Black Summer

Submitted by pickledsoylentgreen t3_10mv8dj in television

I have been watching this show with my daughter lately, and I was amazed by how poorly it was written and how terrible the camera work is. I thought I would have a laugh and see what people posted about this show online, and, much to my surprise, people seem to love this show. I feel like I'm living in bizarro world. The acting is.....eh, the characters do the dumbest things ever just so they can initiate an action sequence (a school full of zombies? Let's not only hide in the music room, but lets pound on a drum while we're at it!), and the non-stop camera movement is nauseating and it really takes away from what would otherwise be an incredible set.

What am I missing about this show? Why does everyone love it so much and how the hell does it have 89% on rotten tomatoes?

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kingdazy t1_j65mboz wrote

this show is fucking dope. feels like the spiritual successor to 28 days later.

the walking dead became a total shitfest with episodes like daryl fixing a bike and carol catching a rat while making soup -- absolute garbage. seasons centered around faction vs faction conflicts. tons of filler, boring interpersonal dramas, corny character development expositions. the show isn't even about zombies or surviving the apocalypse anymore, and i'm not sure it ever was. I regularly found myself FFing through whole minutes of dialog at a time, and missing nothing.

this show is absolutely NOT trying to be that. this is a far more realistic and personalized approach to the zombie apocalypse concept, focusing primarily on the survival aspect instead of facilitating mediocre dramas.

the cinematography is phenomenal. some really great long takes. writing is excellent, especially notably in some long sequences without dialogue that still manage to be intensely suspenseful and entertaining.

the acting is superb (in most places), and this is especially noticeable with the korean girl. we're not given any real subtitles for her dialogue, which in itself is a bold move. this forces her character to communicate with tone of voice, body language, and emotional responses. as a result youre given an experience similar to how the other characters (who dont speak her language) interact with her. i absolutely love this idea.

the editing is great, i love the thematic "chapters" each episode is divided into. it gives them a format allowing better jumps between characters and sequences without it being especially jarring.

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pickledsoylentgreen OP t1_j65nje5 wrote

I actually really enjoyed the decision to forgoe the subtitles, it helped make it feel much more realistic. The blond woman who was the lead was not good at all though, so it may have skewed my view of the acting.

The editing is great and I really enjoyed their choice of color saturation as well. It certainly isn't all bad.

I don't know about the realistic approach, I didn't get that. I found it more of a "Fast and Furious" approach. The decisions of the characters were catered towards keeping the action moving. Many of the choices the characters made were unnecessarily idiotic. I get that they are meant to be frazzled and that would be realistic and all, but the music room scene, the corridor scene with the military officers and the scene in season two where they simply circle around the zombie, with no cover what so ever, and the zombie loses their scent right in the middle of the snow? They were too much.

Also, I'm a big fan of beautiful cinematography and this series went out of their way to make sure there weren't any extended, beautiful shots. This does get better in season 2 though.

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kingdazy t1_j65uvha wrote

To be fair, I was surprised at it's high ratings, because it's really not "prestige TV" or anything. It is low budget, and you're right about handheld stuff not being something a lot of people like. I think it might have been literal TWD Fatigue Syndrome. "Holy fuck, a zombie show that has, get this, lots of zombies and not mostly talking!"

And yeah, the cinematography style is not for everyone. I can relate to wanting quiet, still, expansive shots with depth. There was nothing still or quiet in the whole show. But if memory serves me, it's packed with long single takes of action, which tickles me in a completely different way.

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pickledsoylentgreen OP t1_j65xsya wrote

You know, part of it could be that I never got into The Walking Dead either, so I had no fatigue from it. I made it to the second season of TWD and realized it was going to be a soap opera with zombies, and I was out. I'm also not a huge action movie guy, so the continuous action shots got old really fast.

Now, I'm aware that this is about to be one of the most pretentious-sounding things I've ever posted, but......

I personally feel like a long, beautifully framed shot (like the final scene of Lady Vengeance) is way more impactful than the jotting, go-pro style.

Also, I'm personally a big fan of Argento, which is 99% style, 1% substance, so that shows where my priorities lie.

I appreciate the response, though. I enjoy hearing other people's perspectives.

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kingdazy t1_j65zg7b wrote

While I am rarely able to enjoy an argento/giallo styled film all the way through, all of my cinematography/director/film buddies love that shit. (though, I do love Lady Vengeance, and generally South Korean cinema)

But! As far as a well framed, long, still shot goes? I can totally get that. As an example: one of my favorite parts of one of my favorite films is the chapter breaks in Breaking The Waves by Lars Von Trier, done as a counterpoint to the Dogme 95-handheld style of the rest of the film. Quiet, still, expansive, landscapes, slight movement in the weather. Yum.

But again, I can also appreciate a long, uncut shot of action. Long single takes (esp moving from one environment to another, the more the better) are an art form of their own.

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pickledsoylentgreen OP t1_j660gv6 wrote

I totally get not liking giallo, haha. Nah, thanks for taking the time to explain why you dig it. I can also acknowledge that there is a ton of talent involved in those action shots, from all parties. It just doesn't do it for me personally.

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kingdazy t1_j66267e wrote

Love it when a reddit discussion turns into "hey, I can respect that opinion", "me too, have a nice day" haha

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Kills_Alone t1_j66ovzs wrote

While the acting in Black Summer is not amazing some of the scenarios played out in a more realistic manner where it felt like anyone could die when shit hit the fan, unlike TWD where all the leads have major plot armor. Many of the scenes reminded me of 28 Days/Months Later and the Valve game series Left 4 Dead. I agree there were some really stupid parts as well such as most of the school episode.

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pickledsoylentgreen OP t1_j66rxbs wrote

I also just watched an episode where the ham radio was getting contact, albeit through static, and the characters reaction was to smash the entire thing to bits. It really makes me furious at times.

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BusinessPurge t1_j66svxn wrote

There are several amazing sequences and episodes of Black Summer buried in standard Netflix bloat. I hope we get a third season. Some of the intentional ugliness is a bit much especially in season one, however cool stunt work and camera stuff really elevates the material. The beginning and near end of season one through end of two really worked for me as a fan of 28 Days Later/ Crazies style action horror

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Almighty_Push91 t1_j65i2ai wrote

I liked the first season alot

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pickledsoylentgreen OP t1_j65jakv wrote

Hey, no hate from me. Like whatever you like. It just felt like there was no artistic merit to it. I love the concept though.

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Alik013 t1_j67yrn8 wrote

not everyone loved it , I couldn’t watch more than 40 seconds of the first episode ..it felt like something that was made by a youtuber

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Oh_hey_a_TAA t1_j6e6mb7 wrote

I had seen people in here recommending Z Nation, and I'd had an itch for a dystopian narrative and I enjoy the undead as a mechanism to discuss the human condition so I tried it - it was fucking atrocious.
The next time that I saw someone in here discussing it I asked about it, and they said 'no no that's trash, but you should try Black Summer, the prequel, MUCH better' yada yada... Again, having free time and an itch ... Again, completely lackluster and disappointed.
I don't understand the appeal of the direction of production, obviously the acting delivery is niche at best, and even if you enjoy campy stuff this is questionable. I just ... I just don't know what people see in it. I guess maybe these are the same people that kept the Walking Dead on the air for so long maybe.

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GO-KARRT t1_j65catp wrote

It feels like it was a student film that had so much footage they turned it into a show. And then it has some names in it too. I made it 3-4 episodes in and just couldn't take it anymore. I gave it a real shot because of the rave reviews.

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pickledsoylentgreen OP t1_j66uvov wrote

Now that you made the student film comparison, I can't unsee it, haha. That's a perfect description.

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docfarnsworth t1_j65qp05 wrote

Yeah, they make some really stupid choices in the show. I enjoyed it, but it was frustrating.

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DoAsIDontSay t1_j661n1n wrote

The first season was sort of okay but the second was all over the place. It's not a good show to me but I can see how people like it. You just have to sit there and not think about anything that's happening.

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fortyfivesouth t1_j67vry0 wrote

I love this show; really visceral storytelling.

Looking forward to Season 3.

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pickledsoylentgreen OP t1_j687oej wrote

Visceral is actually a really good way to put it. The show definitely leans on the emotional side of storytelling. The storytelling left a lot to be desired for me personally, but I can understand how that would appeal to someone.

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SamuraiJackBauer t1_j6gp9an wrote

The second season was a massive step up.

The final 3 episodes of thst season were stellar.

I hope it gets more.

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reddit455 t1_j65d78j wrote

>What am I missing about this show?

you do not have to like it.

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shows that have a high "tomato score" and a lower audience score.. usually suggests the show is good (technically), but disappointing to fans of the genre.

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what were you expecting?

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pickledsoylentgreen OP t1_j65dykk wrote

While that's fair, what I meant was that I have no idea how critics thought this was good from a technical point of view, either. That is where it really seems to suffer for me. Bad screenplay, bad cinematography, and sub-par acting. Of course, no one is required to dislike the show, I just found it surprising how much praise it got on Reddit.

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