Making Video Look Like Film?

[austinm]

I am working on an article right now, putting together some effective/simple advice on how to make video look like film. I just wanted to survey the forum to see if anyone had any techniques that they have been successful at using.

Thanks, I look forward to hearing and learning from the responses.


Austin
MakingBetterVideos.com

[filmboss80]

24p, anamorphic widescreen, black pro-mist filter.

[austinm]

Any thoughts on post production techniques filmboss?


Austin
MakingBetterVideos.com

[Soopafresh]

1) Without short depth of field, it'll never look convincingly like film. That's why the Brevis 35 and Letus Extreme adapters are so popular. See the following: http://www.vimeo.com/1114483

And a full example using the Letus: http://www.vimeo.com/775431

2) Shooting on Tripods or Steadicam is also a requirement for convincing film look.


3) For post-production, Magic Bullet Looks for color grading.

[edDV]

I am working on an article right now, putting together some effective/simple advice on how to make video look like film. I just wanted to survey the forum to see if anyone had any techniques that they have been successful at using.

Thanks, I look forward to hearing and learning from the responses.


Austin
MakingBetterVideos.com

I'm not clear what you are asking. Google has ample resource.

Are you asking about shooting for film look or converting standard video to simulate film look?

And what film look do you desire?
* Wide latitude exposure? ... Huge glass and lighting issue.
* Softened focus? ... Lens and sensor issue.
* Short depth of field? ... Lens issue.
* Stuttered motion? ... frame rate and camera stability issue.
* Large screen projection? ... Video format and optical system quality issue.

True film look is dominated by camera physics and shooting technique. Physics defines a camera that looks like this and costs $100K +. BTW, the 2K Viper shown is known as one of the more compact HD film look cameras.

..

If they could get the same look with a consumer camcorder, they would be using a consumer camcorder.

[SCDVD]

I saw a demonstration of how a pro does this to simulate the look of old 8mm film. He says that all filters that do this look bad - really fake. The technique he demonstrated was to use some actual 8mm camera footage shot against a pale brownish yellow background. He then did a composite of that with DV camera footage adjusting the transparency for the right look. He then reduced the frame rate to 15fps to give it a film look flicker and applied a Gaussian blur to degrade the sharpness to look more like 8mm footage. As a last touch he inserted a white flash at cut points to simulate the look when film is cut and taped together. When he finished, it looked VERY real.

[edDV]

Kodak still sells 8mm film and it can be processed locally in most cities. Cameras can be found in thift shops.