He felt so lost, he said later, that the familiar studio felt like a haunted valley deep in the mountains, with the smell of rotting leaves, the spray of a waterfall, the sour fumes of fruit stashed away by a monkey; even the dim glow of the master's oil lamp on its tripod looked to him like misty moonlight in the hills.
It does feel like the middle ground has fallen out. I'm only saying that from personal experience, saying, "I'd like to make that movie" and hearing, "Oh, they're not making those types of movies anymore. "