Dream Sequence Look

[Matt W.]

I need to treat some footage that's already been shot so it looks like a dream (a premonition).

This is allowed to be slightly cheesy. What are the hallmarks of this look, or classic examples of it? Slight overexposure? Heavy on-lens diffusion (digital beauty pass), skewed, blurry edges? Desaturation? Slight slow motion? It's all exteriors.

And then audio cues would be reverb and noise tracks, I guess?

Having trouble making this work. Just want to get a better idea what I'm doing before I go through the many hours of post.

 

[Craig Ryan]

All of the above effects you mentioned could do the trick, especially if cheesy is alright. I highly recommend Magic Bullet presets for this. I'd start with something slightly diffused, maybe a tad blown out, and go from there. Sometimes a blue hue works too.

 

[Reinhold R.]

I would say you've got some good concepts already. Try finding some reference footage. I personally really liked the dream-like flashbacks in The Illusionist. Going through the color channels one by one tends to work quite well for reverse-engineering looks.
As Craig suggested I would go for a blue hue for a premonition - warm hue for a memory/dream.

 

[Mark Toia]

http://www.genarts.com/product

welcome to the dark side... ooooh oh aaaa.. (dracula laugh)

 

[Randy Lee]

Ah, the never-ending search for the perfect dream sequence look. Let us know what you end up going with - more good references never hurts. It's so subjective, though, and what works for one project might not work for another. Sometimes different shutter speeds or motion artifacts helps, or playing with saturation, or set design. Camera and post shouldn't be the only things considered when creating a dream sequence.

 

[Matt W.]

Thanks for all the advice.

Don't have Magic Bullet but I agree the blue bleach bypass look might work as a starting point. Going to watch the Illusionist for sure. I like the blue tint idea, too. Tried Sapphire Effects once or twice...awesome stuff, but hopefully overkill for my silly movie.

I agree set design, etc. is key. I mean, I looked on youtube and the first thing that popped up is that great scene from Big Lebowski. But I'm mostly looking for the most "obvious" look to just communicate that it's a dream. The footage, which isn't too exciting, has been shot. All the same, will let you know what I come up with.