Movies - TV
Why House Of The Dragon's Nighttime Scenes Look Like Crap
By MIKE SHUTT
The seventh episode of "House of the Dragon" may have left you having problems seeing the action on screen for about half of the time for how dark it was. The problem with "Driftmark" stems from a method of filming known as "day for night," which is typically done to save money and nearly never turns out well.
Shooting day for night is when you shoot a scene that takes place at night during the day. Because shooting at night is difficult and expensive, filmmakers would film the scenes during the day and then color the film blue in post-production to emulate midnight; however, it never looks good because underexposing your image means missing a lot of detail, making the scene look murky.
Unfortunately, the two main night scenes in "Driftmark" don't have any natural light sources. The union of Rhaenyra and Daemon takes place on a deserted beach with no lamps, lanterns, torches, or sunlight, and when the dragon Vhagar approaches Aemond, the only light is fire and the moon, which really doesn't give off any light at all.
However, neither of those scenes are as powerful as they feel because it left the audience squinting in their televisions and wondering what is even happening. This episode might have been the greatest of the season if these scenes had looked better, but as they are, they represent a significant missed opportunity.