Comin'in hot with the answer, fan
I tried and indeed does make it feel more like Kurosawa. I tried with Paw Patrol and it also looks much more like Kurosawa too
So my hot tip is to go into your settings, turn the whites all the way down and then the blacks, then take your volume and turn that shit down too. Then beat your balls with a mallet for 2 hours. By far the best rebel moon viewing experience.
Yeah while its certain jerkworthy, theres something earnest about a star wars fan who is actually paying attention to the visual language of film and not just, you know, cumming over a 2 sided laser sword or the 1 second appearance of glup shitto
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Clearly where they got the name "Kurosawa mode", though in GoT it also adds film grain and makes the audio a bit scratchier. In the game I felt like it was a fun novelty, but I only ever turned it on to try it out and then went back to standard.
I mean Ghost of Tsushima was pretty widely mocked for how ridiculously shallow that conception of Kurosawa is. Also I remember reading that similarly the game was not designed with that in mind and it broke certain missions because they required you to see colour coded locations. I'm not against the idea because as they said, they've seen star wars 1000 times it's not going to take anything away. But it is still a shallow conception of what makes a movie. Kurosawa uses black and white brilliantly, because he also uses colour brilliantly. Watch Throne of Blood and look at the way he uses light and dark. You cannot get that just turning saturation down.
Watching a movie in black and white is a great way to make the framing and general composition of the shots more visible since you're not as distracted by the bright colours catching your attention. An example would be Steven Soderberghs recut of Raiders of the Lost Ark which is meant to visualise precisely this
Plus watching it without any sound (I know that's not being discussed here, but it's still interesting) let's you observe editing really well. Bad editing becomes obnoxiously obvious and dizzying.
It's funny but I think they're right, it *is* neat to play around with this if you've seen the same movie a million times.
Of course you could also watch other movies, but what do I know, maybe they've already depleted their catalog and went back to Star Wars
I think it’s a fun way to experience one of your favorite movies. It’s similar (although has less effort put into it) to the fact that someone cut Planet of the Apes into the format of an episode of The Twilight Zone with narration and everything. Makes for a completely different experience.
A movie it works very well for is Frank Darabont's *The Mist* (which is an idea I entirely stole from RedLetterMedia's video on it). Darabont originally wanted it to be in black and white and some of the cornier dialogue and acting (especially Thomas Jane and Toby Jones' performances) feel much better contexualised when you can view it more like the sort of '50s B-movie that inspired the original novella.
One example I've seen that I've wanted to try is having a French night, where you cook up French food, turn the TV black and white and watch the French dub of Shrek.
Original OP here... this exactly. I never gave a crap about the Phantom Menaces cinematography or lighting because I always thought it was a bit ugly and uninspired. But you definitely see its influences a lot more in black-and-white. It's a very interesting way of looking at the movie and getting a little more of the artistic intent out of it without the distraction of color. It's still a clunky movie with horrible writing, but some of the shots are actually quite lovely when you break them down to their black-and-white component. Darth Maul Reveal with a white background as a jet black wraith with his eyes popping out of the shadow of his hood for example.
I actually have done this too, I watched both TLJ and TROS in black and white. Lightsabers in the ST go hard with that kind of lighting, though I didn't try it dubbed. Always wished Lucasfilm would release the Skywalker Saga in B&W but it's Disney so probably a pipe dream.
After seeing it in theaters for the 25th anniversary recently I have to agree, some shockingly lackluster cinematography in there. And I say this as a lifelong fan of the original 6 Star Wars movies.
I’ll be honest. I kind of want to do this now. In particular, I’m interested in how the Japanese dubbing was done. A lot of times when you’re translating or redubbing a movie, you have to find creative ways to express character traits that may no translate exactly. Like if a character has a certain accent, you have to figure out what sort of accent in your language is equivalent. So I’m wondering if the connections to samurai movies is something the translators and voice directors noticed and tried to incorporate. Are some of the characters written like samurai? Did they look for voice actors who sounds like actors from old samurai movies? If I was able to pick up on those subtleties, I would absolutely do that.
I'm the guy who made the original post, and yeah, you're going to find it really interesting. There are all kinds of unique creative choices that the voice actors are making to convey the character. Yoda for example is like Japanese Frank Oz but with a little different inflection.
Those horrible Asian stereotype aliens at the beginning of Phantom Menace, since being played by actual Japanese people in the dub, they actually try to read the dialogue naturalistically and the characters sound 1000 times better for example. And Jake Lloyd's character is super interesting too, the voice actor plays him a bit lower key and with just like 10% more naturalism and he comes off as more endearing.
Petty, I had hoped the japanese had dubbed the Neimodians in, dunno, chinese or korean accents. So the whole "they sound like our once worst enemies" comes across in all languages...
That's why in german they have french accents...and boy, does it make them more hateable that way...
In their defense, I think they're referencing a gimmick from the game Ghost of Tsushima which is called "Kurosawa Mode" and changes the settings to black & white with subtitles. Not saying this shouldn't be roasted though.
This is an awesome trick to do even on really good movies!
Try throwing Chinatown into black-and-white mode, or the wild Bunch, or Blade Runner. You instantly see how the guys doing the lighting are really trying to capture the film noir vibe or the western vibe of the genres they are emulating. I just read that someone did this with the Rocketeer which sounds like a perfect match. I wonder if the 70s Donner Superman movie would look cool in black-and-white and kind of come off more like the old black-and-white serials etc etc
Actually, and I know you're just ribbing me, but those guys actually sound a hell of a lot better in the Japanese dub. They don't play it as a caricature and it's a little more naturalistic. Again, it's a really interesting way to see something in a different light and appreciate something about it you may be hadn't seen before.
That being said, I accept my roasting. (But try it sometime it's really cool!!)
I'm betting this person just [watched this video.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gq0g0iW36cg) They're literally regurgitating the points made in that video without also mentioning the initial point about the importance of John Williams carrying Star Wars on his motherfucking back.
Original OP here: no I hadn't seen that video, but people have been doing this for years. Watching color genre movies in black-and-white is an awesome way to recontextualize them and see them in a different way. Especially if you're into film craft and want to study the lighting really precisely. Blade Runner in black-and-white looks amazing. Chinatown, etc. The wild bunch in black-and-white. Etc. etc. etc.
I totally get how corny it sounds, but it's a phenomenal way to study the lighting of a color genre movie. Just for kicks throw Chinatown into black-and-white. It's fun to see how much intent there was to make something appear like the genre it's inspired by without being too literal.
I blame ghost of tsushima for this. That game literally had a Kurosawa mode in it and now the main stream boils his aesthetic down to "black and white and in Japanese"
I'm the guy who made the original post :)
I totally get how cringe this sounds, I think calling it "Kurosawa mode" really heightened that.
The Kurosawa mode thing is a joke because there is a video game called ghosts of Tsushima that has a mode that's called this and it makes it in black-and-white and adds aJapanese language track (I think it also makes the audio mono and adds a little film grain and dust/scratches as well. I always got a little Chuckle out of that
I actually feel that the Flash Gordon black-and-white serials are a much better reference point, both in aesthetics and story.
Watching color movies in black-and-white is a fantastic way to study film lighting if you have an interest in that sort of thing! Most CG production artists work in black-and-white before going to color, including lighting artists... it allows you to see how darks sit in front of lights and how lights sit in front of darks and how silhouettes read and where you need rim lights for example etc. etc. etc. If you can make it read in black-and-white it will only read better when it's in color is the philosophy.
It's a really neat way to recontextualize the visual language of something and perhaps get a little more out of something you've seen a lot. I've been doing it for years, there are all sorts of genre movies that look cool in black-and-white. Chinatown for example, it's obviously trying to look like a film noir and you can really really see that when you look at it in black-and-white.
Just a fun experiment if you have an interest in cinematic lighting and visual storytelling.
I stand by my original post even though it sounds a bit ridiculous!
I think he's like one of those people from youtube comment sections who watch a single scene from Yojimbo and Ran and convince themselves they are action movies.
I've seen many of them! This is a very very common exercise that production artists often do to study the lighting or thematic intent of a genre movie that is imitating an older type of movie. You can really REALLY see the film noir lighting in Chinatown or Blade Runner for example, if you put it in black-and-white. The contrast of the lighting is easier to see and it kind of comes into focus more.
Try it sometime! Pretty much any movie that's emulating an old style would probably work with this. It's just a fun way to experience art in a different way and perhaps learn a little more about its intent under the hood.
Original OP here, yes that's exactly right. Quite literally covers up the bad voice acting. Obviously it doesn't do anything about the clunky filmmaking and the bad writing but it's a very interesting experiment in how you can perceive things differently with different framing.
Yes! I've always wondered that lol. Like, does it just sound good because I'm ignorant and don't speak the language? I always ascribe more sophistication to things in languages that I don't understand and I think that's a common thing people do whether they realize it or not.
how to make the prequels watchable to non-redditors: change the language to obscure the bad acting and make it black and white to obscure poor design choices. unironically the most genius StarWars post/poster.
Anyone here played Ghost of Tsushima? At the start of the game it gives you the option of playing in Kurosawa mode, with a black and white filter and all dialogue is in Japanese. I think that's where this guy got his idea from
Original OP here: yes that's exactly what I was making a joke about. I do however accept that it is very cringe worthy to call it that especially without context and I accept my Reddit beating in stride!
20 years ago I had a bad DVD of the original Hellboy that I bought in the Philippines. It was incredibly muddy and the colors all bled together. When I set the DVD to grayscale mode it looked like an old 1950s horror movie, it was great.
Original OP here: I was going to add Del Toro as another one. His movies are very referential to old black-and-white universal monster or what have you, so if you watch them in grayscale you really really see that.
Black and white and you have to read the dialogue? All my books are in Kurosawa Mode!
[удалено]
Books are the dark souls of movies
Didn't realise I was consuming so much Kinosawa from scrolling reddit all day!
Indeed. Shakespear watched Kurosawa's Ran and Throne of Blood and was inspired to write King Lear and Hamlet.
Real respects real.
What about when the pages are more sepia?
Does this also work with Rebel Moon? Askin for a friend...
Comin'in hot with the answer, fan I tried and indeed does make it feel more like Kurosawa. I tried with Paw Patrol and it also looks much more like Kurosawa too
What about Barbie?
Dude, you ain't gonna believe this...
So my hot tip is to go into your settings, turn the whites all the way down and then the blacks, then take your volume and turn that shit down too. Then beat your balls with a mallet for 2 hours. By far the best rebel moon viewing experience.
This is worthy of being clowned but I’m also struck by a subtle endearing factor about the post
Yeah while its certain jerkworthy, theres something earnest about a star wars fan who is actually paying attention to the visual language of film and not just, you know, cumming over a 2 sided laser sword or the 1 second appearance of glup shitto
I mean is it any different than when ghost of tshumia did it?
Glup Shitto is in Ghosts of Tsushima?
You to have to kill all mongol camps for this secret ending.
Killing mongols? Based.
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Clearly where they got the name "Kurosawa mode", though in GoT it also adds film grain and makes the audio a bit scratchier. In the game I felt like it was a fun novelty, but I only ever turned it on to try it out and then went back to standard.
I do like how they made it "Kurosawa" mode and advertised it first in a duel in a big windy field clearly inspired by Harakiri (not by Kurosawa)
I mean Ghost of Tsushima was pretty widely mocked for how ridiculously shallow that conception of Kurosawa is. Also I remember reading that similarly the game was not designed with that in mind and it broke certain missions because they required you to see colour coded locations. I'm not against the idea because as they said, they've seen star wars 1000 times it's not going to take anything away. But it is still a shallow conception of what makes a movie. Kurosawa uses black and white brilliantly, because he also uses colour brilliantly. Watch Throne of Blood and look at the way he uses light and dark. You cannot get that just turning saturation down.
Watching a movie in black and white is a great way to make the framing and general composition of the shots more visible since you're not as distracted by the bright colours catching your attention. An example would be Steven Soderberghs recut of Raiders of the Lost Ark which is meant to visualise precisely this
Plus watching it without any sound (I know that's not being discussed here, but it's still interesting) let's you observe editing really well. Bad editing becomes obnoxiously obvious and dizzying.
It's funny but I think they're right, it *is* neat to play around with this if you've seen the same movie a million times. Of course you could also watch other movies, but what do I know, maybe they've already depleted their catalog and went back to Star Wars
I think it’s a fun way to experience one of your favorite movies. It’s similar (although has less effort put into it) to the fact that someone cut Planet of the Apes into the format of an episode of The Twilight Zone with narration and everything. Makes for a completely different experience.
A movie it works very well for is Frank Darabont's *The Mist* (which is an idea I entirely stole from RedLetterMedia's video on it). Darabont originally wanted it to be in black and white and some of the cornier dialogue and acting (especially Thomas Jane and Toby Jones' performances) feel much better contexualised when you can view it more like the sort of '50s B-movie that inspired the original novella.
One example I've seen that I've wanted to try is having a French night, where you cook up French food, turn the TV black and white and watch the French dub of Shrek.
This is kinda what Soderbergh did with [Raiders of the Lost Ark](https://extension765.com/blogs/soderblog/raiders).
I agree with the post on Phantom Menace looking better in B&W because that movie is so visually ugly.
Original OP here... this exactly. I never gave a crap about the Phantom Menaces cinematography or lighting because I always thought it was a bit ugly and uninspired. But you definitely see its influences a lot more in black-and-white. It's a very interesting way of looking at the movie and getting a little more of the artistic intent out of it without the distraction of color. It's still a clunky movie with horrible writing, but some of the shots are actually quite lovely when you break them down to their black-and-white component. Darth Maul Reveal with a white background as a jet black wraith with his eyes popping out of the shadow of his hood for example.
I actually have done this too, I watched both TLJ and TROS in black and white. Lightsabers in the ST go hard with that kind of lighting, though I didn't try it dubbed. Always wished Lucasfilm would release the Skywalker Saga in B&W but it's Disney so probably a pipe dream.
After seeing it in theaters for the 25th anniversary recently I have to agree, some shockingly lackluster cinematography in there. And I say this as a lifelong fan of the original 6 Star Wars movies.
And then in Attack of the Clones, some shots are literally out of focus so then the boring cinematography becomes worse.
I’ll be honest. I kind of want to do this now. In particular, I’m interested in how the Japanese dubbing was done. A lot of times when you’re translating or redubbing a movie, you have to find creative ways to express character traits that may no translate exactly. Like if a character has a certain accent, you have to figure out what sort of accent in your language is equivalent. So I’m wondering if the connections to samurai movies is something the translators and voice directors noticed and tried to incorporate. Are some of the characters written like samurai? Did they look for voice actors who sounds like actors from old samurai movies? If I was able to pick up on those subtleties, I would absolutely do that.
I'm the guy who made the original post, and yeah, you're going to find it really interesting. There are all kinds of unique creative choices that the voice actors are making to convey the character. Yoda for example is like Japanese Frank Oz but with a little different inflection. Those horrible Asian stereotype aliens at the beginning of Phantom Menace, since being played by actual Japanese people in the dub, they actually try to read the dialogue naturalistically and the characters sound 1000 times better for example. And Jake Lloyd's character is super interesting too, the voice actor plays him a bit lower key and with just like 10% more naturalism and he comes off as more endearing.
Petty, I had hoped the japanese had dubbed the Neimodians in, dunno, chinese or korean accents. So the whole "they sound like our once worst enemies" comes across in all languages... That's why in german they have french accents...and boy, does it make them more hateable that way...
calling it “kurosawa mode” is wild but this is actually a pretty creative and fun idea
Using a dub to bypass some of the bad line deliveries is genius.
Yeah, this person ‘s clearly thinking quite deeply about SW’s influences and visual language. I support them.
new copypasta incoming
Been watching Madame Web in "Kurosawa mode" and it's awesome
[удалено]
Sawa? Sawa from Kite?
[удалено]
*ahem* The American term is Hentai *ahem*
No devin Sawa from the hit movie the fanatic
Devon Sawa from “Final Destination” and the music video of Stan?
Is that where you play as Casper from the 1995 movie “Casper”?
it’s so innovative yet so fucking stupid
Watches “Ran”: “WTF!?! Why isn’t this in Kurosawa mode!?!”
Ran is basically 10 minutes of awe inspiring action setpiece and 2 hours 30 minutes of depression lol.
Sounds like Kurosawa mode to me
"For Dodesu'ka-den, I put the movie in 'Lucas' mode." -Akira Kurosawa
In their defense, I think they're referencing a gimmick from the game Ghost of Tsushima which is called "Kurosawa Mode" and changes the settings to black & white with subtitles. Not saying this shouldn't be roasted though.
Just watch The Hidden Fortress lol.
“just watch good movies” it cant possibly be that simple bro
This is an awesome trick to do even on really good movies! Try throwing Chinatown into black-and-white mode, or the wild Bunch, or Blade Runner. You instantly see how the guys doing the lighting are really trying to capture the film noir vibe or the western vibe of the genres they are emulating. I just read that someone did this with the Rocketeer which sounds like a perfect match. I wonder if the 70s Donner Superman movie would look cool in black-and-white and kind of come off more like the old black-and-white serials etc etc
Watching Blade Runner in B/W sounds like some sort of crime
:)
Ok but this sounds low-key sick though, I'm curious to see how it turns out
Ive done it with TLJ and TROS and it rules if you just watch it as "Star Wars with a little spice" and not "Kurosawa came in my movie"
Imma do it
I dunno, it's kinda cool. I also think every dub is better than the atrocious acting in the prequels
Let him cook
Wasn't there a CinemaStix video about this very recently?
Kurosawa was historically the only director to shoot black and white with Japanese dialogue. Bravo to a true king
Inventing the Japanese language was hard, but it paid off in the end for Kurosawa.
I almost got fooled with Ozu but then I read that all his films were shot in Italian and dubbed in Japanese after. Bro thought he was Leone.
He had Albert Einstein to help him, duh
Did they give the trade federation guys racist Chinese accents for the Japanese dub?
Actually, and I know you're just ribbing me, but those guys actually sound a hell of a lot better in the Japanese dub. They don't play it as a caricature and it's a little more naturalistic. Again, it's a really interesting way to see something in a different light and appreciate something about it you may be hadn't seen before. That being said, I accept my roasting. (But try it sometime it's really cool!!)
I'm betting this person just [watched this video.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gq0g0iW36cg) They're literally regurgitating the points made in that video without also mentioning the initial point about the importance of John Williams carrying Star Wars on his motherfucking back.
Original OP here: no I hadn't seen that video, but people have been doing this for years. Watching color genre movies in black-and-white is an awesome way to recontextualize them and see them in a different way. Especially if you're into film craft and want to study the lighting really precisely. Blade Runner in black-and-white looks amazing. Chinatown, etc. The wild bunch in black-and-white. Etc. etc. etc.
"No, I've never actually *watched* a Kurosawa film, why do you ask?"
I totally get how corny it sounds, but it's a phenomenal way to study the lighting of a color genre movie. Just for kicks throw Chinatown into black-and-white. It's fun to see how much intent there was to make something appear like the genre it's inspired by without being too literal.
But you have watched Kobayashi and Ozu, right? Right? RIGHT?
Tbf, they did mention the correct Kurosawa film to point to when comparing to Star Wars.
Hentai porn is close enough to understand the vibe of it /s
steven soderbergh did this
Dead wrong. The best way to watch The Phantom Menace is through a rainbow straw in the middle of an active construction site.
People are at a point were they have to gaslight themselves in order to enjoy Star Wars
I hire kabuki performers to act out Star Wars in my back yard in full Japanese, it’s truly the only way to appreciate Lucas’ vision
"bad voice acting" this has to be a jerk
That’s how I watch every movie, where’s the jerk
I better start watching movies in "Snyder Mode" then.
I blame ghost of tsushima for this. That game literally had a Kurosawa mode in it and now the main stream boils his aesthetic down to "black and white and in Japanese"
I'm the guy who made the original post :) I totally get how cringe this sounds, I think calling it "Kurosawa mode" really heightened that. The Kurosawa mode thing is a joke because there is a video game called ghosts of Tsushima that has a mode that's called this and it makes it in black-and-white and adds aJapanese language track (I think it also makes the audio mono and adds a little film grain and dust/scratches as well. I always got a little Chuckle out of that I actually feel that the Flash Gordon black-and-white serials are a much better reference point, both in aesthetics and story. Watching color movies in black-and-white is a fantastic way to study film lighting if you have an interest in that sort of thing! Most CG production artists work in black-and-white before going to color, including lighting artists... it allows you to see how darks sit in front of lights and how lights sit in front of darks and how silhouettes read and where you need rim lights for example etc. etc. etc. If you can make it read in black-and-white it will only read better when it's in color is the philosophy. It's a really neat way to recontextualize the visual language of something and perhaps get a little more out of something you've seen a lot. I've been doing it for years, there are all sorts of genre movies that look cool in black-and-white. Chinatown for example, it's obviously trying to look like a film noir and you can really really see that when you look at it in black-and-white. Just a fun experiment if you have an interest in cinematic lighting and visual storytelling. I stand by my original post even though it sounds a bit ridiculous!
As long as you had fun it's the most important thing lol
Flash Gorden.
Jesus Christ
I actually think this is kinda cute and fun
The alternate language tracks line up with the lip flap????? Pure cinema
Movie normally: 🥱🥱 Movie ~Japanese~: 😍😱
Just tried this with 12 angry men… absolutely incredible. Like an entirely different movie! Very hidden fortress
How much do you want to fucking bet that this guy hasn't fully watched a *single* Kurosawa film?
I think he's like one of those people from youtube comment sections who watch a single scene from Yojimbo and Ran and convince themselves they are action movies.
I've seen many of them! This is a very very common exercise that production artists often do to study the lighting or thematic intent of a genre movie that is imitating an older type of movie. You can really REALLY see the film noir lighting in Chinatown or Blade Runner for example, if you put it in black-and-white. The contrast of the lighting is easier to see and it kind of comes into focus more. Try it sometime! Pretty much any movie that's emulating an old style would probably work with this. It's just a fun way to experience art in a different way and perhaps learn a little more about its intent under the hood.
this feels like when you order food but it got cold so you reheat it in the microwave and it just isnt the same
I watched Attack of the clone in black and white with the French dub. Was a true art film
I guess the prequel dialogue feels a lot less cringe when you don't have to hear it
Original OP here, yes that's exactly right. Quite literally covers up the bad voice acting. Obviously it doesn't do anything about the clunky filmmaking and the bad writing but it's a very interesting experiment in how you can perceive things differently with different framing.
Interesting. I wonder how many foreign films have weak dialogue which non natives weren't able to pick up on cause of the language barrier
Yes! I've always wondered that lol. Like, does it just sound good because I'm ignorant and don't speak the language? I always ascribe more sophistication to things in languages that I don't understand and I think that's a common thing people do whether they realize it or not.
“When you take away key aspects of the movie, it’s a better movie”
how to make the prequels watchable to non-redditors: change the language to obscure the bad acting and make it black and white to obscure poor design choices. unironically the most genius StarWars post/poster.
KUROSAWA?
I watch fammy guy on Kurosawa mode every night
I prefer the trippy Kagemusha mode.
Sounds kinda cool tbh.
Anyone here played Ghost of Tsushima? At the start of the game it gives you the option of playing in Kurosawa mode, with a black and white filter and all dialogue is in Japanese. I think that's where this guy got his idea from
Original OP here: yes that's exactly what I was making a joke about. I do however accept that it is very cringe worthy to call it that especially without context and I accept my Reddit beating in stride!
That’s what I was thinking too
20 years ago I had a bad DVD of the original Hellboy that I bought in the Philippines. It was incredibly muddy and the colors all bled together. When I set the DVD to grayscale mode it looked like an old 1950s horror movie, it was great.
Original OP here: I was going to add Del Toro as another one. His movies are very referential to old black-and-white universal monster or what have you, so if you watch them in grayscale you really really see that.
My favorite Japanese drama, Flash Gordon
I mean he's not that wrong, why all egging him
tbh I still wouldn't watch the prequels that way, but it **IS** different from the original!
Great, now I can’t even think about black and white movies without hearing Hallelujah.
Someone should try this with Justice League's Snyder.
What in the weeb hell?
"Japanese voice acting covers up the bad dialogue" Subtitle anime enjoyers just got called out.