Why Movies Don't Feel Real Anymore: A Close Look at Changing Filmmaking Techniques

"If fewer of us than ever have been going out to the movies, one reason must have to do with the easy availability of home streaming, to say nothing of all the proliferating digital distractions precision-engineered to capture our attention. But could it also have to do with a change in the pictures themselves? With more than two million views racked up in just four days, the new Like Stories of Old video essay above ventures an explanation as to "Why Movies Just Don't Feel 'Real' Anymore.""

"One clearly - or rather, readily - noticeable contributing trend is the prevalence of shallow focus, which keeps the characters in the foreground sharp but lets all the details of the background go blurry: not the way we see the real world, unless we misplace our glasses. Because we live in deep focus, deep focus cinematography feels more real to us."

Cinema attendance and perceived film realism have declined as easy home streaming and engineered digital distractions capture attention. Big-budget spectacles can feel insubstantial when cinematic techniques diverge from everyday perception. A widespread trend toward shallow focus sharpens foreground figures while blurring contextual background details, producing images that do not match human visual experience. Historically, films emphasized deep focus and tactile, spatial richness that conveyed a stronger sense of reality. The growing mismatch between cinematic imagery and lived perception weakens immersion and makes contemporary movies feel less authentic.

Read at Open Culture