eli5 Why are high/bird eye viewpoint shots in tv so low quality?

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In most shows that I watch, whenever they cut to a high altitude shot of a city (of wherever the setting is), its mostly low quality. For example, I’m watching a tv show “you” and they do high shots a few times throughout the show, and on S1E8 they do one where its night and the quality just seems horrible. Like 2003 quality in a 2018 show. I’ve noticed it a few other times in the show, and I’ve seen similar occurrences in a few other shows, movies, and even music videos I’ve watched, where the “high shot” quality is far less than the normal shots and far less than what could be achieved. Is it because of budget?

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Anonymous 0 Comments

You’re seeing stock footage licensed from a stock house like Getty or Shutterstock. Sometimes it looks great; sometimes less so. 

You work with low res downloads until the show is locked, then you pay for and receive high res quicktimes. I suppose there will be times when you don’t realize until then that the original footage is not up to snuff. I would hope the post team would then look for a new shot, but maybe there was no time left. 

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