Film Look

[alucard]

hey guys quick question.. ! i want to achieve as close as i can the movie like film video i posibly can under my budget as i would like to start with independent film making and such.(around $1500ish) i know is not much but if things go well then i can upgrade to something more spendy down the line.

im leaning towards canon hg21 since i dont want a camcorder that uses tapes and i can live with hard drive rather than flash memory to save my self some money. (if you know of a newer model or a different camcorder that would best work for me please let me know)

Ok.. here is were pandoras box opens in my face and i am overwhelmed with wtf to do next. i'm gonna take a break from reading reviews online and watching vimeo videos and here your input.

i dont know if i should buy Jag35 pro for about $400 or if i should buy letus 35 mini for $700+. or sgpro even dough i havent had luck finding were to buy it or even how much it costs yet.

i also would love not to tilt my camcorder upside down to record sinse im quite clompsy. (my psp looks like it just got chewed by a crocodile I've dropped it so much QQ)



thank you guys and keep up the good work!

[astrozombie]

screw film look, aim for good cinematography.

Maybe half of it is knowing that a color photo needs a color scheme.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Xk59VKoCGI

[David G. Smith]

screw film look, aim for good cinematography.

Maybe half of it is knowing that a color photo needs a color scheme.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Xk59VKoCGI

I don't know if I would say that video is an example of good cinematography, but I see your point. I think that, today, 21 months after the last post in this thread, we have moved past talking about, "...How to achieve a film look...". We are now able to craft high quality images and tell outstanding stories even with relatively inexpensive cameras. The catch is the word CRAFT!!

[TimurCivan]

screw film look, aim for good cinematography.

Maybe half of it is knowing that a color photo needs a color scheme.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Xk59VKoCGI

Did you even read the thread? This video is incarnate, what this thread is about.

[astrozombie]

Did you even read the thread? This video is incarnate, what this thread is about.

Don't know what you mean.

Truthfully I'm not really a fan of the overall look of Julien Donkey Boy, but putting a blonde haired girl in a field of golden reeds sure looks purty, and its within the grasp of all of us no-budgeters.

Ive been reading photography books to help my cinematography, and the idea that a color photo needs restricted/intelligent use of color , was, to me, one of those little revelations. You started the thread talking about production design and its relation to cinematography, and a huge part of what an art director does is create a color scheme for the movie (or scene/sequence). The photos you included look great largely because of their harmonious color.

lots of golden brown here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cKWn22u2sco&feature=fvst

Piper..... Boom. Pap. Boompap.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3qo1aoR96oI

[TimurCivan]

All of that is called production design.

[polfilmblog]

I am doing much the same thing. I'm using an hg20 to film a short this month. I created a rig to attach an anamorphic lens to the front. This does miracles in pushing it toward the film look. It will need cropping on the sides. The lens itself gives a look that everyone grew up on knowing was a widescreen film. This psychological factor and the frame ratio and the slight flattening of the image spatially really sell the effect.

Next, I'm just going to keep it within the cam's dynamic range with lighting/bounce, and not blow out the highlights. Digital blown highlights look like crap, no matter what anyone says. Not willing to negotiate on that point.

I'll use some color correction, but keep it from going too far and destroying the image. The cam is supposedly 24Mbps, so should have some leeway.

Finally I may add a grain pass or two to really sell the film look. I'm experimenting with larger grain patterns in the shadows and finer grains over the high end to better mimic the real thing.

BTW - Anyone want to trade a script read? It's a psychological crime thriller.

[ReneH]

wow great post Timur - I've never given that much thought to set dressing and such playing such a big role in the "film look". Definitely given me alot to think about... Thanks for taking the time to post all this!

It's called "Mise en scene, " which means the staging of poeple and objects are staged, framed and filmed. They are all considered visual materials. It is a French term by the way.