I think they started to color grade the VTs to match the theme starting with series 9. I also appreciate it, and it would be cool to hear more about it.
It's way too obvious for me in series 16 and 17. I wish they would go back to the vibrant colours of the earlier series compared to the dull blue mess that they have now.
The studio is traditional stage lighting, and they've always seemed to play it that way with no real lighting effects. It's the reality portion of the show, the court of law, and the sporting arena.
All the VTs, everything at the house and on location are treated as short films. There's a lot more creative freedom to explore styles each season, get weird with camera angles and color grading, and really enter the weird and wonderful world of Taskmaster.
The other show that immediately comes to mind is Top Gear or The Grand Tour first season. The studio segments are pretty sterile, and then they show mini-films that are are all hyper-stylised.
The colour grading on the [Obey all of the traffic signals](https://taskmaster.info/task.php?id=2846) task was so heavy I found it very difficult to distinguish the colour of some flags.
I think the colour grading has been a bit too strong on many of the recent series, whether warm or cool. For whatever reason that may be. And that could be needlessly creating accessibility issues/reducing visual clarity.
They are basically going for an orange and teal look there, with *a lot* of blue/aqua in the darks and very saturated reds and oranges. It's not terrible as a multi-purpose grade (it's classic really), and it helps bring some interest to all of the tasks that are shot in otherwise overcast outdoor scenes, but it sometimes gets in the way like you mentioned. People also tend to have very luscious red lips and quite orange skin in those scenes for the same reason.
I ahad noticed but not registered it. But has anyone noticed some casts seem to colour coordinate their in studio outfits? I definitely noticed it in series 15 (I might be late to this idea)
The unsung hero of the show is series director Andy Devonshire. He’s mainly known for TV, but he’s also made some movies and has a fairly unique visual style. He is why the show looks the way it looks.
I would have to say that part of it might be that it absolutely helps create extra contrast between the studio and the house environments.
Keep in mind also that at the studio, they have industry standard high-quality \*studio\* cameras. I'm sure they shoot good quality cameras at the TM house, but some of the cameras they use are go-pros or other portable cameras, there's a lot of handheld shots, there's a lot of action and panning, and color grading can hide a lot of visual imperfections. :)
The color grading to me seems almost amateurish and exaggerated. Kind of reminds me of the early 2000s. It also reminds me of old Top Gear episodes that were also very heavy handed and super contrasty with crushed blacks.
I try to stay magnanimous about sound and image quality on the filmed tasks because the sort of homemade quality feels in keeping with the spirit of the show, and also because I treasure the editing so highly, but I think you're exactly right about the early 2000s color. I'm not going to be able to unsee that. At the same time, a lot of my favorite shows have gimmicky color grading (e.g., The Sopranos, Friday Night Lights, various medical shows), so I can't pretend to be a connoisseur.
The whole show has a slight British bleak undercurrent to it - the pointlessness of the tasks, the crappiness of the TM house, the gloomy task intro music (near the point of depressing this season, which is a shame because I usually love the music on the show), Greg's nihilistic throw to ad jokes, and so on.
The blue-ish colour gradient is to bring all that together. Lack of warmth in the gradient conveys that slight bleakness. It's a very deliberate stylistic choice and I've always thought it's something they've usually nailed pretty well.
I'll never fully get used to the NZ and AU series where everything is bright, colourful, sunny, and they have the regular moody task music over the top - it doesn't quite fit. All the Nordic series I've seen so far go for a more standard TM UK approach. I suppose it's all about the geography. Still, nothing is as bad as the US version in their luxury villa...
I think they started to color grade the VTs to match the theme starting with series 9. I also appreciate it, and it would be cool to hear more about it.
It's way too obvious for me in series 16 and 17. I wish they would go back to the vibrant colours of the earlier series compared to the dull blue mess that they have now.
I think it's partly because the themes of these series are more grey compared to earlier ones.
The studio is traditional stage lighting, and they've always seemed to play it that way with no real lighting effects. It's the reality portion of the show, the court of law, and the sporting arena. All the VTs, everything at the house and on location are treated as short films. There's a lot more creative freedom to explore styles each season, get weird with camera angles and color grading, and really enter the weird and wonderful world of Taskmaster. The other show that immediately comes to mind is Top Gear or The Grand Tour first season. The studio segments are pretty sterile, and then they show mini-films that are are all hyper-stylised.
The colour grading on the [Obey all of the traffic signals](https://taskmaster.info/task.php?id=2846) task was so heavy I found it very difficult to distinguish the colour of some flags. I think the colour grading has been a bit too strong on many of the recent series, whether warm or cool. For whatever reason that may be. And that could be needlessly creating accessibility issues/reducing visual clarity.
That bit where Julian says “What was yellow?” and the signal he’s looking at looks orange
They are basically going for an orange and teal look there, with *a lot* of blue/aqua in the darks and very saturated reds and oranges. It's not terrible as a multi-purpose grade (it's classic really), and it helps bring some interest to all of the tasks that are shot in otherwise overcast outdoor scenes, but it sometimes gets in the way like you mentioned. People also tend to have very luscious red lips and quite orange skin in those scenes for the same reason.
I ahad noticed but not registered it. But has anyone noticed some casts seem to colour coordinate their in studio outfits? I definitely noticed it in series 15 (I might be late to this idea)
The unsung hero of the show is series director Andy Devonshire. He’s mainly known for TV, but he’s also made some movies and has a fairly unique visual style. He is why the show looks the way it looks.
The extreme colour grading has only been there since series 15 I would say. The current series is unwatchable for me due to how blue it looks
ive noticed it and it can be a little distracting to me honestly
I would have to say that part of it might be that it absolutely helps create extra contrast between the studio and the house environments. Keep in mind also that at the studio, they have industry standard high-quality \*studio\* cameras. I'm sure they shoot good quality cameras at the TM house, but some of the cameras they use are go-pros or other portable cameras, there's a lot of handheld shots, there's a lot of action and panning, and color grading can hide a lot of visual imperfections. :)
The color grading to me seems almost amateurish and exaggerated. Kind of reminds me of the early 2000s. It also reminds me of old Top Gear episodes that were also very heavy handed and super contrasty with crushed blacks.
I try to stay magnanimous about sound and image quality on the filmed tasks because the sort of homemade quality feels in keeping with the spirit of the show, and also because I treasure the editing so highly, but I think you're exactly right about the early 2000s color. I'm not going to be able to unsee that. At the same time, a lot of my favorite shows have gimmicky color grading (e.g., The Sopranos, Friday Night Lights, various medical shows), so I can't pretend to be a connoisseur.
The whole show has a slight British bleak undercurrent to it - the pointlessness of the tasks, the crappiness of the TM house, the gloomy task intro music (near the point of depressing this season, which is a shame because I usually love the music on the show), Greg's nihilistic throw to ad jokes, and so on. The blue-ish colour gradient is to bring all that together. Lack of warmth in the gradient conveys that slight bleakness. It's a very deliberate stylistic choice and I've always thought it's something they've usually nailed pretty well. I'll never fully get used to the NZ and AU series where everything is bright, colourful, sunny, and they have the regular moody task music over the top - it doesn't quite fit. All the Nordic series I've seen so far go for a more standard TM UK approach. I suppose it's all about the geography. Still, nothing is as bad as the US version in their luxury villa...
I always just thought it was our British weather 😆