Anyone else find this movie's woods too "green"?

[The Missing Bear]

I'd been trying to work out why BW16 didn't ever feel as visually eerie as BWP, even with all its louder and more explicit scares (ok I also feel that doesn't help either in folk horror, but I digress), and it finally occured to me that one of the things I really don't enjoy in BW16 is that the woods literally seem far too green and full of life.

I wasn't sure if it's simply a technological side-effect, whereby the better cameras and more modern technology allowed for a wider range of colour to be captured (therefore the original BWP just looked more saturated because of that old consumer-grade filming, as well as its liberal use of black & white), or whether the woods truly were greener; but in just looking it up now as to when BWP was filmed (in fall 1997) and when BW was filmed (in spring 2015), it tends to support my belief that the more blossoming and healthier look for the woods would definitely be a byproduct of the time it was filmed.

For me it's one of those tiny effects of "you may not have noticed, but your brain did" that just changes part of the whole sense of dread the original had that the latest one sadly didn't have. The original's woods were literally visually "dying" (shedding all their withered brown leaves, that consistently carpet the ground), the entire location feeling very empty and unwelcoming, there's no wildlife, it's like nature is decaying all around them; it's cold, the colours are predominently browns, greys and pale sickly yellows, and the Black Hills forest became a very bleak character of its own. Even when the sun is briefly shining, those woods look simply dismal; recalling the mood of the poisoned creek water tale from Curse of the Blair Witch.

In contrast, BW16 is full of blossoming plants and shrubbery, greenery abounds as the spring ushers in new life, and in short, the Black Hills just don't feel like they're corrupted by Elly Kedward's evil influence. It's especially noticeable in the drone scene that has the forest literally looking like a gorgeous, sun-kissed, picture-postcard tribute to the beauty of mother earth and a promotional tool for the joys of camping, whilst the original continually evoked the stark haunting terror of the lifeless trees on its classic posters.

Anyone else noticed this or feel the same way?

[Tweek]

Yep. Shot at the wrong time of year in the wrong location. That's clearly not Maryland.

[trey]

Agreed. It definitely doesn't look like the same woods, and you make some good points about the difference in tone visually. Overall, the film is too slick and polished, much like most other found footage films, including how the camera never looks like it's being operated by an actual amateur and always "happens" to point at the right thing at the right time.

As a middle ground, I think that BW2: Book of Shadows, while looking more professionally made, still manages to have the woods look similar to the ones in the original film (and I believe, the same time of year).