The Red Look: Diffusion Filters

[Isaac Newcombe]

Hi all,

Have been shooting on the Gemini for a few months now, as time ticks on, i love it more and more. But a few projects coming up, i am in need of a more "softer" look. I love how much of a punch the Reds can push, the contrast and sharpness really can make the image pop, but sometimes i need something a little less.. punchy.

Recent examples posted on the Red Instagram page for "Tides" and "Black Island" have this softer feel, a much more suttle image. I understand this is greatly accomplished with the lenses and the Cinematographer of Tides was nice enough to tell me he only used Hawk lenses no filters.

But... I was wondering how people have gone testing different filters to archive a more soft look?

Again totally understand the lenses would be the easier route, playing with the Super Speeds has already been the eye opener. I was just trying to hope achieve this softer look with a filter or two, as not every project can afford renting a full lens package and may just go for my cheaper CN-E lenses.

Any help would be greatly appreciated and i am open to hear any opinions as i am sure others are too.

Kind regards,
I.

 

[Andrew Reese]

Gemini owner here with experience with many lenses. Gemini is not a super contrasty sharp sensor to begin compared to Dragon, Helium or Monstro, with milkier blacks and a lower-con look to begin with in my opinion and the result you get greatly depends on your lensing. I actually owned the CN-E's for a while and they definitely produce a very sharp image on Gemini with good micro-contrast but have "the canon look". My favorite lenses at the moment are my Leica-R's or Canon FD cine-mod's which are both a dream on Gemini sensor and are much smoother rendering than the CN-E's. Super Speeds are awesome and so are Cooke mini S4/i or Pancros but they are not budget friendly lenses. As for filters I recommend Hollywood Black Magic as my number one go to for a more a softer more filmic or blooming look. If you are on a budget the Tiffen Black Pro Mist is not bad. The HBM is actually a combination of the HD Classic Soft and Black Frost. I use 1/8 strength on my wides (19,28,35) and 1/4 strength on my telephoto lenses (50/80). Also I have wanted to check out the Revar Cine Scarf Dust filter but haven't got my hands on it yet. Looks pretty cool and is a lot like a HBM but more golden.

 

[M Harvey]

It can take some time to discover which filters you like and how to use them in different situations. If you're lucky enough to have access to a rental house, a few hours going through their stock of filters will teach you a lot.

Another invaluable resource is Tiffen's material on diffusion filters:
https://tiffen.com/collections/diffusion
The "triangle of diffusion" shows you what each filter is doing relative to another-- I reference it whenever I'm trying to make decisions about filters. And the test footage covers many of their filters and shows you exactly what the effect looks like.

Like Andrew, I'm a fan of the Schneider Hollywood Black Magic filters. I also like Tiffen Digital Diffusion, which softens and lowers contrast without halation.

 

[Karim D. Ghantous]

FWIW I like the Bronze Glimmer Glass. Have you considered, perhaps, something simple, such as a stack of clear acrylic squares? Or a stack of uncoated clear glass filters? Etc.

 

[David Mullen ASC]

Make sure the issue isn't with your display gamma LUT settings before you get into filtering. For example, take a look at a log version of the image. If it feels soft enough, perhaps what you really need to do is lower the contrast of the conversion to Rec.709. Also check any sharpening settings in the conversion.

 

[Michael Lindsay]

I used to shoot mainly ‘beauty’ and never didn’t have some sort of diffusion on hand... kipperties OLPF Carbon 1 might be a good starting place if you want to do somehting once and forget it.. Other wise a set of glimmer glass (normal, black or warm) is a good option.