This is a still grab from a Netflix drama called D.P.
As i was watching the show, immediately, I realized something.
It was about the look of the drama, which was very familiar to me.
The D.P. of the drama D.P. has used the strong diffusion filter for every single scene.
To be honest, it was a bit overwhelming.
In fact, I've been thinking a lot about it recently.
I mean, I'm seeing more and more filmmakers and content creators on YouTube
choose to have so-called Mist Effects on their images to achieve a cinematic look.
I think it's a trend now, like how Sam Kolder style travel video with speed ramping,
gimbal moves, fast transitions and masking effects were a trend a few years ago.
I wanted to know if i was right about this - the fact that it's a trend now.
So i googled about it, and indeed others already felt the same way and called it out.
A filmmaker Lewis McGregor wrote a blog post on premiumbeat.com about it.
I think he's a bit worried that we use them too much now without thinking much about the cons of using them.
In the blog, he mentions another filmmaker Norm Kroll, who said on his instagram,
Too much diffusion is a new too much shallow depth of field.
Well, in fact according to Lewis, the google trends shows that the
frequency of search for Tiffen Black ProMist 1/8 filter has been rising in the past 10 years.
Now, let's ask ourselves a question: "why do we use diffusion filters so much more than before?"
Well, modern cameras and lenses are too perfect in my opinion.
They are too clinical and show too much detail.
Diffusion filters can make the images look pretty by softening wrinkles
and giving the face a more pleasing look.
Also, they bloom highlights and reduce contrast, so the overall image is dreamy and washed out rendering a more vintage film look.
According to Lewis, the downside of diffusion filters is that while they bring up highlights to give you halation.
they also bring up unnecessary shadows.
This actually has been my concern.
In my previous video simple cinematic lighting i said that the key to cinematic look is to have a good balance between light and shadow.
If shadow cannot stay in the dark because of diffusion filters,
it can become a minus factor in your images.
Thus, you must ask yourself, "Why?"
Why do you want to use diffusion filters?
Do i know how it will impact my images?
Do i have a clear goal using this filter?
Have I experimented enough to use it confidently for videos I'm making now?
Now that i shared my thoughts on diffusion filters. let us go back to the first image i showed you.
Let me ask you this: why did they use this much strong diffusion filter?
Does it serve the story well?
I'll leave that answer to you (Check out D.P. if you haven't watched it yet!)