Game of Thrones cinematographer insists The Long Night wasn’t too dark

Did Game of Thrones have a lighting problem in last week’s major episode?

For many reasons, last Sunday’s Game of Thrones episode “The Long Night” is currently, for better or worse, one of the most talked about events in pop culture (and considering all the buildup that was given for Avengers: Endgame last weekend, that’s really saying something).

One of the most hotly contested aspects was the darkness of the episode.  Not the tone or the body count, of course, that was expected and really par for the course for Game of Thrones.  No, there have been complaints from more than a fair share of viewers that scenes were so physically dark that they had no idea what was going on.

The Game of Thrones cinematographer Fabian Wagner gave an explanation for that during an interview with Wired U.K., even if it is a rather condescending one.

According to Wagner:

"“A lot of the problem is that a lot of people don’t know how to tune their TVs properly.  A lot of people also, unfortunately, watch it on small iPads, which in no way can do justice to a show like that anyway.”"

He added that the episode had been made dark on purpose for dramatic effect and that “I know it wasn’t too dark because I shot it.”

Uh….yeah, so there you have it, folks.  If any of you had a problem watching the episode, it couldn’t have possibly the result of an unforeseen error on the part of production crew somewhere along the way, you’re just not watching it right.

If this is true, it really raises more questions than it answers.  Was there no other way of getting the dramatic effect you wanted that would also allow for better lighting?  If you purposely shoot an episode that apparently requires the audience to adjust the picture just to be able to see what’s happening, do you think it might be helpful to at least tell them that?  Even Incredibles 2 came with a seizure warning.

Did any of you have trouble watching “The Long Night”?  What is your opinion of Wagner’s explanation? Give us your thoughts in the comment section.