Breakdown of La cinematografía es excelente; no obstante, la escenografía es menos impresionante de lo que creíamos.
ser
to be
de
from / of
excelente
excellent
que
that / than
Questions & Answers about La cinematografía es excelente; no obstante, la escenografía es menos impresionante de lo que creíamos.
How is no obstante used here, and is it different from sin embargo?
No obstante means "nevertheless" or "however." It is a contrast connector used to introduce a statement that opposes or limits the previous one. It functions almost exactly like sin embargo, but it tends to sound slightly more formal or literary. Notice the punctuation often used with it in writing: a semicolon before and a comma after.
Why do we use de lo que instead of just que in menos impresionante de lo que creíamos?
Why is creíamos in the imperfect tense rather than the preterite?
The imperfect tense is used for creíamos because it refers to an ongoing belief or expectation held before seeing the movie. It sets up the background context of what you were thinking. If you used the preterite (creímos), it would sound like a sudden, one-time thought rather than an expectation built up over time.
What is the exact difference between cinematografía and escenografía in this context?