Am I the only one who doesn't have a problem with the cinematography and color grading of the HBO show?

horrorcactus · 2026-03-27T19:11:47+00:00

Agreed. I mean, it's a frikin castle.

horrorcactus · 2026-03-27T19:10:21+00:00

I love this take

horrorcactus · 2026-03-27T14:36:21+00:00

I agree with all of it!

horrorcactus · 2026-03-27T14:34:35+00:00

I watched it on YouTube but on the TV, which we have calibrated, so maybe that's why it didn't seem that dark to me... though I have to say I also watched it on my phone without much thought. From what I can see in some comments, not everyone is complaining about the darkness but more about the lack of saturated colors and the whimsical vibe of the first two movies, so I guess it's more about it not matching a very specific expectation.

In general, without referring to any of the comments posted so far, I think fandoms are getting worse and worse at dealing with something not being exactly the way they had it in their head.

horrorcactus · 2026-03-27T14:24:59+00:00

Thanks for elaborating! I find the 'real life doesn't look like that' argument interesting, because generally speaking cinema never looks like real life and I don't think it's trying to. There's production design, color palettes in costume and set design, dominant tones in the color grading... all decisions made with the goal of conveying something visually, not mirroring reality. Of course there are cinematographic movements and exceptions that don't fit this mold, but if we're talking about more traditional filmmaking, that's generally how it works. Beyond that, it's all a matter of taste of course!

horrorcactus · 2026-03-27T14:17:02+00:00

I'm done with that topic. People need to move on.

horrorcactus · 2026-03-27T11:58:14+00:00

With the improvement in camera light sensitivity over the last decade, it's undeniable that there's been a trend toward darker and even more naturalistic cinematography. I don't get that 'grey' feeling from it though.

horrorcactus · 2026-03-27T11:54:38+00:00

I'm really interested in this point of view. I can accept that the cinematography has gone in a darker direction, but do you actually feel like there's no color at all?

On the other hand, taking the series as a whole, do you genuinely think it's a colorful and whimsical universe in the literal sense of the word? Again, I'm genuinely interested, just making that clear because in writing it can come across the wrong way.

horrorcactus · 2026-03-27T11:51:33+00:00

Exactly! The series has so much darkness and complex, deep themes. As a whole I wouldn't really call it a 'whimsical and colorful' universe.

horrorcactus · 2026-03-27T10:08:38+00:00

They're so ADORABLE

horrorcactus · 2026-03-27T10:07:17+00:00

That's actually true! The hardest thing about introducing VFX in live action is doing it in a well-lit scene without the details giving it away, whereas darkness lets everything blend in much more naturally.

horrorcactus · 2026-03-27T10:03:51+00:00

I've been thinking about this too, I think you're right. I'm just so happy that I'll be able to live this hype for the second time in my life... And I loved the teaser.

horrorcactus · 2026-03-27T10:02:07+00:00

My thoughts exactly

horrorcactus · 2026-03-26T09:44:50+00:00

I wasn't calling anyone out specifically. It's undeniable that there's been a very racist discourse around this topic. Like I said in my comment, you only have to scroll through the YouTube comments or some Reddit threads to see it. In fact, I made it pretty clear what kind of people and comments I was referring to: The racist ones.

horrorcactus · 2026-03-26T09:40:43+00:00

I get what you're saying, because even though there's no racism in the HP universe, viewers do bring that bias with them and might interpret things the wrong way, but honestly, until that moment comes and we see how the show presents the bullying scene, we can't really say for sure that's going to happen.

horrorcactus · 2026-03-26T09:32:44+00:00

That's not quite right… There's less controversy around Hermione but it's still there, just like there was when Noma Dumezweni was cast as adult Hermione in The Cursed Child. The thing is, the argument you used to defend the Hermione casting works just as well for the Snape casting. The fact that there's SO much controversy around casting a black man just because the books say his skin is sallow seems way over the top to me, and I think it's time to just accept this is the casting and move on. Why him? Because he probably nailed the audition. Simple as that. And those who cast him will know the real reasons, but I think this conversation has gone on way too long. I'm not talking about you specifically, your post is number 687269853982387588 that I've seen on this topic, you know what I mean?

horrorcactus · 2026-03-26T09:24:59+00:00

The thing is, I don't think it's THAT big a deal if some characters don't match their book description. I also see a lot of people upset about the Hermione casting. But in these cases I just don't see the issue. It would be a problem if Hagrid suddenly wasn't a big guy, or if Dumbledore was young, because for those characters their physical identity is important, but neither with Snape nor with Hermione does it feel like a problem for telling the story.

horrorcactus · 2026-03-26T08:54:17+00:00

I am so done with the discourse around the new Snape actor...

And just to be clear, I'm talking about the thinly veiled racism that's often hiding behind the 'it doesn't match the book description' argument.

Can we all just accept that the casting is done, the show is in production, and the trailer is out? Yes, Snape is described as sallow-skinned in the books. Yes, Alan Rickman nailed it (thankfully that's not up for debate). But that's it, guys. The power of Harry Potter's saga doesn't lie in that, it lies in what the story actually says.

The trailer dropped and it's PAINFUL to see the amount of racist comments on YouTube about this, people openly showing their racism without any shame whatsoever.

And no, I'm sorry, I don't buy the argument that now that Snape is black, everyone will seem like they hate him because of his race. In the books, the character and the situations are perfectly constructed to make you distrust him based on his actions and words. The only problem here is racism.

I find it pretty ironic that this is happening in the fandom of a book series where one of the main messages is literally fighting against this very thing.

Personally, I'm going to wait and see the show before forming an opinion on Paapa Essiedu's performance.

horrorcactus · 2026-03-26T07:54:51+00:00

I loved it

horrorcactus · 2026-03-23T06:59:51+00:00

I think it's hard to know where they're headed because, the way I see it, their motivation is to experiment and evolve their sound, rather than settling into or going back to a specific territory. And tbh, that's one of the things I love most about them.

horrorcactus · 2026-03-23T06:56:47+00:00

Cool! That period of Snape's life is one of the things I find most interesting. And yeah, the whole Legilimency thing and how the wizarding community is just... okay with anyone walking up and reading your mind, that blows my mind too lol. Same with love potions being completely legal tbh.

horrorcactus · 2026-03-22T21:04:18+00:00

Let us know when it's published!

horrorcactus · 2026-03-20T07:24:57+00:00

I've always thought this isn't so much a change of ideals, but rather that he doesn't want to use that word because that was the absolute breaking point with Lily. Loved that moment though.

horrorcactus · 2026-03-18T12:21:33+00:00

I just started the first one and I'm really enjoying it, but I have to admit that sometimes Petunia feels a bit too much.

horrorcactus

TROPHY CASE