There's Something Weird About 'The Sandman' Cinematography, According to Fans
It's unclear whether it was intentional.
Despite fans enjoying their first look at Netflix 's 'The Sandman ', there was something unsettling about the trailer – or, more precisely, about the way it was filmed. Many fans have taken to social media to point at the bizarrely elongated faces of the characters and the visuals in general.
A Reddit user has come up with a couple of mock-ups to illustrate the point, showing that the faces indeed do look stretched in the first trailer.
According to fans, it might have been caused by the choice of lenses for filming. Some people suggested that the crew used some kind of vintage or anamorphic lenses, which is why everything looks unnaturally elongated.
"It’s definitely anamorphic or some other vintage lens, as the bokeh is really swirly, which works, but it’s almost like it’s in 16:9 and THEN they’ve squeezed it to put black bars on for YouTube? Weird." – /SEGAMAD
It's unclear whether that was a cinematography mistake or an intended artistic choice. The majority of people found it distracting, especially after having a look at photoshopped mock-ups rendering the same frames in a more natural ratio.
Netflix has not addressed the issue, and neither have the creators. Many people, however, have already spotted it, noting how it "throws them off" and threatening to not even give 'The Sandman' a chance if the final product looks like the trailer.
There is a chance the ratio will change when 'The Sandman' premieres on August 5. It is going to be streaming on Netflix exclusively.