How can I get my videos to look like this?

[marir]

I've been trying and failing to replicate the look I really like from Korean commercial films. They're soft and creamy, without any harsh lines between the subject and the background.


I think this first video really illustrates the soft look I'm talking about. Especially at 0:14, where the model's skin is very creamy (for lack of a better word). This is what I'm looking for.

I currently have a Pentax KX and Asahi M 50mm f1.7 lens that create a film look with amazing depth of field. Unfortunately, I've been having a hard time trying to replicate the soft Korean commercial film look. I absolutely love my camera though, so I hope to create the look I want without having to buy a new one. If anyone could help and lead me in the right direction with tips on lighting, type of lens, accessories that may help, editing, etc., I'd greatly appreciate it!



Addition: I like that the room in this commercial film is really bright and filled with light, yet it looks natural on the model. Every time I use sunlight in a room, I get unnatural overexposure from the window and on the people inside. How can I get even lighting in a room like the one in this video?


Many thanks!

[sanlyn]

Sorry, can't help much with screen captures from media players. The images you posted look pretty sorry: poor color balance, low contrast, undersaturated. Trying to create such effects in-camera is difficult, and the pros didn't do it that way to begin with. There are plenty of lighting manuals to achieve soft-focus lighting effects (low-key, high-key, diffusers, soft-focus filters, etc.). Your Canon lens accepts soft-focus filters in several filtering grades. But you're asking for a complete course in lighting, photography, filtering, color grading, and the rest of it. Best bet is to find complete books on the subject via Amazon or similar source, and try many of the free online video tutorials at hundreds of websites. Try starting at Canon's website: http://www.learn.usa.canon.com/home/home.shtml

[aedipuss]

oh i don't know. the completely washed out white apple look is pretty popular. play with your white balance and exposure settings until you get a feel for what they do and can create what you want.

[manono]

If anyone could help and lead me in the right direction with tips on lighting, type of lens, accessories that may help, editing, etc., I'd greatly appreciate it!

Neither of the videos is any good. The one you're trying to copy was left interlaced and looks like crap. Yours has every fifth frame as a duplicate and plays choppy. My advice is to try and create a proper video before trying to create a 'look'.

If you want a 'soft' look, just blur the damn thing.

[marir]

Sorry, can't help much with screen captures from media players. The images you posted look pretty sorry: poor color balance, low contrast, undersaturated. Trying to create such effects in-camera is difficult, and the pros didn't do it that way to begin with. There are plenty of lighting manuals to achieve soft-focus lighting effects (low-key, high-key, diffusers, soft-focus filters, etc.). Your Canon lens accepts soft-focus filters in several filtering grades. But you're asking for a complete course in lighting, photography, filtering, color grading, and the rest of it. Best bet is to find complete books on the subject via Amazon or similar source, and try many of the free online video tutorials at hundreds of websites. Try starting at Canon's website: http://www.learn.usa.canon.com/home/home.shtml

Yeah, I actually think the look of the first video is rather hideous, and I probably wouldn't do it in most of my videos. I just want to create that "rainy, gloomy day" look with one of my videos. Anyway, thanks for leading me in the right direction. I actually have a Pentax (not a Canon) but I'll look into that website you posted, as I'm sure it has a wealth of information that could be helpful to me. Thanks again!

If anyone could help and lead me in the right direction with tips on lighting, type of lens, accessories that may help, editing, etc., I'd greatly appreciate it!

Neither of the videos is any good. The one you're trying to copy was left interlaced and looks like crap. Yours has every fifth frame as a duplicate and plays choppy. My advice is to try and create a proper video before trying to create a 'look'.

If you want a 'soft' look, just blur the damn thing.

Hey, thanks for your input. I'm new to cinematography so any feedback (even negative) helps. I agree that the first video isn't the best quality. I posted the crappiest possible upload of the commercial from Youtube. All of my videos are progressive, and I only want to replicate the gloomy, rainy day look from the Youtube video, not necessarily the quality. I've already tried blur and it doesn't give the effect that I want. I'll probably just use a combination of soft lighting techniques that were previously mentioned.

And I actually didn't post up any of my videos ... The video you're talking about is a compilation of three Korean Canon camera commercials. Anyway, thanks again.

[poisondeathray]

why don't you post an ungraded sample of your own shoot ? this way you can get some feedback

it sounds to me you're interested primarily in 2 things:

1) shallow depth of field , "bokeh" look

2) flat, low contrast, cool color temperature (the 1st example is graded differently in the 2nd half of the commercial, probably purposefully more "warm")

Is this correct ?

Addition: I like that the room in this commercial film is really bright and filled with light, yet it looks natural on the model. Every time I use sunlight in a room, I get unnatural overexposure from the window and on the people inside. How can I get even lighting in a room like the one in this video?

You have to learn how to control exposure and lighting

1 way is to use a ND filter, but many "consumer" level cameras won't have them .

On a shot with a bright window directional lighting, you usually need additional lights as welll

More expensive cameras will have higher latitude and dynamic range, so it's easier to capture shadow and highlight details (instead of just "white" in the window, or blowing everything out)

[manono]

And I actually didn't post up any of my videos ... The video you're talking about is a compilation of three Korean Canon camera commercials.

Oh, I didn't read carefully enough. You're right and I apologize. I hope yours don't come out of the camera with dupe frames. I don't know if for that video it's straight out of the camera or if they foolishly deinterlaced it to create the duplicate frames. As pdr suggests, a sample of your own work might prove useful.

[smrpix]

Every time I use sunlight in a room, I get unnatural overexposure from the window and on the people inside. How can I get even lighting in a room like the one in this video?!

Its very unlikely there is any real sunlight in any of the interior scenes. It's all done in a studio where the relative light levels can be tightly controlled.

[jagabo]

The shot with the girl's face isn't just a DOF shot, it's got a blurred vignette around the edges. The "creamy" look of her face is probably a 2d smoothing (blurs low contrast detail, keeps high contrast detail) filter. I think most of the effects in those videos were done in post, they weren't shot that way.

[CSULB71]

marir: The first part, "soft and creamy", may be from the videograpgher using some sort of portrait (softening/bluring) filter; and the second part, "without any harsh lines between the subject and the background", is strictly due to shooting a shallow depth-of-field (using a large aperature opening) and spot/manual focusing on the closer subject. How much of either you can replicate depends on what features your video camera has.

edit: jagabo posted his reply while I was writing mine, but it's hard to say how much was done during shooting vs. post-processing.