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How Do I Achieve a 'Film' Look?

byalexandr
By byalexandr
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Go to solution Solved by ALwin,

There is already another thread that discusses achieving the film look:

 

Oh and Shallow Depth of Field is not always mandatory for a film look.  There are films shot with a deep DOF.

 

 

21 hours ago, ALwin said:

You don't really need any of those plugins or software if you are on a budget.

 

Here are the things you should do and start with to get the "right" look and feel you want with your films.

 

Camera settings

  • If you want the film/cinematic motion blur, shoot 24/25 fps with a 180 degree shutter rule.  Basically the shutter speed is double your frame rate.  As photo cameras do not have a 1/48 shutter speed, use 1/50 for both 24fps and 25fps.
  • Keep in mind the 180 degree shutter rule is not set in stone, nor is using 24/25 fps.  However you want the entire film to use one specific frame rate throughout the entire length on the final output.  So if you use 24fps for your regular scenes, make sure that when you use 50/60fps to record other scenes, those other scenes were recorded with higher frame rate for the purpose of time remapping in post (slow motion).  You don't want your final film to run at 24 fps at certain parts and 60fps at other parts.  The final frame rate has to be consistent.  With shutter speed, you don't have to be consistent throughout the final film.  As long as you know why you chose to use a faster or slower shutter speed (to get the look you want).
  • Color profile in camera: turn everything to ZERO or minimum.  Photo cameras come with various picture styles like Standard, Neutral, Vivid, etc.  Go into one of those profiles and dial all the sliders to 0 or less.  This gives you a flat image when you record.  Flat images are much much better for editing and somewhat retain more detail than those which have some in-camera preset already applied.

Audio

  • Definitely use external microphones.  The only use I would have for in-camera mics on HDSLRs would be to record scratch tracks that will help me synchronize with higher quality clean audio from external recorders.
  • If you use directional shotgun mics, clip on mics, omni mics, etc. make sure you understand how their polar patterns work and play around with mic placement to get quality audio.  Understanding polar patterns, especially with directional mics, will help you figure out how to place the microphone to isolate the sound you want to record from sound you want to avoid.

Lighting

  • High ISO capability in the camera is no substitute for improper lighting.
  • High ISO capability of a camera can also be a bad idea if you want to film a night scene.  An alternative you can use is a technique called "Day for Night" where the footage is shot in day time or with a proper light setup and then edited in post to make it appear as if it was filmed at night time.  One of the reasons for this technique is digital camera high ISO noise can be ugly and hard to remove in post.  Hence better to film clean low noise footage and just edit in post.
  • Changing the camera ISO, shutter and lens aperture is also not a substitute for improper lighting.  Changing in-camera settings can alter the look and feel of your film, so if you do not want the look and feel to change and the film is underexposed, the only solution is to bring in more lighting.

 

Software

If you cannot afford to get Adobe Premiere/After Effects, I recommend you get DaVinci Resolve 12 which is free.  The recent version of DaVinci Resolve is no longer just a color grading tool, it has become a full fledged NLE.  Whilst using plugins and presets might make your workflow faster in color grading and trying to get the film look, if you cannot afford to buy those plugins and presets, DaVinci Resolve's color grading capabilities will help you get the look and feel you want manually.

 

In fact, even if you can afford Premiere Pro and After Effects, you can also include DaVinci Resolve in your workflow.

 

The videos I previously posted contain a lot of useful information.  If you want I can also post more stuff from channels that show you what can be achieved.  They can't go into full detail and tell you what to do because the settings they use for their examples might not be the same exact settings that work for your footage.

 

Finally: have patience, don't rush.  Rushing will get you nowhere.

 

 

 

 

Posted

What are the things I need to do, both while shooting and in post processing, to achieve a film look? What do professionals do that gives it a distinct feel compared to a regular video?

 

I am filming with a Nokia Lumia 1020 (not the proper equipment, I know), so I can film in 1080p 30FPS, unfortunately not 24 or 25FPS. So far I have in mind that I should make the aspect ratio 21:9, and render at 24FPS.

 

I am going to be filming a custom build, so I'll be using a camera dolly, a bunch of panning shots, as well as still shots with light movement. Overall the video will be pretty dark with contours and stuff on the chassis being highlighted with a single light source, similar to something you'd find in a HardwareCanucks video.

 

Any advice? I'm very new to videography, I'm more of a photographer than anything else as I shoot a lot of still photography. I am using Vegas Pro to edit btw. And if anyone can suggest a better camera app for Windows Phone 10 that actually takes advantage of my 41MP camera, that would be awesome. Thanks!

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It's all in the colour. Get Da Vinci Resolve for colour grading and look online and see if you can find a few presets. Fiddle around with the colour wheels and eventually you'll get the hang of it.

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I really don't understand why people keep thinking that 24/25 fps is better than 30fps when pretty much all the evidence suggests that more is better.

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Just now, sushisharkjl said:

It's all in the colour. Get Da Vinci Resolve for colour grading and look online and see if you can find a few presets. Fiddle around with the colour wheels and eventually you'll get the hang of it.

Really? I thought it was just aspect ratio and framerate. Thanks for the tip, that should be very helpful. :)

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2 minutes ago, ElfFriend said:

I really don't understand why people keep thinking that 24/25 fps is better than 30fps when pretty much all the evidence suggests that more is better.

A more filmlike presentation can help make the video more... professional. I love 60fps video but it's not suitable for professional video.

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1 minute ago, ElfFriend said:

I really don't understand why people keep thinking that 24/25 fps is better than 30fps when pretty much all the evidence suggests that more is better.

It gives it a specific feel, it doesn't have anything to do with all that console crap that people use this evidence for. The latest Hobbit was actually filmed at 60FPS and people complained that it looked a lot less realistic due to it. I don't know how it works, but for games and stuff I'd like 60+FPS, but for cinematography I think 25FPS is nicer.

 

I'm tired of people using that argument for consoles though, it's pathetic and needs to stop. Games need to be at a high frame rate.

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Ew why does DaVinci Resolve need QuickTime? Oh well, as long as it makes it look pretty.

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4 minutes ago, ElfFriend said:

I really don't understand why people keep thinking that 24/25 fps is better than 30fps when pretty much all the evidence suggests that more is better.

Not in video. Using 24 fps allows you to have motion blur, which is more in tune with what the human eye generally perceives. Recording at 60fps gives you the soap opera effect which is highly undesirable in video.

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Just now, Dan Castellaneta said:

A more filmlike presentation can help make the video more... professional. I love 60fps video but it's not suitable for professional video.

That's what I don't understand! Real life is at theoretically an infinite fps so why do people like watching things that are choppy and/or full of motionbarf (aka motionblur)?

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Just now, sushisharkjl said:

Not in video. Using 24 fps allows you to have motion blur, which is more in tune with what the human eye generally perceives. Recording at 60fps gives you the soap opera effect which is highly undesirable in video.

That's why Mexican television looks super fake...

 

Oh and frame blending, what's that about? Does it make it smoother but with a consistent frame rate or should I leave it disabled?

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Just now, ElfFriend said:

That's what I don't understand! Real life is at theoretically an infinite fps so why do people like watching things that are choppy and/or full of motionbarf (aka motionblur)?

Have you watched Mexican soap operas before? They are filmed at 60FPS, give it a try and then go watch a normal movie at 24FPS. The 24FPS will look a lot more cinematic.

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Just now, byalexandr said:

That's why Mexican television looks super fake...

 

Oh and frame blending, what's that about? Does it make it smoother but with a consistent frame rate or should I leave it disabled?

I think that has to do with merging frames in 30/25/50/60 FPS down to a lower framerate, but creating artificial motion blur with the extra frames. 

 

I would just record in 24fps and not touch that.

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Just now, ElfFriend said:

That's what I don't understand! Real life is at theoretically an infinite fps so why do people like watching things that are choppy and/or full of motionbarf (aka motionblur)?

When 24/25fps video is shot right,  it looks far from choppy. In fact, it looks really pleasing to the eye because it's not at a high frame rate. Also, motion blur (and smear frames in cartoons) helps perceive that realistic look.

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Just now, sushisharkjl said:

I think that has to do with merging frames in 30/25/50/60 FPS down to a lower framerate, but creating artificial motion blur with the extra frames. 

 

I would just record in 24fps and not touch that.

That's the thing though, I can't record at 24FPS anymore because the Windows Camera app that replaced the Nokia Camera app only allows for 30FPS. I would use a new camera app that give me far more control but there doesn't seem to be anything. I've heard that filming at 30FPS and rendering at 24FPS does make it choppy though, would frame blending help in this case?

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Just now, byalexandr said:

Have you watched Mexican soap operas before? They are filmed at 60FPS, give it a try and then go watch a normal movie at 24FPS. The 24FPS will look a lot more cinematic.

The only hypothesis I have on why this might be the case is that the display refresh rate isn't fast enough for 60fps films. Maybe at 120Hz 60fps looks better for movies? Would be curious to see some actual science about WHY this is the case and not just "it feels weird".

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Just now, ElfFriend said:

The only hypothesis I have on why this might be the case is that the display refresh rate isn't fast enough for 60fps films. Maybe at 120Hz 60fps looks better for movies? Would be curious to see some actual science about WHY this is the case and not just "it feels weird".

No because there is no motion blur. If you wave your hand in real life, it's very blurry because that's how the human eye perceives it. Rendering at a higher frame rate gets rid of the motion blur, so it looks very fake and kind of rendered instead of like a film.

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4 minutes ago, ElfFriend said:

That's what I don't understand! Real life is at theoretically an infinite fps so why do people like watching things that are choppy and/or full of motionbarf (aka motionblur)?

The human eye doesn't see in fps. The reason why films/movies are not shown in 60fps is because it looks "jittery". A 24/30 fps films with the proper shutter speed looks more smooth.

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Just now, Klerk said:

The human eye doesn't see in fps. The reason why films/movies are not shown in 60fps is because it looks "jittery". A 24/30 fps films with the proper shutter speed looks more smooth.

It looks smoother due to motion blur. Just thought I'd mention that as well.

 

Also, if I film in 30FPS and render in 24, is this the same thing as filming in 24FPS? Would enabling frame blending help smooth it out any?

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13 minutes ago, ElfFriend said:

That's what I don't understand! Real life is at theoretically an infinite fps so why do people like watching things that are choppy and/or full of motionbarf (aka motionblur)?

I think they keep it at 24 frames because it provides an effect that kind defines the genre. Your eyes are usually able to tell if its a movie or non movie

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5 minutes ago, byalexandr said:

No because there is no motion blur. If you wave your hand in real life, it's very blurry because that's how the human eye perceives it. Rendering at a higher frame rate gets rid of the motion blur, so it looks very fake and kind of rendered instead of like a film.

But in real life photons are still discrete packets of information... so why isn't blur added to 60fps? Is it not high enough for the brain to treat it as a continuous stream of information and blur it?

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2 minutes ago, ElfFriend said:

But in real life photons are still discrete packets of information... so why isn't blur added to 60fps? Is it not high enough for the brain to treat it as a continuous stream of information and blur it?

I wouldn't know to be quite honest. Perhaps it has to do with being two dimensional or something.

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2 minutes ago, ElfFriend said:

But in real life photons are still discrete packets of information... so why isn't blur added to 60fps? Is it not high enough for the brain to treat it as a continuous stream of information and blur it?

That's because you would be running a faster shutter speed when shooting at 60fps (1/120th) . Faster shutter = less motion blur. The reason why it is filmed at 24fps is not to get it realistic. 24fps is more pleasing to the eyes.

"Graphics and gameplay are not mutually exclusive."


"Nvidia, AMD, Intel, or whatever company out there has only one end goal and that is PROFIT.


If you think these companies exist for any other reason you're gonna be disappointed my dear. CAVEAT EMPTOR"

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4 minutes ago, Klerk said:

That's because you would be running a faster shutter speed when shooting at 60fps (1/120th) . Faster shutter = less motion blur. The reason why it is filmed at 24fps is not to get it realistic. 24fps is more pleasing to the eyes.

That's like saying that the reason why people eat meat is because it tastes good. I'm looking for an ACTUAL, scientifically supported reason here.

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1 minute ago, ElfFriend said:

That's like saying that the reason why people eat meat is because it tastes good. I'm looking for an ACTUAL reason here.

Well that's the reason I eat meat.

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1 minute ago, byalexandr said:

Well that's the reason I eat meat.

So what about the people that hate the taste of meat? My point is that it's a subjective reason. I'm looking for an objective fact.

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