Getting That Film Look, Just Like Hollywood

[Chuck Engels]

This is really a great little DIY project that produces some amazing results
http://www.softweigh.com/video/diy.html

Build a Depth of Field Adaptor for your Camcorder
* We have an AWESOME DOF adapter for your camcorder that will allow you to use standard 35mm still camera lenses and create REAL depth of field and it will cost you less than $30 to build too!!! This allows you to make video that looks like and has the depth of field of film!!

Be sure to check out the this is what you can acheive link.

Great stuff!! I found this on the Media College forum
http://www.mediacollege.com/forum/showthread.php?t=4500

[Steve Grisetti]

I like some of the other do it yourself projects on the site even more, Chuck!

[Ken Jarstad]

Nice resource, Chuck. With a 35mm still camera I was able to reduce DOF by selecting a large fixed apperature. Using full-auto you could use a neutral density filter to force a larger apperature. I always thought you could do the same thing with video if you wanted to. According to that article our camcorder sensors are so small these days that those techniques will not work. Would that be right?

[Gooder]

An article on "Simulating a 35mm Motion Picture Clarity Signature"
http://www.dvinfo.net/articles/filmlook/broadway1.php

The second part is very good "Simulating 35mm Motion Picture Color Saturation"
http://www.dvinfo.net/articles/filmlook/broadway2.php

Cheers,
Lee

[IRISH4U]

Hi Gooder
I looked at the two links you gave for the Hollywood film look, i especially like the one for adjusting the color in AE. I'm below a beginner as far as AE is concerned, so here's the question. Does AE render (process) the project to AVI? And how is rendering, time wise compared to Premiere?
Also regarding AE, I have AE 4.1 and the Adobe classroom in a book for it, does anyone know of a better book for an AE beginner?

[jackfalbey]

There's also a simple "cheat" to get the film-style shallow DOF if your camcorder has manual focus...

1) Zoom all the way in (optical, NOT digital)
2) Physically move your camcorder back until your subject is properly framed
3) Adjust the focus manually

You can use this to have the foreground and background out of focus while your subject is in focus, or you can also use this to change focus within the shot... say from a closer subject to a farther one or vice-versa.

[Gooder]

Hello IRISH4U,

Yes, After Effects does render the prject as an AVI file! You also have many more output options from within After Effects, but I often use it to export a project as an AVI file and then import that file in to Premiere Elements or Premiere CS3!

Rendering times will vary depending on what effects, titles, and other features are applied to your clips or project. I have seen my machine pushed very hard when working on a very large project but for most things it will render just like Premiere pro or indeed Elements. The more you have on your timeline then the more rendering it will have to do!

I am still learning After Effects and yes, it is a steep learning curve. I try to read as much as I can and also watch video training videos!
One of the best forums that cater for After Effects is the Creative Cow!

http://forums.creativecow.net/forums.php

Another excellent site which I have purchased some great video training DVDs is Videocopilot!

http://www.videocopilot.net/index.html

Books!
I can't really answer that one but there are many books for After Effects as I am sure you know with you having AE4. All I can say is that others will join in and give you some advice on that. I have the AE 5 Bible but that is not light reading. Another book which is good is the Quick pro guide for AE, also a good starting point is to read again the AE manual, I still keep going back to the manual from time to time!

You could also join such places as http://www.lynda.com for online training!
You also have many members on this forum that use AE and they will also help you out!

Hope I have helped!
Cheers,
Lee

[Ken Jarstad]

Hi, Jack! (I would try to NOT say that at the airport). We focus just as you say - in our community access TV studio but the fake potted plants behind the taking heads in a (PBS Charlie Rose style) TV show stay in focus! As in the demo from Chuck's original post shows, having shallow depth of field gives a wonderful sense of depth to the pictures. Even with studio cameras (although not real expensive ones) we can't get that effect. I often wondered if a ND filter would help since there is plenty of light in that studio.

Ahem! It seems like whenever the issue of "Hollywood style" video is discussed, it always seems to devolve into 24p frame rate so that we, too, can have that choppy, blurry effect of the movies. Everyone has their preferrences, and mine is the clarity and better freedom from motion blur we get with VIDEO. The article about the "35mm Motion Picture Clarity Signature" should be the "LACK of clarity signature!" Why is everyone so enamored with this?? OTOH, the video that Chuck pointed to shows better than any other - the extra "depth" that is available with those bigger cameras.

[Gooder]

Ahem! It seems like whenever the issue of "Hollywood style" video is discussed, it always seems to devolve into 24p frame rate so that we, too, can have that choppy, blurry effect of the movies. Everyone has their preferrences, and mine is the clarity and better freedom from motion blur we get with VIDEO. The article about the "35mm Motion Picture Clarity Signature" should be the "LACK of clarity signature!" Why is everyone so enamored with this?? OTOH, the video that Chuck pointed to shows better than any other - the extra "depth" that is available with those bigger cameras.

Ahem! Ken, you will find that many Indie film makers will disagree with your comments concerning the 24p technique!

IRISH4U, here are some more helpful links for “Getting / Emulating that film look”!
Glad you liked the previous articles.

MAKING VIDEO LOOK LIKE FILM - THE COMPLETE LIST...
http://www.urbanfox.tv/production/filmlookindex.htm

The dream of the 24p film look: Or, How I stopped worrying and learned to love the film look
http://www.camcorderinfo.com/content/fi ... _indie.htm

Magic Bullet Looks
http://www.redgiantsoftware.com/magicbulletlooks.html

What is a Look? Traditionally achieved with filters, filming techniques or chemical processes, a "look" was any treatment applied to film stock to lend it a color, appearance, or mood. With digital editing, many more sophisticated effects are now possible. Often referred to as color correction, the process is similar to working in a virtual darkroom. Ordinary footage can be made to look like old films or TV, colors can be adjusted to turn a daytime shoot into film noir, and camera tricks can be simulated digitally.

Cheers,
Lee

[boogieted]

I was hoping i could get the "film look" in my PE4 project by shooting in '24p HDV' mode with my Canon HV20. However, it won't seem to import into PE4. Does anyone know why? because i can import 30fps HDV video into PE4, so i am confused. I welcome your solutions to accomplishing the film look in a PE4 project with my particular camcorder. Thanks!

[Paul LS]

Install this 24p Canon project preset. It will enable you to import 24p... it is for PPro but works in PE
http://www.adobe.com/support/downloads/ ... ftpID=3408