Why 'Game of Thrones' has become so dark you can barely see the characters sometimes

"Game of Thrones" is a dark show. Literally. Sometimes it's hard to see what's going on.
Cinematographer Robert McLachlan, who worked on eight "Game of Thrones" episodes , told INSIDER this is due to the desire to keep the series as "naturalistic" as possible.
Since winter is here at last, that means the directors of photography on set are using only candles to light interior scenes some of the time.
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If you've watched an episode of "Game of Thrones" in the last several years, odds are you've noticed how dark the HBO show can be at times.

And no, we're not talking about thematic darkness of murder and torture and the pending apocalypse of a neverending night. We meanliterallydark. In some scenes, like the teaser for the coming third episode of season eight , fans can barely see what's going on sometimes. Though this darker palate is a trend in television outside of just "Game of Thrones," one of the HBO's hired directors of photography says the lack of extra lighting has been an intentional trend.

"I think we're all very much on the same page where we're trying to be as naturalistic as possible," cinematographer Robert McLachlan told INSIDER in 2017 .

Game of Thrones has gotten more dark partially because of the change in seasons on the show

Tormund Game of Thrones season 8 episode 1 Last Hearth HBO

On earlier seasons of "Game of Thrones," not only was it still late summer and early fall, but the cinematographers were using extra lighting on the set.

"If you watch season one again, there's a lot of unmotivated backlight," McLachlan said. "Even day exteriors, you can tell that they've been lit. The cinematographers who've been doing it since then, I think we're all very much on the same page where we're trying to be as naturalistic as possible."

"[We want] to make these sets and locations feel as if they're absolutely not lit by us, but only by mother nature or some candles," he continued, "so that it feels more naturalistic, albeit enhanced in some cases."

Arya Stark season one Game of Thrones HBO HBO

McLachlan was the lead cinematographer for eight total "Game of Thrones" episodes, including season three's memorable "Rains of Castamere," season five's "Mother's Mercy," and season seven's "The Spoils of War."

"In season seven, of course, winter is here," McLachlan said. "In the past, we had the shutters open out of necessity for the day interior [scenes] in Winterfell or Castle Black or Eastwatch, so that some daylight could make its way in. That was your primary lighting source. There was this rule there that nobody in this world would burn candles in the daytime because they're a luxury item, they're far too expensive."

The Hound Beric and Thoros Game of Thrones Helen Sloan Helen Sloan/HBO

"What's happened is now, with winter really here, there was a consensus that it would seem daft for them to have the shutters open when it's so bitterly cold out," McLachlan said. "Why would they do that? But on the other hand, it really makes it a lot harder for a cinematographer to justify some naturalistic light in there without so overdoing the candles or the fire or what have you."

And so as winter became progressively gloomier in the North, the show's scenes taking place indoors have been increasingly more dark.

The photos fans see accompanying articles or videos about "Game of Thrones" often come from the show's set photographer, Helen Sloan, who's able to capture scenes with a bit more brightness in her camera than we see on the screen. For photos you see that weren't distributed by HBO, it's likely that the images were brightened using a tool like Photoshop or Preview.

So there you have it. Next time someone remarks to you that "Game of Thrones" is intensely dark, you can credit the commitment of the show's teams to making its fantasy drama as realistic as possible. In the meantime, we recommend adjusting your TV or computer settings for maximum brightness.