Neflix' Narcos Cinematography

[Linda Barzini]

I love the Netflix series Narco, but think the cinematography looks pretty bad to me (stylistic choice?). It was filmed on a Red Dragon and Zeiss Ultraprimes. My guess is that they didn't use ND filters for most scenes and shot at f22 so it looks like a video camera in many scenes. Also, I don't think they did much color grading that we are used to seeing in modern productions. It doesn't have that traditional "cinematic" look. Great acting, especially the lead. And great story.

Anyone else have this opinion too?

 

[Jack Hents]

Totally disagree. Narcos is actually my favorite example of Dragon cinematography - rich colors, expert lighting, deep, deep blacks.

 

[Steve Sherrick]

Yeah, I don't have a problem with the style.

 

[Steve Sherrick]

 

[Steve Sherrick]

 

[Steve Sherrick]

 

[Steve Sherrick]

 

[Fabio Lanzone]

rich colors, expert lighting, deep, deep blacks.

Exactly. I loved this!

 

[Christoffer Glans]

Deep focus doesn't mean it's bad. It's like saying Kubrick movies look like video :tongue_smilie:

 

[Mark K.]

I really liked it, they went for 'functional' over 'glossy', and I think that's precisely what the show needed.

 

[Linda Barzini]

I guess my preference has been so strongly influenced by everything that is now super soft lighting, shallow depth of focus, smooth camera movement, and heavily stylized coloring.

I am on episode 4 and i will also say, I think it has gotten better from the first 2 episodes and some of the shots are great, but when I see the shaky movement (or no movement) and deep dof, it just looks like video. I thought they might be going for the look of the technology back then.

Regardless of opinions about the cinematography, I love the show and it reinforces to me how story is everything.


Here is an example of something I find distracting. It looks like there is one light and it is casting hard shadows and blows out the photos in the center.

 

[Hal Long]

I totally disagree. The look has grit and is very much in line with the story being told. Not all frames have deep focus, but it seems to be a storytelling point when used, as it should be. I think the show and the way it's shot work very well.

 

[Ryan Sauve]

New trailer for upcoming season...

Can't wait!

 

[Ash Worth]

Skin tones look off but this is probably because of screen grabs.

 

[Elvis B.M.]

They're doing a great job, it goes well with the look and time of the show.

Can't wait for the new season

 

[Daniel Reed]

...it just looks like video. I thought they might be going for the look of the technology back then.

I suspect that, along with the friction the rough camera movements add,
and the refusal to block harsh specular lighting, is what the creator's desired for the show's look/feel,
and why it was shot/grained like it was - its looks less like a polished movie and more like a difficult/video/real experience.

Unfortunately, I also didn't like the show's presentation.
The off/mixed colors, the so-so lighting, camera handling, and grade turned me off fast.
It also seemed to me the faces were often shot too much in soft shadow and rarely felt like they even bothered with contrast ratios.

I never made it past two episodes, not only because I didn't like the "look/feel",
but also because I couldn't find a reason to care for any of the characters.

 

[Rodrigo Prata]

I must say I also dislike the look in this show. To my taste, It it's too colorfull and too sharp wich makes the image look clinical sometimes. It resembles a lot Brazilian soap opera (to be fair, Brazilian soap opera has a very high techinical quality, much different from mexican or american soap opera)


On the other hand, "Stranger Things", also shot on RED Dragon, has one of the best cinematographies I have seen on any show.

 

[Björn Benckert]

I must say I also dislike the look in this show. To my taste, It it's too colorfull and too sharp wich makes the image look clinical sometimes. It resembles a lot Brazilian soap opera (to be fair, Brazilian soap opera has a very high techinical quality, much different from mexican or american soap opera)


On the other hand, "Stranger Things", also shot on RED Dragon, has one of the best cinematographies I have seen on any show.

To me it looks perfect. I used to have a house down in northern brazil and spent quite a bit of time down there. Simply I think the look is inspired by the continent where it´s shot, they use way more colours on everything down there. Nothing strange to have a house painted in pure green, red yellow or what ever. That goes for everything not only the houses then those strong colours are mixed with other stuff that is pure concrete or old tiles or bricks. Then you simply got a different kind of vegetation, the amazon is just around the corner to green is quite prominent and also all kinds of other colours. So simply I think the locations and environment where the film is shot is very well described in the camera work at hand. Just like florida keys has a totally different look than Los Angeles or New York.

I think everyone that has been in the area very much recognise the color palette. Also To me the rough camera movement and the mix of fixed cameras with rough handheld etc to me also goes with both the story and the scenery. South america is rough place with no even edges. The camera work to me goes very well with the setting. Just as House of cards looks very well with only smooth straight camera work with matched colors and perfect lightning in every shot, I think the guys doing Narcos try to be in the other end of that spectrum. To me the manage to still keep an organic feel to it and also with the grain and grit and some times long focus ranges they make it look a bit like 16mm from the 70´s without stretching it too far so to me they are close to perfect. Looking forward to see the second season.

 

[Steve Sherrick]

I must say I also dislike the look in this show. To my taste, It it's too colorfull and too sharp wich makes the image look clinical sometimes. It resembles a lot Brazilian soap opera (to be fair, Brazilian soap opera has a very high techinical quality, much different from mexican or american soap opera)


On the other hand, "Stranger Things", also shot on RED Dragon, has one of the best cinematographies I have seen on any show.

Stranger Things, which is very well shot, seems like it would create the wrong feel for Narcos. I suppose one alternative they could have gone with is shooting on Super 16, but perhaps cost and workflow came into play.

 

[Daniel Reed]

On the other hand, "Stranger Things", also shot on RED Dragon, has one of the best cinematographies I have seen on any show.

They definately got a lot right, to my taste, in the visual style of "Stranger Things", for the time period and narrative they were after.