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Something to ponder over….
This is not a rant just an observation.
I think the question of “How do I make my footage look like film?” is now moot. It seems to just incite discussions of digital versus film.
I think a better question to be asked would be “How do I make my footage look like this style or that?”
Film can look just as bad as digital can. Digital can look good just as film.
How do I achieve the Tony Scott look?
How do I get that look of 1920’s film?
How can I achieve a good balance of contrast and brightness?I don’t want to sound arrogant or like an ass, but with enough effort anything can be made to look like anything. It might not retain quality under major blowup but if your goal is for NTSC, then how does that matter anyway.
I also don’t want to make people uncomfortable asking questions, but this question could be answered the same as we would answer a novice “You must be more specific as to the look you wish to attain for us to help you better.”
Sometimes I think some of us forget that for most new people asking questions the solution of re-shooting is not an option and they must make do with what they have.
Just my 2 cents
If I offend, I apologize in advance.
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2 Replies
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I see your point Ryan. However if what you are saying is actually true, I would be saving tens of thousands of dollars on each shoot by shooting video instead of 35mm to hand to my clients if they truly looked the same.
I don’t take the assumption that ppl asking questions are all noobs who already shot their work. At the same time I don’t assume the whole world shoots on film or should. I do take the assuption (often falsly) that somebody asking a question wants a much higher end look than they are actually asking for. In this case I try to offer two paths, If on video and if on film. If you watch TV you’ll see that more than 95% of music videos, commercials, and movies are shot on 35mm. I wouldn’t want to assume that all the Creative Cow posters are not part of this huge body of work.
But If somebody asks how to make video look like film and I disagree with that statement I will state my case and my case is certainly welcome to be ignored. Because once again, If I could make any video look like film (including HD) I would make a lot more money out of each shoot. The video vs. film thing can wage on in forums all over the world, but clients who pay lots of money to shoot with film and not video still drive my business. This is why Panavision and Arri are spending tons of cash to develop their digital film replacement cameras (which I personally will attest do look 99% like film except a tad bit of harshness on certain edges). “Superman” is being shot with the Genesis camera (Panavision) and it looks fantastic. So maybe the whole film vs digital debate can finally end anyways.
I do wish posters were more specific with questions like what level of work amount/quality the want to achieve. What format they are using. And what looks they would like to go for. But if they wanted to 100% imitate something using completely different equipment and techniques, I can’t in all consciousness pretend my suggestions will help them duplicate it exactly. I reserve the right to say how I know a trick was actually done (if I do happen to know) and give them the option or if nothing else learn how something is commenly done.
But like a post below somebody asked how to do the Tony Scott handcrank thing. Somebody posted good advice on how to get a look like that using AE in post. Will it look identical to using a modified Arri 435 with a hand crank jammed into it? Hard to tell.
my .02.
Chris Smith
https://www.sugarfilmproduction.com -
Funny, I posted that advice about the tony scott hand crank thing. Thanks for the compliment.
Both responses are bang on advice for people doing production. There is not enough pre-production going on. Some people seem to want to just pick up a camera shoot some stuff, run it through a PC (or MAC), and have it come out looking like gold on the other end. There is a reason there are “MONTHS” set aside for pre-production, to come up with the decision on what format to use to shoot.
The thing with a few posts around here is exactly the issues that you guys point out. “I shot a movie with my webcam, can I make it look like Lord of the Rings?”
I also don’t want to make anyone feel insecure about posting, or make myself out to be a tyrant. But I might have come off like I was trying to start a HD vs Film discussion, and that was not my intention. My post was more for the benefit of folks asking how to make stuff look like film. And like you have stated before Chris, there are so many factors involved in that answer that it is like asking how do I make a picture look like a painting, when the question should be “how do I make my picture look like a van gogh, or a caravagio?”
I guess what I am trying to say is that people should be more concerned with making the product look like a certain style rather then a certain medium (format) once the product has already been shot.
Thanks for the responses guys, you are a definite benefit to this community.
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