The "Dark & Gritty" Look Of..."12 Monkeys." How Original

Yes, The SyFy Channel has set yet another one of its productions in a..."Dark & Gritty"... imaginary world everyone and his mother has ripped-off from Ridley Scott's...."Alien"....movie from 1979.

I have come to realize that...."Dark & Gritty"....in any Science Fiction movie or television show has come to symbolize:

1. Lack of imagination and inspired thinking in art direction and production design.
2. Lack of adequate funding in art direction and production design.
3. Lack of imagination and inspired thinking in futuristic wardrobe.
4. Lack of adequate funding in futuristic wardrobe.

If your Science Fiction production has a...."Dark & Gritty"....backdrop, how easy is it for the producers and crew to just round up tattered rags for wardrobe, and grease monkey tools laying by gallon drums on fire with characters huddled to keep warm with rundown factories in the distance under grey cloudy overcast skies? VERY EASY!!

This is low budget stuff!! This is low budget....guerrilla filmmaking on a shoestring budget with no imagination required.

The guy in the video above states he and the crew didn't want to go with a bright and shiny futuristic universe. Of course he didn't!! Bright and shiny futuristic universes require imagination, and inspired thinking, and blueprints drawn up by an imaginative art department, and adequate funding to design from scratch a bright and shiny futuristic universe and its gadgets no one has ever seen before!!

...."Dark & Gritty"....has unfortunately become code for...."Let's knock this production out as quickly as possible with easily accessible, already existing items we can use to dress locations that already exist outdoors."

The SyFy Channel has even added its dreaded staple to the overused...."Dark & Gritty"....universe of..."12 Monkeys"..... (Clearing the phlegm in my throat)...The dreaded three-piece business suits unpopularized in Ronald D. Moore's low rated "GINO" - (Galactica In Name Only) series.

How many bright and shiny futuristic universes have there been in the entire 100 year history of Science Fiction film? In terms of Art Direction, Production Design, and Props? I can count on my left hand:

1. 2001: A Space Odyssey
2. Star Trek (1966)
3. Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987) and its sequel series.
4. Space: 1999

Ridley Scott (God Love Him) with his "1979 ALIEN" movie... Inspired an entire generation of lazy filmmakers and lazy television programmers to take the easy way out via a bargain basement and easy way to depict their various Science Fiction productions on film. Not doing any actual art direction and production design from blueprints. Not doing any actual construction of unique items. Just tossing together rags and bulkheads from here and there....and then claiming....

"This is the future!!"

This my friends is...."Dark & Gritty"....!! A lazy man's...."Dark & Gritty!!"

The bright and shiny Science Fiction universes from years past are now things of the past because the imagination and inspired thinking doesn't exist anymore to design them and depict them.

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 Read the books Universal Studios has tried and failed to censor on Amazon.com...

http://languatron.freeforums.org/viewforum.php?f=60

And read these books at another location where Universal Studios executives and its stealth marketers won't be able to post negative, misleading (stealth marketed) reviews of the books via them purchasing candy and Rogaine Foam on Amazon.com (allowing them access to the Amazon book review section) and not actually buying and reading the books. I'll leave the other 150 global locations under wraps for now.


http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/fullen1264