My wife and I watch a fair number of historical documentaries, and they often include shots of old engravings like this:
…which, like all engravings, consists of innumerable very fine lines.
It seems that documentary filmmakers are constitutionally unable to put a static image on the screen; there must always be some movement. So they show an image like this with a very slow and subtle zoom in or out, as they do with all other images of paintings, photos, etc.
That is, it would be subtle, except that the fine lines of the engraving interfere with the scan lines of the image to create a moire effect that makes the whole image seem to pulsate and writhe. It’s incredibly distracting and annoying.
I have no idea why they don’t see it and do something about it. Especially since all they would have to do is NOT MOVE THE FRICKING PICTURE! The moire effect only happens when there’s motion. Can’t you figure out that this happens with engravings and let one ten-second shot be still, FFS?!?
This is not unique to one series or producer. I have seen it in numerous docs, and it’s infuriating.