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Valentina Vee@valentinavee · Sep 4, 2026

What's happening here is a color technique called Split Toning, which has become more popular in the last couple of…

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Summary

Split toning is a popular color grading technique that adds blue/green tones to shadows while keeping highlights warm, creating color contrast while reducing actual contrast. Modern filmmakers often avoid harsh shadows and bright sunlight in favor of diffused, flattened images, though this trend is driven by executive preferences rather than creative necessity.

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  1. #1

    What's happening here is a color technique called Split Toning, which has become more popular in the last couple of years. It has to do with the Color Grading process that footage goes through in post-production. 🧵

    Marigold@kittygang_4ever · Sep 3, 2026

    I NEED a professional to tell me why everything looks like this now. It was the same problem with Wicked and a million other recent movies. WHAT is going on here?? And why so much backlighting??????

  2. #2

    In an effort to introduce more color contrast into the image, the filmmakers have chosen to tone the shadows blue/green while keeping the highlights a warmer tone.

  3. #3

    It's also fascinating to see that while they introduced COLOR contrast, they also reduced ACTUAL contrast. Take a look at the cloaks. In the 2001 version, the shadows actually fall off into full black, whereas the "modern" version shows off the full dynamic range of the sensor.

  4. #4

    Modern shows also don't love to use bright sunlight (because it tends to look unflattering) so they give their outdoor scenes an overcast look by using giant diffusers on condor cranes (called flyswatters).

  5. #5

    It's not "everything" that looks like this - it's just a trend that is dictated by execs who are afraid to let things fall to shadow, or for light to be too harsh. If you want the opposite of this, look to Heated Rivalry:

    Valentina Vee@valentinavee · Dec 30, 2025

    Let’s talk about the lighting in Heated Rivalry and why it stands out among a lot of shows/movies in the romance genre. #heatedrivalry #cinematography

  6. #6

    Anyway, support trans kids: transyouthequality.org/donate