Dark Knight Rises Cinematographer Bashes The Avengers

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The Wooster

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Jul 15, 2008
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Dark Knight Rises Cinematographer Bashes The Avengers


Cinematographer Smash!

Do you remember when The Dark Knight Rises and The Avengers were still lurking on the blockbuster horizon, and the constant bickering between the films' acolytes became so unbearably obnoxious that you began to hate both films and, indeed, the very concept of cinema itself? You do? Great, because chances are it's all going to kick-off yet again thanks to some harsh criticism of The Avengers courtesy of The Dark Knight Rises cinematographer, Wally Pfister.

"What's really important is storytelling. None of it matters if it doesn't support the story," he said when describing the art of cinematography in an interview with the Sarasota Herald Tribune. "I thought The Avengers was an appalling film. They'd shoot from some odd angle and I'd think, why is the camera there? Oh, I see, because they spent half a million on the set and they have to show it off. It took me completely out of the movie. I was driven bonkers by that illogical form of storytelling."

Now it seems to me that Pfister's comment is limited to the film's cinematography, but it's difficult to tell now that the Sarasota Herald has cut the quote from its interview. While we journos love the delicious taste of industry drama, ragging on another movie, particularly a rival movie, is considered unprofessional by many. The quote may have been dropped for PR reasons, but now it's just floating around the internet, devoid of context.

In Pfister's defense, he does know what he's talking about when it comes to cinematography. Known for his work on Christopher Nolan's films, Pfister has been nominated for four Academy awards and won one for his work on Inception. He's currently working on his directorial debut, an unnamed, present-day sci-fi flick, with Nolan acting as executive producer.

Source: Sarasota Herald Tribune [http://arts.heraldtribune.com/2012-10-16/section/home/q-a-with-oscar-winning-cinematographer-wally-pfister/]



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Valanthe

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Sep 24, 2009
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NameIsRobertPaulson said:
Rough translation: "We didn't like how The Avengers beat us at the box office, but it obviously wasn't OUR faults, such as dragging on far longer than it needed to, or having the villain be as uninspiring as possible, or our plot twist being pointless for comic fans and devoid of originality for non comic fans."

Plus, after the confusing at best angles Inception had, I don't think he has room to talk.
Going with this guy, this looks like a half-arsed excuse made up to try and maintain investor confidence than an actual critique of another's work.

Then again, without context, it's really hard to pass judgement either way, I think I'll file this under "Don't really care, may revisit if it actually becomes a thing."
 

octafish

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Apr 23, 2010
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Look I'm sorry if any of you have that name, and I know it is a perfectly normal name and probably has a long and distinguished history and everything but...I really like how his name sounds like he is a professionally derider...pffft you Pfister you...
 

Casual Shinji

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I haven't seen The Dark Knight Rises, but in terms of style both movies are going for a totally different tone. So it seems a bit weird for this guy to start critisizing another movie on this point.

I'll admit that The Avengers wasn't shot in any real imaginative way, but it's meant to be a straight up lighthearted action flick for the whole family, not a dark and moody slow burn.
 

Eruanno

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Aug 14, 2008
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The Avengers was great, and The Dark Knight Rises was great. Go see them both or get the Bluray/DVD.
There, problem solved. Nothing to see here people! Show's over!
 

Agow95

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Small question, did anyone here feel they couldn't bring themselves to enjoy The Avengers because of poor camera angles?
 

Scarim Coral

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So is he going to get troll on just like that woman who think the film wasn't good before the film was release?
 

Valanthe

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octafish said:
Look I'm sorry if any of you have that name, and I know it is a perfectly normal name and probably has a long and distinguished history and everything but...I really like how his name sounds like he is a professionally derider...pffft you Pfister you...
Actually a lot of people will use a silent P on that, meaning they would pronounce his name "Fister," I see only bright futures for a child with -that- last name.
 

NinjaDeathSlap

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Feb 20, 2011
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I didn't notice odd camera angles in The Avengers... I was too busy wishing I hadn't chosen to watch in in 3D because the 3D effects were so shit.

Mind you, I remember thinking during The Dark Knight Rises, "Hmm, for a Batman film, a hell of a lot of this is being shot in broad daylight. Why?

Oh, that's right, because they were so scared The Avengers was going to squash them they had to make everything BIGGER AND BETTER than The Dark Knight, for the purposes of showing off, rather than actually serving the story.
 

burymagnets

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I still thought The Avengers was good, but I agree with Pfister. To me it felt like really, really, really high budget tv.
 

Porecomesis

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To be honest, I wasn't a fan of the story of The Avengers. I can't really go into detail about it right now due to it being very late at night but the two things that bugged me were that, firstly, the plot felt like it just went in a circle and, secondly, the final battle just bored me. It wasn't dramatic or exciting to me in the slightest. This is because the bad guy mooks, who I knew absolutely nothing about, were not there as entities with personalities but rather as punching bags to show off the special effects.

Loki, however, averts this. My favourite scene in the movie, bar none, is when Hulk picks him up and throws him about like a rag doll when he's in the middle of talking about him being a god and the Hulk should obey him. I love it so much. :D
 

Starke

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NameIsRobertPaulson said:
Rough translation: "We didn't like how The Avengers beat us at the box office, but it obviously wasn't OUR faults, such as dragging on far longer than it needed to, or having the villain be as uninspiring as possible, or our plot twist being pointless for comic fans and devoid of originality for non comic fans."

Plus, after the confusing at best angles Inception had, I don't think he has room to talk.
Yeah, a slightly more accurate translation would be, "How the fuck does that incompetent hack, Whedon, keep getting work?" To be fair, a lot of people have been asking that question for over a decade.
 

Agent Cross

Died And Got Better
Jan 3, 2011
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Agow95 said:
Small question, did anyone here feel they couldn't bring themselves to enjoy The Avengers because of poor camera angles?
Yeah, I had to stop watching it at the 143 min. mark. After that scene, it was unwatchable.

OT: This almost screams, "Look at me! See how much better my shots are compared to theirs."
 

Milanezi

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Personally I'm in a hate-enjoy position with TDKR, the movie IMO was pretty weak compared to Batman begins and The Dark Knight, but not enough to make it a bad movie, still, there were a couple of scenes and events that just made me really hate it, and what made even more pissed is that one of them could be EASILY fixed with a little bit more attention to the acting, and that's

SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILERSPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILERSPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER

Talia's death, it's not the way she dies, or anything, it's the acting in that moment, it was awful, that **** of a whore of an actress seemes like a 9 years old faking a death scene, she's talking in pain and all of a sudden she lets her head hang and bang she's dead, it was just as bad as that fight between Daredevil and Elektra in the playground

ENNNNNNND OF SPOOOOOOILER

The ending wasn't to my liking either, because it failed to give closure, that could be fixed with a new movie following the "Nolan cannon", but the way it ended, it just created a bigger question and no valid answers, seemed like a TV show that got canceled in the worst moment it could end (I'm looking at you Deadwood, you got canceled in the middle of a conflict for fuck's sake!)
The Avengers on the other hand, it was a blockbuster but that's all, it was nice and fun all the way, but it didn't add no big drama nor anything. But hey, it didn't even attempt to, it just wanted to be like, surprise, the COMIC BOOKS, and that he did. So yeah, maybe the "awful" camera shots were there for a reason, to make you feel like you're watching a comic book, which is the way you should.

I know, Batman isn't shot that way because Nolan wanted a different feel, something less comic book and more "real", and it did work. What didn't work, for me, in TDKR were other things.
 

Kungfu_Teddybear

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I came into this thread genuinely interested in what this guy had to say. Then I saw his name and started laughing.
 

Dogstile

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Jan 17, 2009
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OhJohnNo said:
Eh, he's a cinematographer. He's allowed to be snobby about his own field.

But I don't care at all.
I really disagree. Snobs in any field, even if it is their own are unbearable. Usually they're so convinced that their way is the bet way that they'll refuse to believe that other ways are more efficient.

As a programmer, I deal with these arseholes every day.
 

Kmadden2004

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Feb 13, 2010
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While Mr Pfister is entitled to his opinion, which I won't argue (though I do disagree), there is a little thing called professional courtesy.

Going out of your way to point at one of your peers and say "they suck, they're a sell-out" mid-interview is a pretty tactless act on his part, especially when he went after what's perceived to be his competition without any provocation or prompting from the interviewer. I guess I just expected a little more class from a man of his status.

(btw, is it my imagination, or does 'Mr Pfister' not sound like the name of a '90s techno-club act? From Germany?)