Often times I've been asked if I've ever felt regret for understanding film. Whether I've ever wanted to forget what I know and recover my ingenuity, my innocence regarding films. As if after studying so much about it now I find myself as a kid watching a magic trick knowing how it's done.
The answer is no.
Color is light, and the human eye is only aware of a fraction of its spectrum. There are colors that your eyes can't see. Now imagine a painting, and suppose you could refine your sight to see a wider range of colors. You will never be able to see this painting as it was before. Now, you could either spend your time thinking about how this painting has changed forever and how different your vision is now from how it once was, or you could contemplate the new colors in the canvas. Even more, imagine the artist can see the same colors as you and he drew specific lines he thought no one else was ever going to see.
That's what a filmmaker feels when watching a screen.
It may feel like a sacrifice for in this treshold of light we find imperfections and mistakes no one was supposed to see. But being able to see the humanity of something isn't a sacrifice, it's a privilege. For it shows that it's real, shows that someone poured his time and soul into it. And when it comes to art, that's what matters.