TV show rewind- Mission Impossible

[MD Puffer]

So I've been watching a bunch of old shows on Amazon Prime, including Mission Impossible.  The only reason I'm mentioning it is because Martin Landau has the perfect name for a torcedor on that show- "Rollin Hand".

Beside that, there's something about the film quality that surpasses anything mainstream since then (few exceptions here an there).  I don't know anything about cinematography, but the colors are vibrant and rich, great lighting, the resolution is good.  When I watched CHiPs I couldn't help but think it was so obviously 80's because of the graininess of the film, but MI filmed about 2 decades earlier so much better quality.

[ayepatz]

You’re not alone. I’ve been revisiting the original Star Trek.

Despite growing up with Next Generation, I have to say it already looks weirdly more dated than the original series.

This has nothing to do with the sets, costumes, or special effects, and everything to do with the weird soft-focus photography of the later series.

Kirk and co were filmed very crisply, with theatrical lighting, which somehow is more at home with a modern eye, given HDTV and UHD.

In photography terms, it’s only comparatively recently that digital resolution has caught up with the sharpness that film can achieve.

I’m guessing that many 80s shows were shot using the predominant technology of the time - video, and those that were shot on film would have been filmed using cheaper film stock.

Most classic 60s and early 70s shows would have been filmed on higher quality film stock, hence the higher image quality.

[Markspring1978]

About 20 years ago, FX used to run MI re-runs. I was in my teens and loved the show that was made a decade before I was born. The show is so good on so many levels, the plots were great and decent acting. 

Thanks for sharing, I’ll check it out again.