[ TUTORIAL ] Creating the Film Look (Red Epic RedLOGFILM)

[Matthew Scott]

Here's the blog post about the shot: (where I explain that I understand how the "film look" has to do with MANY factors.

mattscottvisuals

Here's the shot:

http://vimeo.com/79478504

Here's the tutorial:

http://vimeo.com/79671820

And a link to the film's page (Dead Therapy):

DEAD THERAPY (short film shot in Melbourne)

Skip to 4 minutes for the actual tutorial, I tend to talk shit for a while hehe

 

[Juan gonzalez]

Nice intro to Edius 7, seems like a good option for those that don't have a power house of a computer, keep it up.

 

[Matthew Scott]

Nice intro to Edius 7, seems like a good option for those that don't have a power house of a computer, keep it up.

Thanks Juan It's also a good option if you have a power house of a computer

 

[Layi B]

Thanks for making this. Looking forward to your film

 

[Matthew Scott]

Thanks for making this. Looking forward to your film

Cheers

 

[Les Dittert]

I thought Edius 7 was not able to work with 5K r3d ?
Was I mistaken ?

 

[Marc Wielage]

I don't agree that this is particularly a film look at all, but it's a reasonable grade of digital material. Film look is more than a grade, a frame rate, and a gamma curve... it's a lot of little indefinite things that add up to something bigger.

I think the power window edges around the guy in the stairs are a little too visible in motion. This isn't a criticism: I've done D.I.'s where I was convinced I did perfect power windows, then cringed when I saw it projected on film before an audience and I thought, "damn, I missed that power window edge on the left." So it happens. I think there's only so far you can push lighting with correction: a lot of it has to come from the DP first. You push any more, and the seams start to show.

 

[Matthew Scott]

I don't agree that this is particularly a film look at all, but it's a reasonable grade of digital material. Film look is more than a grade, a frame rate, and a gamma curve... it's a lot of little indefinite things that add up to something bigger.

I think the power window edges around the guy in the stairs are a little too visible in motion. This isn't a criticism: I've done D.I.'s where I was convinced I did perfect power windows, then cringed when I saw it projected on film before an audience and I thought, "damn, I missed that power window edge on the left." So it happens. I think there's only so far you can push lighting with correction: a lot of it has to come from the DP first. You push any more, and the seams start to show.

Clearly you haven't watched the tutorial (if you can last 2minutes in, you'll get me) or read my blog post, but thanks for commenting all the same And while you criticize, although gently, I'd love to see some of your DP/colour work, and anything else you're sharing with the community.

 

[Matthew Scott]

I thought Edius 7 was not able to work with 5K r3d ?
Was I mistaken ?

Why did you think that? EDIUS 7 imports RED natively, however in the example here I'm grading a 1080p, 10-bit uncompressed YUV clip.

 

[Les Dittert]

Why did you think that? EDIUS 7 imports RED natively, however in the example here I'm grading a 1080p, 10-bit uncompressed YUV clip.

I called them a few months ago to ask. Maybe they fixed this ?
Go ahead and try to open a 5K r3d on a 4K timeline and tell us if it works !
Thanks!

 

[Matthew Scott]

I called them a few months ago to ask. Maybe they fixed this ?
Go ahead and try to open a 5K r3d on a 4K timeline and tell us if it works !
Thanks!

Give it a try haha...I wouldn't have said it worked if it didn't work! You try it! Of course it works

 

[Brett Harrison]

I'd love to see some of your DP/colour work, and anything else you're sharing with the community.

The artist professes to taste as much as much as the critic - I mean where would we be without film criticism, right? Oh.

 

[Vadim Bobkovsky]

For those too sensitive to "film look" phrase, you can use "motion picture look" instead. The term Film isn't just about celluloid, analog medium anymore.

 

[Matthew Scott]

The artist professes to taste as much as much as the critic - I mean where would we be without film criticism, right? Oh.

Totally agree Brett! Criticism is welcome, especially if you actually watch what you are criticizing, right? Oh. The guy didn't even bother to do that, rather just posted about his experience and maybe indicated that I pushed my "reasonable" grade too far, since my lighting wasn't adequate? Hmmm. If I learned anything from that post, it was how not to reply to anything.

 

[Matthew Scott]

For those too sensitive to "film look" phrase, you can use "motion picture look" instead. The term Film isn't just about celluloid, analog medium anymore.

Vadim, please watch the tutorial, or read the blog entry before you post

 

[Brett Harrison]

Totally agree Brett! Criticism is welcome, especially if you actually watch what you are criticizing, right? Oh. The guy didn't even bother to do that, rather just posted about his experience and maybe indicated that I pushed my "reasonable" grade too far, since my lighting wasn't adequate? Hmmm. If I learned anything from that post, it was how not to reply to anything.

You owned him on the other points, that's why I didn't quote that part of your response

 

[Les Dittert]

Give it a try haha...I wouldn't have said it worked if it didn't work! You try it! Of course it works

Will do. I guess the guy I gotta a hold of didn't know what he was talking about.

 

[Matthew Scott]

Will do. I guess the guy I gotta a hold of didn't know what he was talking about.

Yeah maybe it was an update for edius 7 too? Not sure, but either way it works now

 

[Marc Wielage]

Clearly you haven't watched the tutorial (if you can last 2minutes in, you'll get me) or read my blog post, but thanks for commenting all the same And while you criticize, although gently, I'd love to see some of your DP/colour work, and anything else you're sharing with the community.

Talk to me in email and I'll forward my resume: 220 features, 64 American network TV series, about 1000 commercials and music videos spread out over 30 years in Hollywood. Star Wars, Return of the Jedi, Dances with Wolves, Die Hard, Nixon, and Shine a Light would be among the ones easiest to find on home video.

What I say is still true: the "film look" is an ephemeral thing, and it's not just a color correction per se. It's a litany of granular things (literally) that add up to something much greater. A decent correction isn't necessarily a "film look," but I never said it was a bad grade, not at all. But I think before you try to teach people what it is, you might open your mind up to the possibility that it might be a far bigger subject than you may imagine.

Longtime Videography commentator Mark Schubin has written a lot of columns about what the film look really is, and I think he has the best grasp of the subject. I checked his website recently and don't see any of his old 1980s or 1990s columns on the subject, but if I can hunt them down, I'll post the links. SMPTE and the American Cinematographer (particularly 1970s/1980s editor Herb Lightman) did quite a few essays on what the "film look" was all about, though I think much of what they said has faded in light of HD. I think the characteristics of CMOS chips in general get in the way of the film look, since the image feel is so different from actual film. I think a mechanical shutter or a global shutter eliminates a lot of that problem, but until then, we're stuck with rolling shutter problems, and that takes away from the film look as well.

If you had merely said, "here's a demo of how I did this grade," I would have had no problem with it. But film look has a real meaning, philosophically, artistically, and technically, and it's not a button or a knob. I thought I knew a lot about it when I went to work for Kodak back in 2002, but began to realize despite having decades of experience in TV and film then, there was a far greater universe than I knew. It was a good experience for me to understand the vast amount of info about film I didn't know. Nowadays, I'm acutely aware of what I don't know, but that took a lifetime to learn.

 

[Mike Harrington]

That's a hell of a resume Marc....