be looking at the world with ever more realistic vision?
Digital needs filters to take the “edge” off, but how strong should they be?
ARRI colours are the industry bench mark, but are they always needed?
Shallow depth of field is in fashion at the moment, but does it give a sense of place?
Light is needed, but does it need to be over done?
There are a lt of recent opinions on this, so it seems to be a thing
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XptD8ohC77w
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tvwPKBXEOKE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h-MB0Sej9tQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zRX1FQI3Fys