Getting That Film Look

Getting that fabled “film look” is what many new directors, filmmakers, and hobbyists strive for with their productions.  It is one of those things that just makes your productions look more professional, and less like a home movie.  In reality though, it is actually a lot harder to get, and costs a lot more money than they probably realize.  This look consists of 2 different characteristics of your video that we will be discussing over the next article.  Keep in mind, there are tools to buy, plugins to use, and techniques to learn, all of which cost money or will use up quite a bit of your time.  Camera work and post production is a tedious process, but when you are able to apply you skills, and use your gear efficiently, you could be a film festival ready director in no time.

First up is the easier of the two aspects of the “film look”, 24p mode, which essentially is a 23.976 frame rate (25p for PAL cameras).  Some cameras have this built in such as prosumer HVX200 P2 cameras, and some cameras have a faux-24p mode sometimes called “cinemode”, or “frame” like my old Canon XL1, or “PF24″ like in my Canon Vixia HV30 consumer camera I have now.  All of these simulate 24p, but don’t actually record at that frame rate, they still record at a 29.976 frame rate.  Although this approach works for consumers looking to make fun films with their kids in the backyard, for some filmmakers this just doesn’t cut it.  There are other approaches to getting that film frame rate effect, without actually shooting in 24p.  The old adage, “Fix it in post!” applies here, as there are a few workarounds.  First off you can use Andrew Kramer’s Frame Rate Converter tutorial at Video Copilot from way back in the day.  This preset helps you take 60i, 30i, or any other formats or frame rates, including PAL footage and convert it into 24p NTSC, or 25p PAL if you need to.  This tutorial is a little weird when it comes to audio, so make sure if you have a voice track with it, you can do some modification, because the audio track needs to be time stretched 104.5% to compensate for the frames lost, and fitting into the time that you need it to.  The second post production approach to this is a little bit easier… Red Giant’s Magic Bullet Frames.  Frames is a plugin that works with Final Cut, Premiere, Motion and of course, After Effects.  It uses frame blending algorithms and edge smoothing to basically do the same thing that Andrews tutorial show you, except in plugin form, and also gives you more control over deinterlacing your footage to make it true 23.976 frames per second progressive scan (no interlaced fields) picture.

The second half of the formula in is getting a shallow depth of field, or at least having more control over what you focus on, and what is blurry.  The professional way to go about this would be to shoot with 35mm lens adapters and lenses, but there are a few camera and post production techniques that you can use, as well as a few avenues you can head in, camera/gear wise.

First, the techniques that won’t cost you any extra money other than the gear and the software you already have.  With your camera depending on how good your zoom is, you can position your camera a ways away from your subject, zoom in, and have some more control over what you can focus on.  Of course, this is a hassle, especially if you aren’t recording ADR, and have your mic plugged in directly to the camera.  This of course brings other conflicts such as having long XLR cables and a boom operator, setting up your shots so they don’t have much movement in them, because even with the best tripod skills, operating a camera at full zoom is always difficult to keep from shaking.  This of course is a very limited technique because you can’t always shoot from 50 feet away, especially if some shots are taking place indoors.  Your other option for not shelling out any cash is to fake it in After Effects.  Of course this is also a very limited technique, in which you have to have little or no movement in your shot, or at least stationary objects or people.  You can then bring your video into After Effects and mask off different elements in your scene that you want in focus, and then animate those masks according to the movement in the shot.  This might be a good technique if you have a closeup of someone’s eyes and would want to rack focus to whatever they had been turned away from.  This is very hard to fake, so I would suggest not trying it, unless it is absolutely necessary.

Now for the more expensive route.  35mm Lens adapters, lenses, cameras and DIY solutions.  First up is the lens adapters, which is probably the most foolproof route.  Companies such as RedRockMicro, Letus and Brevis make adapters that you can attach to your camera, prosumer and consumer, that lets you then attach 35mm lenses onto that.  The only problem with this is if you don’t have around two grand to drop on equipment costs, you are out of luck.  Not only do you buy the lens adapter, the fact is, its only the adapter.  You also have to buy the lens to attach onto that, and on top of that, a rail support system to support the bulk that is your new 35mm system which is going to double the size of your camera.  If you are looking for an adapter but can’t drop that kind of cash, there are always the DIY approaches to things.  Videopia has a great video that explains 35mm lens adapters and explains the DIY approach in video form.  Basically, the way these things work is there is a glass plane in the adapter that the 35mm lens projects the image onto, at the exact focal point of the lens.  This increases the imaging plane, giving you the depth of field you oh so sought after.  You can find out more about making your own 35mm lens adapter from scratch at JetSetModels.info.  Again remember, you still need to buy lenses after you make this adapter to be able to use it.  The last option for getting that sweet, sweet depth of field effect for relatively cheap when it comes to actually buying a camera with that option built in would be a DSLR camera with HD video recording capabilities.  Yes, I am gonna talk about the Canon 5D MKII… if you are in the market for buying a video camera, and have been looking at options for lens adapters, look no further.  Cameras like these have the native capability to attach 35mm lenses onto them, because well, they are made to be photography cameras.  All SLR and DSLR cameras have had the ability to attach and switch out lenses since their creation, but just lately they have gained the ability to record HD video.  This makes DSLRs an amazing option for newcomers to the film making scene to grab a very equipped camera for not a gigantic chunk of money.  The only thing that isn’t that great about these, is they have the form of an SLR camera, and aren’t as comfortable to hold as a handheld/ENG camera, but there are rail support systems you can get for them to make them feel more like a video camera.

Basically there are a ton of options to consider before you just jump in and buy a Letus Extreme adapter, or that Canon XH-A1 you had your eye on.  Truth is, more and more people are using consumer and prosumer cameras with workarounds such as these to create big budget looking movies for little to no money.  All you need are the techniques and a lot of free time on your hands.  Of course it doesn’t hurt to have a bit of cash to throw around though