system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
ELi5: what makes a TV movie look like a TV movie and not a big budget production?

I know it’s something to do with the cameras used, but what makes a big movie look different than a low budget TV movie or sitcom? Is it something to do with FPS, resolution etc?
gpt
In addition to the other comments here there are a few others things:

* More close ups: Domestic TV screens were usually quite small compared with the movie experience. As a result directors tended to use more close ups. Faces, and the expressions they have are necessary to convey the story line and if shot in the same way as for movies, they would simply not have been visible enough for a domestic environment - so you get more faces and they are closer.
* One side effect of the above is that titles on made-for-TV movies tend to be bigger so they can be read. Typical movie credits are often too small. Similarly things with writing such a phone screens, monitors, books, signs, letters are all closer.
* Fewer longshots: Similarly, large panoramas, distant landscapes etc look great on a big screen but on a smaller domestic screen a lot of the detail and "atmosphere" is lost so these tend to be less frequent and also closer.
* Fewer "blacks": Movie theatres are generally darkened so you can have deep dark shadows on film and still see into them. Domestically, TVs are often watched in a more brightly lit room. Those dark scenes would be impenetrable so lighting tends to be turned up and less contrasty for a TV movie.