Im getting ready to film a short movie about 3 students breaking inside their school to find out the truth about a ghost myth. I currently own a Canon ZR 85 (good for those small projects) and my school owns 2 Canon XL1's. Im planning on using the XL's....has anyone worked with them? can they give me that "cinema look"?

depending on the applications you have, you should be able to get a good film look with color correction.

Tell me what apps you have and ill beable to help you out a little more.

If you gave us some specifics it would be more helpful, but to get a decent film look (via post image manipulation), try crushing the blacks (adjusting the levels) and slightly desaturating the images. If I were you, I'd focus primarily on adequately lighting your scenes during production, that will be the biggest step towards getting the film look.

God! Another film-look question! Lol..I'm just giving ya a hard time. Look up "filmlook" and you'll get some info. Just letting you know a camera can't get you a good film look.

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Originally posted by filmmakerfromwv:
God! Another film-look question! Lol..I'm just giving ya a hard time. Look up "filmlook" and you'll get some info. Just letting you know a camera can't get you a good film look.

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To be honest, I don't like film anymore.
When I get the money, I'm gonna buy a HD camera, ypu can easily get the "film look" with it, only it's sharper, the only real reason to want a, unsharp and easily destroyed filmstrip, is probably nostalgic,


yeah, robert rodriquez tought me well =P

If your using vegas as an editor there is this tutorial-esque type, that will give you a decent film look.

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Originally posted by Remington:

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Originally posted by filmmakerfromwv:
God! Another film-look question! Lol..I'm just giving ya a hard time. Look up "filmlook" and you'll get some info. Just letting you know a camera can't get you a good film look.

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To be honest, I don't like film anymore.
When I get the money, I'm gonna buy a HD camera, ypu can easily get the "film look" with it, only it's sharper, the only real reason to want a, unsharp and easily destroyed filmstrip, is probably nostalgic,


yeah, robert rodriquez tought me well =P

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When Robert Rodriguez said that, he was talking about film prints, not film negatives. He says so in little feature.

Film prints, depending on how many they have to make, are made from copies of copies of the negative. If you ever see an original negative, it's sharper than anything else you're going to get until the pixel count goes higher on HD.

Also, no one is ever going to get a film look unless you shoot it on film. Instead of getting a film look, get a video look and come up with a good reason as to why it looks like video. Or get a really good story and good characters, and no one is going to care what it looks like.

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Originally posted by RFranco:

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Originally posted by Remington:

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Originally posted by filmmakerfromwv:
God! Another film-look question! Lol..I'm just giving ya a hard time. Look up "filmlook" and you'll get some info. Just letting you know a camera can't get you a good film look.

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true, BUT... you can never show the film from the negative, so in anyway, you could never get the HD sharpness, and Once upon a time in mexico had a better look than overall film look, in my opinion,

To be honest, I don't like film anymore.
When I get the money, I'm gonna buy a HD camera, ypu can easily get the "film look" with it, only it's sharper, the only real reason to want a, unsharp and easily destroyed filmstrip, is probably nostalgic,


yeah, robert rodriquez tought me well =P

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When Robert Rodriguez said that, he was talking about film prints, not film negatives. He says so in little feature.

Film prints, depending on how many they have to make, are made from copies of copies of the negative. If you ever see an original negative, it's sharper than anything else you're going to get until the pixel count goes higher on HD.

Also, no one is ever going to get a film look unless you shoot it on film. Instead of getting a film look, get a video look and come up with a good reason as to why it looks like video. Or get a really good story and good characters, and no one is going to care what it looks like.

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yeah

I use Avid for my editing and im thinking of using Adobe Premiere. The reason why i ask about the "film look" is because i dont want to create a film that looks like a bunch of bad acting kids pretending to be scared and killed...hehehe...The entire film is going to be shot at night so i understand lighting is everything, the thing is i want it dark enough so it looks like its during the night time, but if i dont use lights than all my shots will be dark...any help?

Plus i understand that the only way i can acheive a "film look" is by shooting in 16 or 35 mm...but yeah, im sure high school students are not running around shooting their projects in film. Plus, my old camera took a dump after it fell off my desk (samsung SCD 23) so i bought the Canon ZR 85 (i wanted the Optura XI but no $!!!) and so far im kind of dissapointed, i bought it at Costco so i can return it whenever i want. Any suggestions on a decent camera? (ive been looking on ebay for a cheap GL1 or 2...but so far im unsuccesful)......................................in my film im going to be using a 5' by 10' greenscreen for my ghost.

Have you thought about shooting Super-8 film?

super 8 is cool, but it takes time for developing, costs a lot more that dv, requires seperate audio recording on a DAT or a MD recorder, has to be telecined or scanned for computer editing. A lot of work. it is cool, but only if you have the time, money, and facilities.

I would use the avid. But depending on what you want to do premier may be the better option.

If you have some money, but not that much a Panasonic GS400 is a nice monster, i got one about 4 months ago, and have not really had a problem yet.

"The reason why i ask about the "film look" is because i dont want to create a film that looks like a bunch of bad acting kids pretending to be scared and killed...hehehe..."

That's going to be more a function of your shot selection, editing, lighting, and soundtrack. I recommend keeping the camera moving as much as possible to make it more dynamic - the moment you stop and have a static shot, the cheapness will become apparent.

Also, if you want a "film look," there are a couple things you should do. Deinterlace the video, if you didn't shoot it in "frame mode" already, posterize to 24fps (optional, depends on the project whether this is a good idea or not), adjust the curves, possibly desaturate it slightly, and tune the color balance to get the look you're after. The biggest improvements will be from adjusting the curves and deinterlacing.

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Originally posted by Remington:

To be honest, I don't like film anymore.
When I get the money, I'm gonna buy a HD camera,

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What?? When you get the money? You robbin a bank or waiting out a very rich relative who's about to kick the bucket? LOL

Of course I'm joking a bit, but Damn those things dont come cheap. If youve got $100,000+ to drop, make it a budget on something you care about and RENT a cam. The "pro-summer" HD cams (Such as the JVC) have looked pretty terrible. What the future holds in that area remains to be seen but few actually own one of those. I love HD, shot with HD, happy with HD... even wouldnt mind owning HD, but thats a Looooonng way off.
R. Michael

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Originally posted by TizzyEntertainment:

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Originally posted by Remington:

To be honest, I don't like film anymore.
When I get the money, I'm gonna buy a HD camera,

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What?? When you get the money? You robbin a bank or waiting out a very rich relative who's about to kick the bucket? LOL

Of course I'm joking a bit, but Damn those things dont come cheap. If youve got $100,000+ to drop, make it a budget on something you care about and RENT a cam. The "pro-summer" HD cams (Such as the JVC) have looked pretty terrible. What the future holds in that area remains to be seen but few actually own one of those. I love HD, shot with HD, happy with HD... even wouldnt mind owning HD, but thats a Looooonng way off.
R. Michael

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I said something wrong in that post, I indeed ment to buy it when it has advanced. I also shot with HD(Not for on the internet tough, just testing) and I liked it very well.

and I'm only 15, but I'm a bit more experienced in life than my age-fellows :P

The Canon XL1 is a great camera, I use it to make my films. Go into MENU and make sure the MOVIE MODE option is on. The difference is amazing. With the right lighting it can really give the illusion of film, you dont have to do anything to it in post.

Thanks guys, you helped me out alot!

http://www.jrmorgenproductions.com/portal/viewtopic.php?t=393

http://www.jrmorgenproductions.com/portal/viewtopic.php?t=42

There is some more on the subject if you want it.

ok Im back as the HD hater against tizzy

I shot a test with the sony HD cam they used for episode 1 ( i know, its a bit old now) and with a panavision 35mm....and HD looks horrible compared to 35.

At this point, I would only use HD if you have a story that needs this special visual style (Colateral was a good example...and I love the sin city look)