Andrew Droz Palermo, director of photography on Moon KnightThe third and fourth MCU episodes discussed avoiding the dreary color scheme of some MCU films.

Moon Knight was a fairly unconventional entry into the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Its story about a protagonist coming to terms with his own dissociative identity disorder, using England and Egypt as settings rather than the United States, his lack of connection to the larger MCU, and his use of Ancient Egyptian animal-headed gods in major roles all set it apart from other Marvel Studios projects. However, the differences didn’t end there, with one of the show’s cinematographers recently revealing that he’s taken steps to make the show stand out visually as well.

Some previous Marvel Studios projects have been criticized for their flatter color palette, making scenes look murkier and less vibrant. Such color palettes lack the variety and distinction of colors that can make an image stand out, giving it that comic book look. While not necessarily the case with all previous Marvel projects, it was definitely something the team was working on. Moon Knight wanted to avoid, embracing the psychedelic atmosphere of the character’s appearances in Marvel comics.

In a recent interview with the Direct, Andrew Droz Palermo revealed that he and the other cinematographers on Moon Knight wanted the series to stand out visually from previous Marvel films and series:

“I think for us, even visually, we were looking to do a little more contrasting show, to have a little more black. I think historically the Marvel things in front of us are pretty mid gray and pretty flat. So we tried to build on what other filmmakers before me had done. To tweak little things. It was sort of one of our goals at the start.

He also cited the comics as a key point of reference in creating the look of Moon Knight:

“I mean the comics were a real North Star for us, I think, in the visual style of some of these things. Plus, how it could go to such psychedelic places. You know, like a lot of mental asylums or hospitals, we finally get into my episode and episode five.

Given the series’ distinctive tone and the visual contrasts that naturally occurred, often between the night sky and Moon Knight’s white suit, this decision to focus on contrast and actively attempt to make the series more dynamic than other MCU projects certainly helped elevate Moon Knight.

Here is the synopsis of Moon Knight:

The series follows mild-mannered gift shop clerk Steven Grant, who is plagued by power outages and memories from another life. Steven discovers he has dissociative identity disorder and shares a body with mercenary Marc Spector. As Steven/Marc’s enemies converge on them, they must navigate their complex identities while immersed in a deadly mystery among the mighty gods of Egypt.

Created by Jeremy Slater, the Disney Plus series stars Oscar Isaac, May Calamawy, Karim El Hakim, F. Murray Abraham, Ethan Hawke, Ann Akinjirin, David Ganly, Khalid Abdalla, Gaspard Ulliel, Antonia Salib, Fernanda Andrade, Rey Lucas , Sofia Danu and Saba Mubarak.

Moon Knight is now steaming on Disney Plus. Stay tuned for all the latest news regarding the character’s future and be sure to subscribe to Heroic Hollywood’s YouTube channel for more original video content.

Source: The Direct