Do you think the colour contrast/darkness in AVP-R was done on purpose?

[AVP-CAPCOM]

Hi guys

I was watching AVP-R recently on standard DVD. Now if I watch the film with the following two conditions
a- on my laptop/PC with plasma screen
b- at night with the lights off

I can see the movie crystal clear as the colour/contrast is naturally faint on each screen. Now this amazed me for two reasons
a) I could actually see the movie clear as day even the night/dark scenes
b) I was amazed at the extent of how bad the production values were; even for a 2008 film (stop laughing at the back)

Its no secret the film only had a $40 Million budget which is not a lot; but to me it was like watching a low rent straight to DVD flick.

In the cinema during its original release I'll admit it looked better pitch black as it added to the effect of horror.

So what do you think?

[SM]

They f**ked up.  Whatever equipment they screened it on during grading and subsequent testing wasn't calibrated properly.  Can't see any other explanation for why it was reported as being too dark in so many different instances.

[ShadowPred]

They f**ked up.  Whatever equipment they screened it on during grading and subsequent testing wasn't calibrated properly.  Can't see any other explanation for why it was reported as being too dark in so many different instances.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't the Bros. say something similar? Because the film looks fine in the trailers, but when it came to theaters, that's when the problem started to happen.

[SM]

Pretty much.  I don't know if they ever fessed up as to where the f**k up happened, but it wasn't the fault of the DP or gaffer.

They said when they screened it prior to release it looked fine and were surprised that so many reviews were coming back saying how dark it looked.

[samoht]

Maybe it was dark because someone forgot to turn the lights on.

[AVP-CAPCOM]

They f**ked up.  Whatever equipment they screened it on during grading and subsequent testing wasn't calibrated properly.  Can't see any other explanation for why it was reported as being too dark in so many different instances.

During production stills you can clearly see the Strauss Brothers using an IPAD style plasma screen. I think that explains why it looks fine (as did my PC and Laptop screen) due to said colour/contrast settings but when it was added to a standard cinema DVD screen it went tits up.

Also AVP-R was a rushed production so maybe the had neither the time, budget or resources to correct their mistake. I'm still pissed they didn't fix the issue for the DVD/Blu Ray transfer as that was the number one complaint on Amazon and internet reviews.

One person even said its as about as clear as watching a Pirate Copy.

[ShadowPred]

Pretty much.  I don't know if they ever fessed up as to where the f**k up happened, but it wasn't the fault of the DP or gaffer.

They said when they screened it prior to release it looked fine and were surprised that so many reviews were coming back saying how dark it looked.

Ah, well that's probably what my mind is remembering, that they were surprised that reviews were saying it was so dark.

[whiterabbit]

I thought they said they intentionally kept it dark out of fear the aliens looked silly running around the town.

[AVP-CAPCOM]

I thought they said they intentionally kept it dark out of fear the aliens looked silly running around the town.

It did look silly and out of place.

In fact many scenes in AVP-R remind me of this TV advert for the AVP-Extinction video game

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8qVmsNfFMNo#

[whiterabbit]

I thought they said they intentionally kept it dark out of fear the aliens looked silly running around the town.

It did look silly and out of place.

In fact many scenes in AVP-R remind me of this TV advert for the AVP-Extinction video game

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8qVmsNfFMNo#

Hey those commercials would have made for a better movie! 

[SM]

Also AVP-R was a rushed production so maybe the had neither the time, budget or resources to correct their mistake.

I don't recall it being especially rushed.  I remember hearing at one point that they were on time and on budget and Fox were pleased enough with hwat had been delivered so far, that they gave them extra money to shoot the Predator planet stuff.

But as you said, even after all the negative feedback about the darkness - they still didn't bother to fix it for the home media release.

[ShadowPred]

Also AVP-R was a rushed production so maybe the had neither the time, budget or resources to correct their mistake.

I don't recall it being especially rushed.  I remember hearing at one point that they were on time and on budget and Fox were pleased enough with hwat had been delivered so far, that they gave them extra money to shoot the Predator planet stuff.

Exactly what I remember myself.

[AmazSpiderMan1]

I really would like to know the answer to this because the film is damn unwatchable. Even for a low budget, the trailers looked fine, and the scene on the Predator homeworld looks great. Everything else is just too damn dark. This needs to be fixed. Are there any bootleg versions online with fixed lighting and contrast? I'd actually like to try to watch the movie, because I do find the Predator scenes fun - in a "Predator 2" kinda way.

[Darkness]

I spoke to Colin Strause about this last year and he claims Fox refused to let them touch the DVD/Blu-Ray at all. They said the west coast prints were fine but the east coast prints were dark. So they wanted to make the movie brighter but found out after they got the Blu-Ray from Fox, that the studio had made the movie a lot darker. They never had any say about it.

Bit of a surprise cos I always thought the darkness was their choice. It's easy to blame the Strauses but they just never stood a chance with this movie.

[episodenone]

I spoke to Colin Strause about this last year and he claims Fox refused to let them touch the DVD/Blu-Ray at all. They said the west coast prints were fine but the east coast prints were dark. So they wanted to make the movie brighter but found out after they got the Blu-Ray from Fox, that the studio had made the movie a lot darker. They never had any say about it.

Bit of a surprise cos I always thought the darkness was their choice. It's easy to blame the Strauses but they just never stood a chance with this movie.

if that is the case - then its too bad.  i hate movies where the lighting is too dark to see unless i watch them at midnight.

i can see them being screwed b/c the movie didnt do so well and the studio had more leverage over them.

i think they had high aspirations and i wouldnt knock them for their effort.  heck - i am not in the motion pic biz - so i have to be happy with what others do as they have to be happy about what i do in my profession.

for the record - watching aliens on lv-426 they lit it only with the marine lights -- and cameron actually fired the guy in charge of the lighting because of the guy wanting to ligght it differently. [just watched this on the making of doc]

i had no problem with those scenes - but jeez - the bros strause are far from the only ones who had movies that were too dark and bothered me for that fact