Current Events > Zack Snyder's Justice League is visually one of the ugliest movies I've seen

(+) Yeah! (+)

At least for a blockbuster. I'm still only about 40 min in but holy fuck. This is bad. I'm not even talking about the awful color grading. Half the shots are out of focus or have a shit ton of noise. And the aspect ratio was obviously an after thought. You can tell this movie wasn't filmed in 4:3 and they added the bars in post production (or IMAX Film for that matter) because a bunch of the shots have so much cut off you can mentally fill in the blanks to make the shot seem full. And that's not even going into how bad the CGI is lol

I've seen Youtubers that have better framing.
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4:3 makes no fucking sense

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AlCalavicci posted...

4:3 makes no fucking sense

It would make sense if it was filmed in 4:3 with intention. But it definitely was not lol

Also regular surround sound 5.1 doesnt work for the HBO Max version because I guess it only supports Atmos. Which makes this experience a lot worse. At least the sub is kicking.
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Smashingpmkns posted...

It would make sense if it was filmed in 4:3 with intention. But it definitely was not lol

Yes it was. Or more specifically it was shot for imax.

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Tyranthraxus posted...

Yes it was. Or more specifically it was shot for imax.

It definitely wasn't. At least not IMAX Film. Maybe IMAX Digital. Which isn't 4:3. But this movie was not shot on IMAX cameras.
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Smashingpmkns posted...

It would make sense if it was filmed in 4:3 with intention. But it definitely was not lol

Why would it make sense even then, though?

You're literally showing less of a visual scene than you could be showing. As the director, you know that the majority of TVs are 16:9. Doing 4:3 on purpose feels like they are just looking for a talking point at the expense of the film

It's a superhero blockbuster (or supposed to be), not an art flick

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The 4:3 really confuses me as well. Clearly the movie was not originally framed for 4:3. Clearly it was a choice made after the fact in the editing room. Is it an ego thing? Or maybe Snyder is just such an autuer I can't understand his brilliance.

At least the tone and characterizations were a stark improvement over the original, but if you're releasing a 4 hour long movie and it's not The Godfather II, The Titanic, Gone with the Wind, ect. then you've already failed on a basic level. Don't make me sit through a 4 hour movie if it's not worth 4 hours of my time. Make it two movies if you have to. That's at least more palatable.

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It looks fine. Stop being extra.

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Everything also looks disgustingly grey, at least the 2017 Justice League had color in it.

AlCalavicci posted...

Why would it make sense even then, though?

You're literally showing less of a visual scene than you could be showing. As the director, you know that the majority of TVs are 16:9. Doing 4:3 on purpose feels like they are just looking for a talking point at the expense of the film

It's a superhero blockbuster (or supposed to be), not an art flick

I mean, more isn't always better, but it needs to serve a purpose, and it needs to be done from day 1 of filming. You can tell from technical basics like the headroom in dialogue shots that it was not originally intended for 4:3. It's just the choice to be different without the considerations of what being different entails. It's like the use of black and white versus color.

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Smashingpmkns posted...

It definitely wasn't. At least not IMAX Film. Maybe IMAX Digital. Which isn't 4:3. But this movie was not shot on IMAX cameras.

It was not filmed with imax cameras it was filmed for imax as in the intention was to film in an aspect ratio that was imax friendly and then crop the top and bottom later for the normal theater.

https://www.denofgeek.com/movies/zack-snyder-justice-league-4-3-aspect-ratio/

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AlCalavicci posted...

Smashingpmkns posted...

It would make sense if it was filmed in 4:3 with intention. But it definitely was not lol

Why would it make sense even then, though?

You're literally showing less of a visual scene than you could be showing. As the director, you know that the majority of TVs are 16:9. Doing 4:3 on purpose feels like they are just looking for a talking point at the expense of the film

It's a superhero blockbuster (or supposed to be), not an art flick

You could frame the scenes to fit 4:3 and have an actual artistic touch to it. It would be different, which would be the point. But here it's a hindrance. Nothing is framed correctly and it looks very amateur
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Anyway what visual information do you think you can put on the sides that would improve it?

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Joel95 posted...

Everything also looks disgustingly grey, at least the 2017 Justice League had color in it.

I actually think the color grading serves the story better than what Whedon did, which was... Almost no color correction I guess? Maybe for a light-hearted Marvel movie you want to emphasize the colors and dazzle, but the gray tone harkens to a more graphic style that reminds the viewer of the color choices of the gritty comic runs the stoeyline was based on.

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Tyranthraxus posted...

Anyway what visual information do you think you can put on the sides that would improve it?

obviously the lack of black bars not anything that would actually improve the movie in any significant way

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Tyranthraxus posted...

It was not filmed with imax cameras it was filmed for imax as in the intention was to film in an aspect ratio that was imax friendly and then crop the top and bottom later for the normal theater.

https://www.denofgeek.com/movies/zack-snyder-justice-league-4-3-aspect-ratio/

They're literally cropping out a quarter of a full frame image. They didn't shoot it with intention and it shows in the movie.

https://www.polygon.com/movies/22336749/justice-league-4-3-square-box-look-on-tv

This article says it was shot in 1.85:1 which is a helluva lot wider than 4:3. 1.85:1 is slightly larger than 16:9.
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Smashingpmkns posted...

You could frame the scenes to fit 4:3 and have an actual artistic touch to it. It would be different, which would be the point. But here it's a hindrance. Nothing is framed correctly and it looks very amateur

How dare you question the man who probably thought the Martha scene was the most brilliant scene in the history of comic book movies.

Tyranthraxus posted...

Anyway what visual information do you think you can put on the sides that would improve it?

Characters that aren't 3/4 cut off in wide angle shots or close ups on characters that cut off a quarter of their costume for example. There's plenty of information that could make these frames look more complete.
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Zack Snyder has a lot of criticism but he does not make ugly pictures what the fuck

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Hinakuluiau posted...

Zack Snyder has a lot of criticism but he does not make ugly pictures what the fuck

The DCEU movies under Snyder are disgustingly grey.

I generally enjoyed the movie but I don't think there's no denying that the colour palette was inspired by mid Gen Xbox 360 games.

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Lmao this movie has a dollar store Leonidas in it.
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TheAwesomeMatt posted...

I generally enjoyed the movie but I don't think there's no denying that the colour palette was inspired by mid Gen Xbox 360 games.

I bet Snyder's dream movie is Gears of War.

Smashingpmkns posted...

Lmao this movie has a dollar store Leonidas in it.

lol

You guys joke but a dude bro Gears movie by Snyder that misses the point of the series would actually kinda rule lol
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Smashingpmkns posted...

You guys joke but a dude bro Gears movie by Snyder that misses the point of the series would actually kinda rule lol

The series misses the point of the series. There's no direction or coherent narrative. It's a skeleton plot strung together with the bare minimum of wires decorated with forced drama because grey brown shooters with buzzcut beefcake male protagonists were all the rage at the time.

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Smashingpmkns posted...

You guys joke but a dude bro Gears movie by Snyder that misses the point of the series would actually kinda rule lol

Yeah in the Gears of War games the COG are depicted as fascists but I guarantee Snyder would make them heroes that are loved by everyone.

General reminder that Endgames color pallette was just as desaturated and monotone.

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The first three Gears games definitely had a coherent message. Can't say the same for the rest. Only played part of 4 and the Baird one, that one was trash.
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CommonJoe posted...

General reminder that Endgames color pallette was just as desaturated and monotone.

Definitely not.
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CommonJoe posted...

General reminder that Endgames color pallette was just as desaturated and monotone.

i kinda doubt this is true but have no supporting evidence

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Joel95 posted...

Yeah in the Gears of War games the COG are depicted as fascists but I guarantee Snyder would make them heroes that are loved by everyone.

Yeah but it would be awesome ironically. A total mindless dude bro movie. Marcus Fenix has a Jesus scene or something.

Cole Train curb stomping a locust while hallelujah is playing lmao
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Smashingpmkns posted...

It would make sense if it was filmed in 4:3 with intention. But it definitely was not lol

Also regular surround sound 5.1 doesnt work for the HBO Max version because I guess it only supports Atmos. Which makes this experience a lot worse. At least the sub is kicking.

Atmos. ? Do you know what that means?

CommonJoe posted...

General reminder that Endgames color pallette was just as desaturated and monotone.

So Frome doesn't have Justice league yet but they have BvS which is kinda the same and avengers endgame. Anyone want to try and guess which one belongs to which movie?

Remember: one belongs to BvS Ultimate and the other is Avengers Endgame.

Exhibit A:


Exhibit B:


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Smashingpmkns posted...

Definitely not.

The biggest scene in the movie is predominantly brown and yellow.


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AlCalavicci posted...

i kinda doubt this is true but have no supporting evidence

See post #36 and make your own conclusions with the evidence.

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CommonJoe posted...

General reminder that Endgames color pallette was just as desaturated and monotone.

The final fight, yes but not the entire movie.

muchdran posted...

Atmos. ? Do you know what that means?

Dolby Atmos? All I know is that the sound isn't coming out of my surround speakers while it was with Kong Skull Island last night.
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Frome is an incredibly bad way to measure the color grading of a movie btw.
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Smashingpmkns posted...

Frome is an incredibly bad way to measure the color grading of a movie btw.

Please explain a better way I'd love to compare it to Frome.

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Actually watching the movie would be a better way lol even comparing stills. Open up Davinci studios and play around with some of the scenes.
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Smashingpmkns posted...

Actually watching the movie would be a better way lol even comparing stills. Open up Davinci studios and play around with some of the scenes.

Hurrr durrr actually just spend 7 consecutive hours critiquing the colors of a movie then get back to me so I can tell you what you did was wrong anyway


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Tyranthraxus posted...

Hurrr durrr actually just spend 7 consecutive hours critiquing the colors of a movie then get back to me so I can tell you what you did was wrong anyway

Well you were wrong about the aspect ratio so it's safe to say you're wrong about a lot of things as well.
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Smashingpmkns posted...

Well you were wrong about the aspect ratio so it's safe to say you're wrong about a lot of things as well.

Literally Zack Snyder himself: "I reshot the scenes for the Snyder cut in 1.43 ratio and cropped the rest of the movie to match"

You: "no, lol"

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Tyranthraxus posted...

So Frome doesn't have Justice league yet but they have BvS which is kinda the same and avengers endgame. Anyone want to try and guess which one belongs to which movie?

Remember: one belongs to BvS Ultimate and the other is Avengers Endgame.

Exhibit A:


Exhibit B:

I guess B is BvS. And I like that more than avengers endgame. Because I'm a DC fanboy I'll admit. Endgame was pretty good but infinity war I disliked.

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Tyranthraxus posted...

Literally Zack Snyder himself: "I reshot the scenes for the Snyder cut in 1.43 ratio and cropped the rest of the movie to match"

You: "no, lol"

The director of photography said they shot in 1:85.1 and cropping the movie to match is exactly the problem lol

My bad they shot full frame but framed for 1:85.1. So the accessibility to 4:3 was completely coincidence and not intentional.
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4:3 is just ugh. Also I was watching some of the scenes that are in both versions and its clear that they lowered the saturation.

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mooreandrew58 posted...

I guess B is BvS. And I like that more than avengers endgame. Because I'm a DC fanboy I'll admit. Endgame was pretty good but infinity war I disliked.

Since no one else seems to be playing here I'll just say that's correct but there's a couple of observations to be made looking at things dude by side.

1. Endgame is, in fact, overall more dull and drab in dominant colors than BvS
2. The final fight of endgame, however, is surprisingly very colorful, featuring a lot of red/blue/purple colors. It does not feature any major contrasting color changes however so it may appear monotonous while watching but compared to the rest of the movie it's one of the most colorful scenes.
3. Zack Snyder's a lot more colorful than people are giving him credit for however by looking at the flow of hues from endgame to BvS... He's colorful in not necessarily a good way with scenes having many dramatically changing colors suggesting poor scene flow.

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