Sometimes it feels like modern technology is advancing at such a rapid pace, it can be hard to keep up. It seems that not that long ago, we were amazed by cell phones with colored screens and mp3 players that fit in our pockets and now those things appear almost comically dated. Some of those pieces of technology seemed like important parts of our childhood, but, sadly, have slowly faded into obsolescence with a great part of the current generation having no idea how they work.
This was recently the case when one Stranger Things fan asked what the “red room” shown in some episodes was used for
Image credits: Netflix
The fan wanted to know why Jonathan is frequently shown dunking pictures into some liquid in the “red room”. Now, if you’re a fan of film photography, you probably know what the purpose of the room is. But just in case you’re not, the room is actually called a darkroom and serves as a workplace for photographers who are developing film.
Image credits: Netflix
Image credits: Netflix
Since photographic film is extremely sensitive to light (meaning all of its contents can be destroyed if it’s exposed to light), it has to be developed in complete darkness. The red light seen in the show is used when making black-and-white prints from the developed film and since the majority of photo paper used for prints is only sensitive to green and blue light, a red or amber-colored light is a safe choice to use in darkrooms, allowing the photographer to see what he is doing.
Someone posted the fan’s question to Twitter, making people realize how old they were getting
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While it’s true that film has become quite obsolete in the 21st century, some photographers still prefer to use film cameras instead of conventional DSLR ones. Perhaps it’s the vibrant colors, the process of loading the film, or the suspense of getting it developed that makes them stick by it.
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Some users fondly remembered the days they used darkrooms themselves
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And while some couldn’t believe it was a real question
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Others defended the fan, commending them on being curious and not being afraid to ask
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When someone asks for information, and intelligently cites instances that they want clarified, don't mock them. Give them the information and be glad someone didn't just start complaining that the stupid director shouldn't have used stupid red lights for no reason because it made it hard to see.
Sure. But this guy could have checked it himself through the magical power of Wikipedia.
Load More Replies...I agree with ppl who defend the fan, how is he supposed to know what that room is for when everything today is digital. He was curious and tried to learn the purpose, what is wrong with that. On my case I've never seen a darkroom and I love photography as an amateur. My reflex is digital, my phone is digital, getting physical photos is made with a printer... I know about that room because films and questions to my brothers. Sorry for the rage, when people critize like this, something inside me burns.
This is the problem. Not everything is digital. You just think it is because you are not paying attention. Most of the great pieces of photographic art in museums all over the world are made using film not digital. It doesn't matter if they were made 100 years ago or yesterday. I don;t blame you, this is the state of education these days. Nothing wrong with digital imagery, I use a digital camera daily, along side my film cameras and my darkroom for print making.
Load More Replies...Considering all the past technology that became obsolete, it’s not a ridiculous question. I mean, I wouldn’t know how to—-literally—-crank up a Model T to get it started, just as an example. In fact, when I was a kid and saw that in a movie for the first time, I asked about it. Luckily, I was watching TV with my grandmother, who told me what was going on. This is just a rite of passage, I guess.
My high school is around 60 years old and we still have a dark room. I got to use it in my first year of high school in woodworking class and it was super neat! Apparently at one point they thought about removing the dark room but people protested against it
Oh my. Well it isn't the kids fault nowadays. It's about the exposure. If their family/parents had them exposed to these types of things they would know what it is. I do miss cassette tapes tho and cds lol playlist were fire then. You were special when someone took the time to make you one of these.
I am 12 and I am not sure how I knew what it was but I knew it was for developing better photographs am I really that old because I am turning 13 in 5 days.
I call BS. I do this all the time as a joke. Someone says a name or old school thing and I go, " Who is so and so?" 'What is that?"
I was born in '99 and I didn't know what a dark room was till I was 14! I learnt it in school through photography
I'm 40 years old, and have been teaching middle/high school for the better part of 13 years now, and I have to say being around that age group almost every day, somehow, simultaneously, makes me feel older and younger. Their energy, and curiousity is infectious, and has definitely prevented me from sliding into the "you know what's wrong with kids today", and the "get off my lawn" phase too soon. However, I'm also constantly reminded just how much life has changed in the last 20 plus years. I had to teach a play called, "Sorry, Wrong Number", a few years ago, many of you may have read it, I did in seventh grade. It deals with switch boards, operators, phone numbers like Murray Hill- 643, party lines, and rotary phones. Now to be fair, these were already somewhat antiquated concepts when I was a kid, so of course, they are incredibly outdated now. I think I spent more time explaining what all of these things were, and how they worked, then I did on the actual play itself. Which is ok in my book, learning is learning, and I think they gained far more knowledge from that, then they did from a play about a husband that has his wife murdered, a storyline I can report, that the students are quite familiar with after years of watching Dateline, 48 Hours, and an entire network devoted solely to dramatizing the worst day of someone else's life. It's good though, that we have the technology to easily access all of this information, so that the kids that want to learn about how the world functioned before said technology existed, can readily do so. But in all honesty, I have to say, the two moments in my life that truly made me feel old, were when I realized many of the parents of the high school seniors I taught were younger than me, and hearing Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, etc., on the "classic" rock station in town. Man, I swear I could hear the Grim Reaper chuckling when "Stairway to Heaven" was followed by "Smells Like Teen Spirit", talk about confronting your own mortality!! Mark my words, before we know it, Beyonce and Justin Bieber will starrt popping up on the "classic" R&B stations, but at that point I'll probably just throw in the towel.
STUPID SHOW , STUPID COMMENTS , STUPID FANS , STUPID ARTICLE , YOU ALL SUCK
This isn't that bad. I remember a guy that asked how people found their way before google maps and when he recieved an answer "using maps" he once again stated "before google maps" with an attitude.. :D
This whole “i’m so old” line when you’re 18-25 is really ... well, old. I guess you’re truly old when don’t feel the need to emphasise that all the time.
Make them use dial up and don't turn off the modem noise. I bet most of you didn't know you could go I to settings and turn the dial up sound off lol.
I just kept shouting at the photographer, LOCK THE DAMN DOOR. And yes, keep asking questions!
Remember the Fotomat? Hahahaha. The last time I saw one of those, it was about 6 years ago in Pennsylvania. It was painted over white and in the parking lot of a mall. I was with a friend, and her kid asked us what “that little shed” was for.
Nothing on the show is relevant to kids or millenials today. When I was in highschool in 1994 we had to learn to develop our photos in a dark room.
I'm in high school and only learned how dark rooms look like when I took a class on film photography this summer at a nearby university. When I took photography at school, it was purely digital. I don't think it's weird that the kid doesn't know what a darkroom looks like. Doubt anyone at my school does.
Wow... the fact that they said it was a "red room" instead of a dark room with Red light is more surprising than anyting else. But I am quite sad for the fan, all they wanted was to be educated and instead he was rediculed. I only know about Dark rooms because of TV shows I watched when I was younger.
You need a post to inform me that people are stupid? Gee, thanks Bored Panda. I didn't know people were ignorant and dumb as paint until today.
We are doomed if this is our future, lol! There's no excuse for stupidity in this day and age of being able to jump on a computer to find s**t out. When I was a kid we had encyclopedias - to save the idiots a google search, it's a very heavy book full of facts.
But why don’t they just use the digital camera, it’s so much easier and faster. (Sarcasm)
If someone had said red room to me I wouldn’t know what they are on about. I know this as a dark room. Do they not have photography and dark rooms in high schools anymore?
Sadly, no. I graduated from high school in 2006, and ours was there, but used only for storage. By the time of my graduation, film-oriented camera stores were closing and 35mm was getting more and more scarce. I haven't seen the show, but I think part of the problem with the "red room" is that their red light is unrealistically intense (probably for cinematic purposes).
Load More Replies...I know right. All those childish nursing homes, families, emergency services and banking relying on something as millennial as electricity and internet. Where’s my whale oil and pigeons!?
Load More Replies...Just because you grew up with something being normal, doesn't mean everyone did.
Load More Replies...When someone asks for information, and intelligently cites instances that they want clarified, don't mock them. Give them the information and be glad someone didn't just start complaining that the stupid director shouldn't have used stupid red lights for no reason because it made it hard to see.
Sure. But this guy could have checked it himself through the magical power of Wikipedia.
Load More Replies...I agree with ppl who defend the fan, how is he supposed to know what that room is for when everything today is digital. He was curious and tried to learn the purpose, what is wrong with that. On my case I've never seen a darkroom and I love photography as an amateur. My reflex is digital, my phone is digital, getting physical photos is made with a printer... I know about that room because films and questions to my brothers. Sorry for the rage, when people critize like this, something inside me burns.
This is the problem. Not everything is digital. You just think it is because you are not paying attention. Most of the great pieces of photographic art in museums all over the world are made using film not digital. It doesn't matter if they were made 100 years ago or yesterday. I don;t blame you, this is the state of education these days. Nothing wrong with digital imagery, I use a digital camera daily, along side my film cameras and my darkroom for print making.
Load More Replies...Considering all the past technology that became obsolete, it’s not a ridiculous question. I mean, I wouldn’t know how to—-literally—-crank up a Model T to get it started, just as an example. In fact, when I was a kid and saw that in a movie for the first time, I asked about it. Luckily, I was watching TV with my grandmother, who told me what was going on. This is just a rite of passage, I guess.
My high school is around 60 years old and we still have a dark room. I got to use it in my first year of high school in woodworking class and it was super neat! Apparently at one point they thought about removing the dark room but people protested against it
Oh my. Well it isn't the kids fault nowadays. It's about the exposure. If their family/parents had them exposed to these types of things they would know what it is. I do miss cassette tapes tho and cds lol playlist were fire then. You were special when someone took the time to make you one of these.
I am 12 and I am not sure how I knew what it was but I knew it was for developing better photographs am I really that old because I am turning 13 in 5 days.
I call BS. I do this all the time as a joke. Someone says a name or old school thing and I go, " Who is so and so?" 'What is that?"
I was born in '99 and I didn't know what a dark room was till I was 14! I learnt it in school through photography
I'm 40 years old, and have been teaching middle/high school for the better part of 13 years now, and I have to say being around that age group almost every day, somehow, simultaneously, makes me feel older and younger. Their energy, and curiousity is infectious, and has definitely prevented me from sliding into the "you know what's wrong with kids today", and the "get off my lawn" phase too soon. However, I'm also constantly reminded just how much life has changed in the last 20 plus years. I had to teach a play called, "Sorry, Wrong Number", a few years ago, many of you may have read it, I did in seventh grade. It deals with switch boards, operators, phone numbers like Murray Hill- 643, party lines, and rotary phones. Now to be fair, these were already somewhat antiquated concepts when I was a kid, so of course, they are incredibly outdated now. I think I spent more time explaining what all of these things were, and how they worked, then I did on the actual play itself. Which is ok in my book, learning is learning, and I think they gained far more knowledge from that, then they did from a play about a husband that has his wife murdered, a storyline I can report, that the students are quite familiar with after years of watching Dateline, 48 Hours, and an entire network devoted solely to dramatizing the worst day of someone else's life. It's good though, that we have the technology to easily access all of this information, so that the kids that want to learn about how the world functioned before said technology existed, can readily do so. But in all honesty, I have to say, the two moments in my life that truly made me feel old, were when I realized many of the parents of the high school seniors I taught were younger than me, and hearing Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, etc., on the "classic" rock station in town. Man, I swear I could hear the Grim Reaper chuckling when "Stairway to Heaven" was followed by "Smells Like Teen Spirit", talk about confronting your own mortality!! Mark my words, before we know it, Beyonce and Justin Bieber will starrt popping up on the "classic" R&B stations, but at that point I'll probably just throw in the towel.
STUPID SHOW , STUPID COMMENTS , STUPID FANS , STUPID ARTICLE , YOU ALL SUCK
This isn't that bad. I remember a guy that asked how people found their way before google maps and when he recieved an answer "using maps" he once again stated "before google maps" with an attitude.. :D
This whole “i’m so old” line when you’re 18-25 is really ... well, old. I guess you’re truly old when don’t feel the need to emphasise that all the time.
Make them use dial up and don't turn off the modem noise. I bet most of you didn't know you could go I to settings and turn the dial up sound off lol.
I just kept shouting at the photographer, LOCK THE DAMN DOOR. And yes, keep asking questions!
Remember the Fotomat? Hahahaha. The last time I saw one of those, it was about 6 years ago in Pennsylvania. It was painted over white and in the parking lot of a mall. I was with a friend, and her kid asked us what “that little shed” was for.
Nothing on the show is relevant to kids or millenials today. When I was in highschool in 1994 we had to learn to develop our photos in a dark room.
I'm in high school and only learned how dark rooms look like when I took a class on film photography this summer at a nearby university. When I took photography at school, it was purely digital. I don't think it's weird that the kid doesn't know what a darkroom looks like. Doubt anyone at my school does.
Wow... the fact that they said it was a "red room" instead of a dark room with Red light is more surprising than anyting else. But I am quite sad for the fan, all they wanted was to be educated and instead he was rediculed. I only know about Dark rooms because of TV shows I watched when I was younger.
You need a post to inform me that people are stupid? Gee, thanks Bored Panda. I didn't know people were ignorant and dumb as paint until today.
We are doomed if this is our future, lol! There's no excuse for stupidity in this day and age of being able to jump on a computer to find s**t out. When I was a kid we had encyclopedias - to save the idiots a google search, it's a very heavy book full of facts.
But why don’t they just use the digital camera, it’s so much easier and faster. (Sarcasm)
If someone had said red room to me I wouldn’t know what they are on about. I know this as a dark room. Do they not have photography and dark rooms in high schools anymore?
Sadly, no. I graduated from high school in 2006, and ours was there, but used only for storage. By the time of my graduation, film-oriented camera stores were closing and 35mm was getting more and more scarce. I haven't seen the show, but I think part of the problem with the "red room" is that their red light is unrealistically intense (probably for cinematic purposes).
Load More Replies...I know right. All those childish nursing homes, families, emergency services and banking relying on something as millennial as electricity and internet. Where’s my whale oil and pigeons!?
Load More Replies...Just because you grew up with something being normal, doesn't mean everyone did.
Load More Replies...
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