dragon house episode 7 was a great episode. In fact, it was one of the best episodes of the series. The only complaint about the episode was that it was too dark for some fans. Despite being on max brightness, fans were still unable to watch multiple scenes and had to rely solely on the dialogue to figure out what was going on. Here’s why the episode was so dark and why Miguel Sapochnik deserves some slack.
Fans Take To Twitter That House Of The Dragon Episode 7 Is Too Dark To Watch
HBO MAX Help Defends Dark Scenes in House of the Dragon Episode 7
A number of fans took to Twitter to complain about the dim lighting. Many of them initially thought their TVs or phones were broken or the episode had a bug that made it so dark. Despite their best efforts to close the curtains and watch the episode at maximum brightness, they still couldn’t enjoy some scenes. Some fans were also extremely bitter about the situation, as they called it the worst episode. After a ton of similar responses and backlash, the HBO Max Twitter account tweeted in defense of House of the Dragon Episode 7. They claimed that the dim lighting was an intentional creative decision.
How it was a creative decision on the part of Miguel Sapochnik
The Long Night directed by Miguel Sapochnik also had dim lighting
It wasn’t the first time that Miguel Sapochnik had filmed an episode in such dim light. The Game of Thrones episode “The Long Night” was also directed by Sapochnik. This episode too was very dark and fans had a hard time watching it. The episode revolved around the final battle to stop the Night King’s invasion of Westeros. It was dark, it was violent, and it was a brilliant episode from a cinematic perspective. However, for fans at home, their TVs weren’t prepared for such low lighting.
Night scenes were too dark
Similarly, the darkness that hung over Westeros in House of the Dragon episode 7 was portrayed by Sapochnik through the dim lights and dark atmosphere he created. It was a creative decision. Not only did the episode chronicle the events that occurred at night, but the darkness was meant to give an eerie quality to the episode. After all, there was a lot going on. Aemond claimed Vhagar and had his eye cut out by Lucerys.
House of the Dragon Episode 7 Initial Lighting
There were also other moments that fit the theme of darkness. For example, Vhagar opening his eyes and Rhaena telling Baela that someone stole Vhagar. These scenes were meant to send shivers down your spine and the darkness was needed to further enhance the effect. Even Laenor escaping from Driftmark was a scene with dim lighting. It makes sense because Laenor escapes would require a great deal of stealth and concealment. He needed the darkness to conceal his flight.
Difference Between Editing Rooms and Home TVs
Miguel Sapochnik realized House of the Dragon Episode 8 was too dark to watch
What filmmakers and directors often forget is that regular TVs and phones are unable to capture the same level of art as projectors and editing room screens. While we wholeheartedly understand the creative inspiration behind this decision, some scenes were definitely difficult to watch. In the editing rooms, there are OLED reference monitors that can handle the grayish tone of the episode without being too dark to watch. In fact, it had to look brilliant on those screens, representing exactly what Sapochnik wanted. However, devices used by the public cannot handle the same grayscale. It will likely be even worse if you watch via satellite and cable. Filmmakers should probably be a little more attentive to this problem.
