I would like to know is there anyway to get that film look without buy a high priced camera.I was looking at the Panasonic AG-DVX100A I love the look that camera put's out.If you guy know of any camera that might be close to this one, I would be very happy man.The main thing is trying to get that film look,thanks for any help you can give me.
Three tricks that are camera independent. I'll leave the camera stuff to someone with more knowledge.
(1) Work your contrast. Digital cameras tend to flatten out contrast which further flattens out the perspective making the picture seem flat. Torque the contrast. By this I mean on the set with the lighting primarily. Yeah your digital camera can shoot in most any light but thats not excuse to get lazy. Blast light on the foreground and leave the background dark, or reverse it. Lighting is your big key.
(2) Work your color. Filmmakers often use colored gels on their lenses to give different moods. A lot of digital shooters don't do this because the camera's color already looks so nice. That altered color, however, adds to the film look since film is about creating an artificial mood and reality and not about filming a documentary.
(3) Work the depth. As I mentioned before digital cameras flatten out the perspective even more than film but you can fight this. Put things in the foreground and things to your distant background. Use manual focus so the foreground objects don't suddenly pop into focus when you don't want them to, you want them blurry if they are not the center of action. Add smoke or dust to the air. Even a little bit adds atmosphere, especially when combined with proper light. It creates the feeling of depth for some reason because the empty space becomes something in the line of site instead of just being empty. For some reason this seems more filmatic. And use different kinds of lenses instead of the somewhat bland default lense that comes with most cameras.
RJSchwarz
San Diego, CA
RJSchwarz
quote:
Originally posted by rjschwarz
Three tricks that are camera independent. I'll leave the camera stuff to someone with more knowledge.(1) Work your contrast. Digital cameras tend to flatten out contrast which further flattens out the perspective making the picture seem flat. Torque the contrast. By this I mean on the set with the lighting primarily. Yeah your digital camera can shoot in most any light but thats not excuse to get lazy. Blast light on the foreground and leave the background dark, or reverse it. Lighting is your big key.
(2) Work your color. Filmmakers often use colored gels on their lenses to give different moods. A lot of digital shooters don't do this because the camera's color already looks so nice. That altered color, however, adds to the film look since film is about creating an artificial mood and reality and not about filming a documentary.
(3) Work the depth. As I mentioned before digital cameras flatten out the perspective even more than film but you can fight this. Put things in the foreground and things to your distant background. Use manual focus so the foreground objects don't suddenly pop into focus when you don't want them to, you want them blurry if they are not the center of action. Add smoke or dust to the air. Even a little bit adds atmosphere, especially when combined with proper light. It creates the feeling of depth for some reason because the empty space becomes something in the line of site instead of just being empty. For some reason this seems more filmatic. And use different kinds of lenses instead of the somewhat bland default lense that comes with most cameras.
RJSchwarz
San Diego, CA
Hey thanks so much for the reply and the info, I will try and work on the look and the mood and not worry about the camera so much.
I'm sure there are a lot of camera issues that could help. I just don't know them well enough to comment and I'm kind of hoping someone else on the board will fill in details.
RJSchwarz
San Diego, CA
RJSchwarz
personally i like the Canon XL series. the can be expensive but if you shop around you can find one for about 1,400
"Anyone who has ever been privileged to direct a film also knows that, although it can be like trying to write 'War and Peace' in a bumper car in an amusement park, when you finally get it right, there are not many joys in life that can equal the feeling." - Stanley Kubrick
I have two Sony VX2100's They are beautiful cameras! I highly recommend them! -Matt
Matthew Sconce
Matthew Sconce
what our team did with Canon XL-1s (times 3) is shot with the same technicals as the first commentor said with the lighting issues. Those are a must. But then we gave it a film look, in Los Angeles there's a film company called Film Look, but any major photo processing store can do a film look.
check this out. www.filmlook.com
