From the movie The Order (2024) with Jude Law, set in 1984.
To me, those beams look like modern LEDs – did cool white lights like that even exist in 1984?
by AccurateJazz
From the movie The Order (2024) with Jude Law, set in 1984.
To me, those beams look like modern LEDs – did cool white lights like that even exist in 1984?
by AccurateJazz
4 Comments
Those certainly do look like LEDs.
This is one of those things that do not get much attention on sets.
Its a flashlight – Check
There are WW1 and WW2 movies which feature LED lights.
I don’t think they cared that much about the accuracy of the flashlights, so much as the look of the beams in the smoke. Plus if you tried putting those old Kel-Lites in there, you probably wouldn’t end up with much of a beam, even with the help of the smoke machines.
The other thing to note, and I doubt it had much of an effect, is that the film itself in these shots are treated into a harsh grunge blue overtone. You wouldn’t want bright 3000K incandescent hues to draw too much attention away from the dreary mood created by the rest of the surroundings. Even if the props department put in period-accurate flashlights to use, post-processing would have taken an ax to the K-temperature of those beams.
Just about the only thing that would be period accurate is a 2D Maglite. The actors would hate carrying them, and they would make no sense in the overhand grip that’s always used in movies to make framing the shot easier – and because it looks cool. As others have already pointed out, there wouldn’t be much of a beam even in thick smoke or fog, so the shot would not look cool, and it needs to look cool.
Most people watching don’t know what flashlights looked like 20 years ago, let alone 40, so they won’t care. If you’re a torch nerd, you just have to accept that they will always use the wrong lights for the period, or “tacticool” lights with trash beams.
Very few movies and shows get lights right, and that’s okay, just suspend disbelief and enjoy the story.
In terms of something you could mount on a rifle, there wasn’t anything quite that bright in 1984. You had ugly yellow beams with the brightness of a few candles.