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You've
tried all the tech basics of getting that elusive "film look:"
shooting 24 fps, adding grain, using an `S' curve gamma, even adding a
tiny bit of dust and scratches, you even shot with a 35mm DOF Adapter.
But your project still lacks that certain "something," that
"big-budget feature" look.
It's easy to focus on the "film" part of film making, but a lot of the
differences between the look of video vs. film are not in the actual
media. They're in the techniques and tools used to acquire
the content.
When telling your story, the goal isn't to make something that looks
like "a film," but to completely involve the audience in a different
world. Think of it as creating virtual reality for your audience
Most of the great film conventions are based simply on organic human
experience. We fade to black instead of green or plaid, because black
is what we see when we close our eyes.
A dolly move always feels more organic than a zoom move because, after
all, our eyeballs don't zoom. Our eyes are essentially spherical,
prime lenses, and if we want to change our view of the world we can
tilt or pan our neck (separate muscles, like a gear head) or walk
towards or away from something (like a dolly).
Here are some tips to getting that "big movie" film look.
FILM-STYLE SHOOTING
So, what's so great about film-style shooting? Shallow
depth-of-field? Dolly moves? It's all about mind control! Making the
viewer look where you want, and feel the way you want.
With a shallow depth-of-field - and a good follow- focus operator -
you can rack focus through the shot and force viewers to look exactly
where you want, exactly when you want.
One common saying is that: "Film is a medium of the long shot and
video is the medium of the close up."
If you're shooting HD, just forget that old saying. Think of every big
feature you've ever seen: starting with that gigantic
long shot that magnificently sets the scene. Even try framing your CUs
a little looser than you're used to. Imagine you're filling a 60 foot
screen.
THE 3D WORLD
One of the tasks of the director and DP (or you) is to
take a three dimensional world that has been flattened out onto a two
dimensional movie screen, and re-imbue it with a sense of depth.
It's common in video shooting to keep the lighting bright and flat.
This gives you a deep depth-of-field and lets you see everything in
the shot. However, this isn't the always the best way to involve your
audience.
Avoid flat lighting. Create pools of light and dark, with the light
patches where you want the audience to look. (It's called
"chiaroscuro" when Rembrandt does it.) It pulls the viewers' eyes to
the bright parts of the shot.
If your shot is mostly dark, try to include just a couple of bright
point of light (candles, distant streetlights) so the viewers can
retain their orientation.
SMOOTH MOVE
By keeping your moves smooth, you take your viewer's
attention off the camera work and keep is focused on your subject.
Avoid hand-held camera if possible, unless it's explicitly part of the
story's visual style. Stay on your sticks. Use a gear head instead of
a tilt-pan head. Leave the zoom ring alone, pretend you're shooting a
prime lens, even if you're not. Here's your new mantra: "Slow down."
Everyone has seen the MTV jerky-cam moves. They're so 1995. The trick
is to use moves judiciously. The dolly is one of my favorite mind
control tricks! In real life, if you're in a conversation, you tend to
physically lean in when things get interesting, and lean out when you
lose interest. With the camera on a dolly you can actually force the
viewer to be interested. As you slowly dolly in, you can force the
viewer to feel like they're leaning in. Avoid compound moves, i.e.
tilting while panning while zooming. Try to simplify moves, like a
slow pan to follow your subject. After you have settled for a while,
then begin a slow dolly in, only tilting to maintain headroom.
Pauper's tip: if you can't afford a dolly, try a
wheelchair, skateboard, little red wagon or even a shopping cart.
FOG & FILTERS
Film shoots often use fog or smoke on the set to create
a moody effect or simply to create depth. The quick way to fog a very
large area (like a whole city) without renting the big, BIG foggers is
twofold:
Fog the immediate area with a small juice fogger. This will be the `swirly'
stuff the talent interacts with. Fan gently with foamcore.
Create the impression of your fog extending back to infinity by
using a "graduated fog filter" (also called a `double fog') in your
matte box. A graduated fog filter is foggiest at the top, fading out
towards the bottom.
As in real life, if you're standing on a foggy beach; you see almost
no fog if you are looking down at your feet, but a thick fog as you
look out towards the horizon.
Pauper's tip: You can buy really inexpensive juice
foggers at department stores when Halloween rolls around. I found some
for $18, including a small bottle of fog juice! You can get a small
graduated fog filter from Cokin S.A.S. for as little as $20.
Filters are cool, and pro DPs know this. The Canon X1
and XL-H1 are among the video cameras that can use them. Here's a real
short list of the coolest:
Polarizer. This one is pure magic! Used outdoors,
linear polarizers make the sky deep blue, make all your colors pop,
and cut glare on surfaces like water and glass "Hey look, you can
actually see through that windshield!" It does stuff you can't do in
post.
Graduated blue. In case your `sunny'
shoot day really turns out to be overcast, this one will turn your
skies blue again. "Bluebird of Happiness" optional.)
Graduated green. Just like the above, but makes the
grass green. It's this, or use 200 cans of green spray paint.
Tiffen Black Pro-Mistฎ gives a rich misty quality
to the shot, but without elevating your black levels.
Neutral Density, aka ND. These let you reduce the
light coming into the camera without closing the iris and losing that
shallow depth-of-field that you've now came to love! Graduated NDs let
you knock down that bright sky and not affect the rest of your shot.
Star filters Remember that dark shot with the
candles (above)? This will kick cool stars off all those points of
light. A single-line star filter is called a `streak' filter.
Split-Field. Technically a lens, not a filter, but
these are used just like filters. These let you keep half your frame
in focus on a very near object and the other half in focus at
infinity.
Imagine that tight shot of the lawman's holster on his
hip, and the bad guy at the end of the street reaching for his gun.
Use this one when there is simultaneous action at two different focal
distances.
IN YOUR EAR
Sound, especially dialog quality, is another major
factor that give your work that "big movie" feel.
In a feature film about 80% of the dialog is re-recorded (ADR) in a
sound studio. If you can't afford all that session time, try this
"Pauper's ADR:"
1)
Copy off your field dialog as one-sentence .mp3 files.
2) Download them into a regular .mp3 music player set it to "repeat
one song."
3) Have your talent listen on headphones.
4) Record them under sound-controlled conditions while they listen to
their looping, original dialog.
They don't need to see their performance. All they need
to do is speak in unison with the loop. If you have limited access to
your talent, you can even do this in the field by making a little
sound booth out of sound blankets.
Foley sound and room tone are also often overlooked
in production. It adds depth and dimension to any production to add
foley sound, not just the obvious SFX like gunshots and car engines,
but the tiny, subtle sounds: birds twittering outside a bedroom
window, the complex layers of sounds inside an office.
"Room tone" is simply the sound of your set with no talent speaking.
Record 30 seconds of it at the end of each setup. Don't let people
leave. They're all part of that sound environment. Record 30 seconds
of ambient sound when you shoot outdoors as well.
When you're editing, instead of leaving silence between lines, cut a
chunk of the matching tone into that space.
BIG MOVIE FEELING
Try not to get too caught up in the technical aspects.
Remember: at the end of the day, it's the strength of your subject,
story, or actors' performances, that touch your audience and create
your reality.
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