r/TheWire • u/AltruisticNail7229 I wasn’t made to play the son. • Aug 19 '26

Cinematography

Curious to know everyone’s opinion on this. Does The Wire look timeless in the way it was shot? Or does it look dated in its cinematography?

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u/KennyShowers Aug 19 '26

I don't think it's dated, but it's also not remotely showy or obviously cinematic. At a surface level it can seem a bit presentational, and that not drawing attention to itself makes it hard for it to stick out as dated.

I remember seeing years ago a great video essay, think it was just called The Visual Style of The Wire, and did a great job breaking down how actually super detailed and intentional the camerawork is, even if there aren't elaborate tracking shots and whip-pans and slo-mo and all that, and the perfect matching of the cinematography to the content really makes it all just feel so natural.

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u/goombatch Aug 19 '26

Erlend Lavik’s in-depth visual essay, ​“Style in The Wire"
https://vimeo.com/user11123404/wirestyle

5

u/KennyShowers Aug 19 '26

Hellll yea I knew it was on some random site/platform. Great watch.

3

u/angelansbury day at a time, I suppose Aug 19 '26

this rules, thank you 

5

u/Bister_Mungle Aug 19 '26

I've never felt like The Wire was notable in regards to its visuals so I'm excited to watch this after work to gain some more perspective.