A lot of eagle-eyed viewers have noticed dead pixels in Snyder’s ‘Army of the Dead’. Personally, I haven’t noticed it, since I enjoyed this movie so much. The cinematography is stunning, and we’ve been writing a lot about it. Nevertheless, it’s an issue that might be addressed. Let’s have a look at some examples.

Dead pixels in ‘Army of the Dead’

The phenomenon was noticed by a Reddit user that wrote: “It is not visible in every scene, as only one of them (I estimate three) cameras has a faulty sensor. For example, you can clearly see it in Dave Batistas reverse shot when he sits down in the diner at the beginning of the movie. I checked and it is definitely not a fault of my projector nor my TV and apparently only visible on the 4K version of the movie and is not visible in 1080p. Somehow interesting they didn’t notice and correct it, as it is very visible even for daylight scenes shot with the camera”.

Indeed, a lot of eagle-eyed audiences have noticed those dead pixels as well. Check out the tweets below:

I mean ultimately the fact that #ArmyOfTheDead has a dead pixel in a bunch of shots is a very, very minor imperfection. But it is also quite funny, and the kind of thing that will drive some viewers absolutely bananas when they notice it. pic.twitter.com/Xg1U3UsTca

— Stephen McNeice (@maccytothedee) May 22, 2021

Army of the Dead Pixel pic.twitter.com/H14f40CHdB

— Paul Doherty (@thepauldoherty) May 24, 2021

And here’re some recorded shots with those pixels:

Netflix advice

Netflix published an article on how to prevent hot pixels, defined s Pixel Error.

Description: “Pixel Error” refers to one or several pixels in a frame that does not display the correct captured information as the pixels surrounding them. Sometimes also referred to as a “Dead Pixel”.

Impact: Pixel Errors impact the Technical and Content Quality of the asset. Pixel errors are often due to a bad sensor in the camera used to capture. They are distracting to the customer experience, especially when they stand out in darkly lit scenes or on a character’s face.

How to prevent dead pixels (according to Netflix)

Daily Black Shading Calibration: Calibration Mechanism based on camera sensor exposure time and temperature. Resets noise patterns, reducing pixel errors, should be performed for changing environments or temperatures.

Pixel Check: With the lens on the camera, point the camera at the lit white card, causing photosites to electrify, begin recording and swap to the black card or reduce exposure on lens til closed; analyze frame for stuck pixels. Review content in “vivid” mode with all noise reduction and interpolation turned off.

Contrasting elements often exhibit issues: Review darker scenes with camera movement. Pixels will remain bright and fixed in location.

Solution (According to Netflix)

Dead pixels must be removed with a VFX paint fix. Pixels should be painted out in the non-graded archival master (NAM) to ensure the fixes carry over to all subsequent deliverables, including the graded archival master (GAM), video display master (VDM), and final IMF.

Final thoughts

Don’t get me wrong. Snyder’s ‘Army of the Dead’ is an awesome movie. We wrote about the making and what cameras (and lenses) were used to shoot that crazy visual piece. (Read: ‘Army of the Dead’ Trailer Is Out: Shot on RED Monstro by Cinematographer [and Director] Zack Snyder, and Zack Snyder’s ‘Army of the Dead’ was Shot on Canon Rehoused Vintage Full-Frame Lenses). As explained, Snyder was the cinematographer and camera operator of the movie, and he was shooting in an extremely challenging environment, mostly handheld. There’s a chance that the production skipped on the Black Shading process of the modified RED Monstro. Nevertheless, on this one, the cinematography has pushed to the limit. If so, we can absorb those dead pixels, draw conclusions, and enjoy this great movie.

Have you watched ‘Army of the Dead’. Did you notice those pixel errors? Let’s know in the comments section below.