'GOT' CINEMATOGRAPHER ABOUT EP. 3'S DARKNESS

"Game of Thrones" Battle of Winterfell left fans cheering and griping - the last because of it being excessively damn dull - yet the cinematographer wants to make it obvious ... the gripes aren't his flaw.

Fabian Wagner - who was also the cinematographer on praised 'Thrones' episodes like "Hardhome" and "Battle of the Bastards" - tells TMZ, he's mindful folks are upset that "The Long Night" looked Excessively nightly, and he has a clarification.

First, Fabian believes the pixelation and sloppy dim colors fans saw on their TVs and cell phones are because of HBO's compression of the episode ... which leads to more unfortunate visual quality. This is aggravated if it's being seen on a streaming service with a powerless association ... or then again in a room that is excessively splendid.

As Wagner puts it ... "[GoT] has always been extremely dim and a realistic show" and should be viewed in a dull situation. In a perfect world, this means seeing it like you would a motion picture - in a dim theater.

Since that is not realistic for 'Thrones,' Fabian suggests making your review room at home as dim as possible, abstain from viewing on your telephone or in places that are lit up ... what's more, adjust your television settings.

The cinematographer also points out ... the showrunners and chief needed the episode to be dim. Wagner says the battle scenes were planned to be intense, claustrophobic and disorienting - like they would be, all things considered - yet not confusing.

Fabian says, "We attempted to give the viewers and fans a cool episode to watch," and he believes they did, including ... "I realize it wasn't too dull because I shot it."