Replicating the look of 80's movies

Hazing the set lightly with a fog machine was often done on 80s flicks. More so on action/sci-fi/horror and moodier dramas. By hazing I mean pumping some fog in there and letting it spread out into a super light, almost imperceptible, mist that fills the entire space. Not big dream clouds.

Also... use softer lenses. All the 'tack sharp' state of the art glass that is made nowadays is way sharper than the lenses used on a lot of popular 80s/90s movies.

Another thing that has nothing to do with camera/lighting/grading is that a large portion of the 80s look come from set design/props/wardrobe. 80s movie have that look because that's what the 80s looked like! (sort of).
 
Last edited:
I made a video for a web series where the introduction was a remake of this Nintendo NES commercial from the 80s. I shot on a C300, imported footage to Avid to cut it, then output it to a VHS tape via this old VHS camcorder I found sitting on the shelf in our equipment room, pulled the tape out of the cartridge and crinkled it up and stepped on it and just generally trashed it, and then straightened it and stuck it back in the cartridge and imported it into Avid. This is the result.

 
I shot a film back in November that's an homage to 80s horror. Fun shoot, which we did on S16 with a set of SuperSpeeds. That helped A LOT with the look, but I have a few other tips as well for that look (I'm a big fan of it myself):
Semi-realistic lighting: While the days of flooding a set with lights and the classic "studio-look" the super soft and almost flat look that can be seen today isn't in effect. It's somewhere in between. While films are lit "motivated" key lights often correspond nicely to the side of the face, or classic Rembrant setup. While soft sources get more common, Kinos isn't invented until 1987 and lighting is still "bigger" during the era. Nighttimes are often shot using uncorrected blue HMIs. Don't be afraid to mix up the color temperature either, a desk lamp might be very warm to go against the cool moonlight. Fogging a set is a big part of the period look and lens diffusion is not all together uncommon. Older glass does help quite a bit for the look with softer contrast and rolloff.
 
mattman1 said:
I've always loved the look of eighties films. I just came across this great article about shooting wide open and using low light levels:

http://provideocoalition.com/aadams/story/low-light-levels-and-wide-open-lenses-the-80s-90s-look

Anyone have any other tips to achieve this sort of look? I notice the color grading seems to be tipped toward blue rather than the orange/cyan thing that everybody's doing now.
Click to expand...

You'll have to pick some specific movies, because Manhunter doesn't look like Mannequin.
 
Finnegan said:
I made a video for a web series where the introduction was a remake of this Nintendo NES commercial from the 80s. I shot on a C300, imported footage to Avid to cut it, then output it to a VHS tape via this old VHS camcorder I found sitting on the shelf in our equipment room, pulled the tape out of the cartridge and crinkled it up and stepped on it and just generally trashed it, and then straightened it and stuck it back in the cartridge and imported it into Avid. This is the result.

Click to expand...


Wow, that was pretty awesome! Nice work.
 
Finnegan said:
I made a video for a web series where the introduction was a remake of this Nintendo NES commercial from the 80s. I shot on a C300, imported footage to Avid to cut it, then output it to a VHS tape via this old VHS camcorder I found sitting on the shelf in our equipment room, pulled the tape out of the cartridge and crinkled it up and stepped on it and just generally trashed it, and then straightened it and stuck it back in the cartridge and imported it into Avid. This is the result.

Click to expand...

The degraded VHS footage look worked out well. However, I have to say that the lighting on the blonde doing the stand up should be a crime that is severely punishable to the full extent of the law.
 
re: smoke and haze. Different beasts, different machines! TV gameshows and talent stuff relies on haze - which the camera sees through, but the tiny droplets emphasise light beams - all those sweeping beams when contestants get a question right have haze. Smoke is, well, smoke - and looks like it. Denser, and bigger particles - that sink. Haze has such small droplets that they tend to remain in the air for much. much longer. Google DF50 hazer to read about them. Cheap hazers are often smoke machines with a smaller atomiser - and the haze is a bit thicker and sinks - a kind of half way house. They're all very noisy devices with compressors and fans, so not much use for a quiet set. However, some have such long lasting haze they can be off for takes and then chug away during breaks. Smoke machines need aiming, Hazers generally don't - pointing somewhere to get the haze up, rather than out!
 
@paulears For shooting in a small apartment, would one of the $35 fog machines on amazon suffice? This is for a ultra low budget shoot (practically $0).

I tried shooting wide open and lighting with practicals and moonlight (f/2.8 and 800 ISO). I nailed the mood I'm going for but there's a ton of ugly noise in the shadows. Not pleasant like film grain but really ugly.

I'm shooting on a gh2 so that's probably most of the issue. Would bumping up the levels of ambient light help? Or am I pretty much out of luck until I spring for a new camera like a black magic?
 
paulears said:
re: smoke and haze. Different beasts, different machines! TV gameshows and talent stuff relies on haze - which the camera sees through, but the tiny droplets emphasise light beams - all those sweeping beams when contestants get a question right have haze. Smoke is, well, smoke - and looks like it. Denser, and bigger particles - that sink. Haze has such small droplets that they tend to remain in the air for much. much longer. Google DF50 hazer to read about them. Cheap hazers are often smoke machines with a smaller atomiser - and the haze is a bit thicker and sinks - a kind of half way house. They're all very noisy devices with compressors and fans, so not much use for a quiet set. However, some have such long lasting haze they can be off for takes and then chug away during breaks. Smoke machines need aiming, Hazers generally don't - pointing somewhere to get the haze up, rather than out!
Click to expand...

Interesting. I'll have to look into a proper hazer since that's really all I've been using my fog machine for, haha.
 
Look up neutron, DF50, unique. Haze fluid is very different between brands - you MUST use the correct type. Mine uses quite expensive fluid, but it lasts a very long time. One thing to remember with both fog and haze is that the fluid that gets heated and atomised has to go somewhere, and if you use a camera continuously in a hazed or smoke based environment, some kind of lens guard, even a UV filter, is important because after a while, the studio floor will start to get slippery, and so will your lens, and you don't want to scrub off the front surface removing gunk!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top