C100: Color grading & skin tones

S

SuperMachoAlpha

Member
Hi everyone. I'm new to this forum and I would like some input from the experts on here.
I own 3 cameras: a C100 (with AF), a GH4 with Metabones XL, and a Canon 5d mark iii with magic lantern.
Even with these 3 cameras, I am not able to achieve that clean "plastic" look that I see almost everyone on youtube
achieving. I have a wedding assignment in one month and the bride wants that "plastic" look. Does anyone know how
I can achieve this look using the C100 or GH4? I edit and grade using fcpx. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks a ton in advance, guys. I attached 2 pictures to show what I mean by the "clean plastic" look (if that's what it's called, lol)


 

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Hi,

It's great that you post images to explain what you mean.

When you described the look as "plastic", images similar to your top most image flashed before my eyes. The problem then becomes: who would want their images to look like that? To me, that image lacks real resolution (and not in a dreamy/hazy way) and her face looks greasy and reflective. It's smooth and shiny: plastic.

Is this really what your bride is aiming for?

The second image is much better, but it doesn't look like the first one at all, so I find it hard to connect the lines. It looks more like natural light and the skin shows some texture—fitting the rugged theme. There's no "in-your-face" sharpening, which I think is a good thing in this case. The man's look would profit from even more detail and natural resolution, other than that, it's fine.
 
Thanks alot for the replies, guys. I think I'm aiming more for the second look. (The picture of the man) Yes, texture is more like what i mean. That one was filmed with the c100. I film with the c100 and although it looks beautiful, detailed, and sharp, it doesn't look like that. I'm wondering what are they doing to achieve that. The person on youtube said he just used fcpx. Yet i'm clueless as how he did it.
 
I find the best way to get good skin tones is to hire actors with good skin tones. I once shot an actress whose skin tones were a low 71 CRI and it looked terrible. Now when I hire talent I expect the CRI of their skin tones to be at least 90.
 
As a wedding shooter myself, my advice would be to find good light wherever you are. You are at complete mercy of the day, of the bride, the weather, etc., so just do the best with what you are given. Sure, if I had the choice I'd carry around a Kino or a 1K with a chimaera just to give everything a nice soft light, but that isn't in our cards. I've never found reference images particularly helpful (personally, when I approach a wedding); your shots are going to be determined by the locations, the people, the weather, the general feeling of the day. If you are a confident and capable shooter, you will be just fine and won't have to force anything. I don't really understand this "plastic" talk, I would just nod my head and agree with the bride but then shoot the wedding in your style. They hired you because they like your style, so don't change your game on account of them.

If anything, in my experience, what most brides are looking for (but don't know how to describe it, so they use words like "artsy") is shallow DOF, some slow motion here and there, a hipster soundtrack, etc. Expose your images properly so you have more freedom to grade, and just shoot what you are dealt. That's all you can do as a wedding videographer. Good luck!
 
Most videographers are trained to avoid "plasticky", so it is going to be hard to actually believe that the plastic look is what the bride would like to see. I expect that she actually does want the unnaturally smooth skin tones that "plasticky" describes. Many people are really bothered by blemishes and wrinkles.

I may be completely wrong, but I believe that the C100 actually has a skin tone smoothing setting built in. I think I remember seeing it in the custom profile settings. Also, a polarizer helps to create a flat look to skin. I've applied blur to skin tones using Resolve. You can make people look like dolls using enough blur on just skin tones while still keeping the rest of the detail in the image. I would also probably use a Pearlescent or Black Satin 3 filter or maybe a soft fx filter, but I just tend to like glass filters.
 
Wow you guys are amazing. Thanks for being so helpful. I know I'm in the right
forum now :) I absolutely agree with not changing my style for just one person.
I also want to look into the magic bullet plugin. I've seen some good results
from that one. Any other suggestions or tips are greatly appreciated. Thanks a ton!
 
After reading over your post its sounds like you want the look of a Tiffen Pro mist. Gives that classic glowy look to lights and skin.
 
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