Make Video Look Like Film: Shot Design - Filmmaking Tutorial 1

[OrsonMyles]

is it only me or does the red camera perform pretty badly in this video? lot's of noise and especially the colour fringing took me by surprise...

[megalo]

Tom, what was causing the Vignette effect on the Red camera between 1:30 and 3:30?

[TheJamon79]

Crush the blacks! That's not racist, that's a color correction term!

[Dalqaz]

Very informative - subbed!

[ascinematographer]

@almightytreegod if you're trying to isolate a detail or create a feeling a separation between the person and the world around them, sometimes that's a great time to use a shallow DOF. I mean, it can always make stuff pop, but if it's difficult to get, sometimes just use it for those two cinematic purposes.

[almightytreegod]

I have a Panny HVX200, and sometimes don't have room to stand back far enough to get a shallow DOF, even with the iris all the way open; not to mention if I do, the FOV is very narrow as well. Any tips?

It might help if I knew a little better how to decide between shots that should use shallow DOF and shots that don't need it (if any).

[DSLRCARBON]

Great tutorial. Thanks for sharing.

[andrewfelo]

This is awesome.... The best tutorial ever seen... thanks.

[inform2rikesh]

i really love, what you did is very expensive to us, you will do more other tutorial i thin so. keep on buddy, i like it .

[ChluyFilms]

you spent all that time showing how to make a shot look great with a $25,000 camera and then you go to a $3000 camera and change 50% of the shot? ........?............

[yuliauleea]

OMG you're an awesome filmmaker!! thx for posting all the tutes xD very useful!

[SwagSushi]

Hey, I use a camera with an manual lens, which doesnt have image stabilization, what stabilization can i use the most time? steadicam? shoulder rig? fig rig?..

[haadk1701901]

I think you need more of these tutorials , as supposed to funny stuff cause you good at that

[TiXeL8n]

LOVE IT, LOVE IT, LOVE IT!!!!

Thanks for the post, very insightful.

[makeamovienow]

I'm glad these videos say it's not just the camera. It's a little tiresome to hear in a filmmakers Q&A the question "So what camera did you shot?"

[TheNappyTV]

Very Nice video! Much respect!!

[poloboss66]

@polcan99 What camera do you use , oh how do most music productions make money ?

[patrickabroad]

I use a Sony HDR-FX1000. It really seems to fight me on depth of field. Even with the iris all the way open, it tries to push the DOF to infinity. Do you have a couple suggestions to achieve the very tight DOF that you show in your video? I notice in another video you were using still camera, like a Nikon, instead of an actual video camera. Do you recommend using those instead?

[iviaverick52]

8:36 is it just me or does it look like the XH-A1 raw footage is actually better than the RED One? P.S. very helpful info, I subbed!

[lilchatt618]

when you popped out the reds did you use the 3 way color corrrector and if so in what way? i would appreciate it if you could help me

[lilchatt618]

dude you are amazing thank you for making your tutorials

[LarsBeckFriis]

@polcan99 Can you really? I mean, especially regarding the field of dephts. Could you name camcorder in that price class that could do that in the same way as in this video?

[sabrina4327]

can you make a video looking this good on a simple flip cam?

[Skripmusic]

bro I love you man

-

S K R I P

[880728leonjf]

Very good tutorial, thanks for sharing it...........the quality of the video obviously is because of the camera, the film look its because the color correction, some people dont believe that all the color grading process makes great quality image because they have done that same color correction in a mini 3ccd panasonic camera and they dont have the quality, the same color yes, but the Film quality, not, Because each camera has a different vectorscope of color, and the cine has a very big vector

[880728leonjf]

...vectorscope, the 3ccd camera has a very small vectorscope, i mean, a very small information of color, and thats the diference between doing color grading to shots of cinema cameras like 7d, red one (that this cameras capture a lot of color), etc... and doing the same color grading to a not profesional camera like hi-8, mini 3ccd (that doesnt capture a lot of color and light information), etc.

[sakurarockz08]

Wow. I am absolutely wow'ed, thank you so much for doing this. :D

[staboymalibu94]

You are literally a living ANGEL (only without wings)

[zazati99]

are you from sweden?

you have an swedish accent

[staboymalibu94]

@zazati99 he is from canada

[Enigma0032]

Does she hav a numba?!?

[vokeelee]

Thanks for making this video, I feel more confident in myself to choose wisely for my shoots!!! Thanks again for making your videos and tutorials!!!!

[Margalus89]

did you shoot that "Uptown" music video or it's reference material? artist?

[1141Studios]

Great tutorials! I am learning alot from your vids. Thanks for the information!

[Varleyh1]

how did you 'pop the reds' ? is it a special lens? effect? that makes it look like it belongs in a movie, i find it hard to make that final step....

[polcan99]

@Varleyh1 I poped the reds by adjusting the colors in my editing software... I use Adobe Premiere but you can do it in almost every editing program. Check my other tutorial about color correction where I show how to do that step by step

[Tomatthanex]

@polcan99 hey i have adobe premiere elements 10, is that what you have? if so than could you give me some editing tips?

[lirihtco]

Can I make a short video o music video with a nikon d3100 camera?

[sunpsn1]

Hi Polcan99, I am really wondering about whats the best/few/ideal F STOPS for film look on Canon 5d2?

[polcan99]

@sunpsn1 there is no ideal F stop setting... Fstop and shutter settings will always change depending where you are, what time of the day and what you are filming. You just gotta set the right exposure so u dont over or under expose the image

[Googopqp]

Wow, there are so many things I wouldn't even think of b4 I saw this! This is seriously very helpful, thank you!

[polcan99]

@Googopqp Thnx! Glad you found it helpful

[CrustofCreation]

Awesome. Just what I was looking for.

[enigmao1o]

very nice plx watch my channel

[ShadowEbreo]

does it works with a photo camera that records in HD?

[lawnceWOO]

thanks for great info! hopefully i can improve my videos with this help

[sebasquimusic7]

gracias, excelente video , thanks, nice video

[edgarsanchez1904]

WERE CAN I GET THAT PROGRAM DAT HAS COLOR CORRECTION? ANYBODY PLEASE

[sunny1995ish]

@edgarsanchez1904 There is loads out there, I Would recommend you to buy Sony Vegas. Its a fantastic software for editing. Just type in sony vegas in google and find the correct version for yourself. you can find it cheaper from other websites like amazon. 

[mraynation]

@edgarsanchez1904 magix movie edit pro and i think windows movie maker has it

[EinerVonDenen]

A lot of things you say are absolutely correct. But after all I have to say, it doesn't look like film in any way. It looks like a digital image with some nice color grading. But don't tell people, it would look like film. It is still very overexposed. The colors are over-saturated. There is no grain and this blury circle around the frame looks cheap. 16mm or 35mm would never look even close to that, since film is rather under-exposed than over-exposed.

[bishbashboshjt]

@knuckls4red yep, iris is basically the same as aperture, it's just what motion picture guys call itt

[mininananana]

very good 

[burnidcachemir]

Great video!! How can i do the same color correction in after effects or adobe premiere? Which effect do i need to use??

THX!!

[knuckls4red]

Hey when he says open the ires all the way up does that means the Aperture?

i am new to this thing

[MackieDavid]

@knuckls4red yep, pretty sure it does but you don't need to play with the shutter speed as this also effects the light let through

[fataldedeye]

When shooting a scene with two people having a discussion and you only have one camera, do you just shoot one person doing all of their dialogue for the scene, then the other person? Afterwards, editing it together of course.

[MackieDavid]

@fataldedeye yep

[JrockdahoopstarTV]

how do you actually film a video like do you listen to your song out loud , like if i want to have me rapping in different scenes how do i go about that ?

[Info8374]

Very good!!!, from Argentina.

[indu111]

Thanx man ! Great vid :) :) I Own a canon 600D and planning to follow these steps for a short film ! :)

[YababaVideo]

@indu111 Did the steps work ?

[indu111]

@YababaVideo

I guess they obviously will !!! What's to doubt about it! I'm working on the movie...just completed working on a Linkin Park - Waiting for the end music video based on Saving PRivate Ryan... Have a look: youtube.com/watch?v=PhVxrvfbwU­U

Applied for copyright dispute...Goddamnit WMG :(

[YababaVideo]

@indu111 Link doesn't work, sir! :-D

[theshotgun2413]

could you please show us youtubers/amature movie makers how to make a gun fight scean

[YababaVideo]

@theshotgun2413 Search Corrid Digital

[theshotgun2413]

@YababaVideo thanks!

[YababaVideo]

@theshotgun2413 Sure thing!:-D

[theshotgun2413]

@YababaVideo one problem...

its soo complicated and it cost alot of money for adobe after affect... :-(

[PurpleBoxMovie]

Nice work - I think this video will help a lot of beginning filmmakers who need to understand that its not just the camera that gets the 'film' look...

[MrNuun]

how would you prevent aliasing on DSLR video?

[polcan99]

@MrNuun Im not really sure that you can. For sure adjust the preset styles by turning down the sharpness all the way down and you could look at a softening lens filter like skin FX #3 but Im not a big fan of those as it adds a halo effect in highlights.

[twinretina]

@MrNuun Aliasing on H.264 (delivery codec used for to record the capture which really hiccups when the action in the scene rises...) Hah! :) You probably get only 1 true recorded frame (I Frame) per GOP sequence... of ~ 10 (or whatever) frames...this is why if you really want the film look, choose the film format and compose your scene accordingly... Lighting is probably the most important thing though :) Not too many Cinematographers trying to make their reel footage look digital... ;)

[lousypotato]

Thank you for this. Imma try this sometime.. But i only have vegas for editing :/

[heinygore2]

@lousypotato Vegas is perfect, which version do you have?

Vegas pro is fully featured and it works well but i'm sure any other versions can be used too.

if you have creativity you dont need expensive software to make good films.

good luck with your films!

[froidalo]

well that answered a lot of questions ! thanks man

[cciemail]

say you want to do some indoor shots, and you wanna use 2 cameras. Could you use an expensive camera like the RED ONE for the main shot, and a cheap camera, like the Sony HDV for another shot, and if so, would there be an easy way to snyc them up?

[robertvalcin]

This is great advice, which i´m going to apply on my next project... I love it when people just selflessly post useful thngs on youtube, rather than some stupid prank or something... great !

[Cybeat]

Can you make a decent quality music video using just a $300 camcorder?

[polcan99]

@Cybeat yup

[svircheto]

@polcan99 same question but with a digital camera? :D

[mooneyefilms1]

@Cybeat IF you know how to use it!! You could make a decent music video with a decent- ish cell phone- you've just got to know HOW to use it!!



[calism23]

Good tips.

[vdanboy]

hi!!! how could I see the spanish subtitles? Anyone to help me,please?

[vdanboy]

i get it, already. wonderful vídeo!!! Thank for share!! i'm ansious to see the others

[rodreckthomas]

Thanks man! That was quite an eye opener!

[TheAmbivalency]

HI Polcan99, I really appreciate you sharing this information and I plan to use your tips in the near future.

Thank so much

[jaro1020]

these are some awesome tutorials, thanks

[Kdog102swagg]

HOW DO U DO THAT THING DRAKE DID ON THE MISS ME VIDEO !!! HELLLLLLLPPPPP!!!!!!!

[Bunchpoland]

I tu Cię mam! Dla "pogorszenia" pierwszego porównywalnego ujęcia dodałeś jeszcze celowo winietowanie na obrazie.

[polcan99]

@Bunchpoland Nie... te ceimne boki obrazu sa dlatego bo muj objektyw byl przymnkjiety as do fstop.11 bo tyle bylo swiatwa na zewnatrz... dlatego we video tlumacze ze lepiej jest ustawic szybszy SHUTTER albo uzyc Neutral Density filter a nie przymykac aperture tak bardzo.

[Bunchpoland]

@polcan99 - Whoops! That's really interesting! I would never think like that if you don't tell me it. Thank you for response, dude! Greetings.

[rogerman30]

Hi Tom,

Thanks for the tutorials i havelearned alot from you. it was u who saved my camera as i was about to sell it thinking it wasn't good anough. i have a Canon XH A1. i want to achieve better results with this camera but i find it had to achieve the DOF. how can i chieve such results without buying expensive equipments.

If i buy Cokin 72mm P Series Adapter and adapter ring. will it be posible to achieve that streakin light effects, without buying an expensive mattebox?

Thanks Tom.

[hilariousbone]

the xh a1 IS an expensive camera hah

[znibbie]

i love this kind of tutorials!

[vjelvirtuoso]

great video man!!!

[TomallHD]

super ! - dobrze że sa PL napisy !

[vengence123]

Very nice thanks

[Deader123456789]

HI!

to get the film look, you have to light the scene right, and afterwards i have to editing it with premiere???

[fishingdomo]

Great Tutorial lean something new. Thanks.

[CraziTV]

u r the best

[cybercab]

Excellent work! just what I needed.

[CardenFilms]

Can't fool me! That was shot on the HVX with an adapter... not Red! I know its vignetting, breathing and grain all too well. Was the motor even switched on? Everything else in the video is true though!

[HungryPolice]

I just realized it after i posted the comment. Should have looked before asking lol. Great stuff by the way, i already learned alot. Keep it up!

[HungryPolice]

Hey man. Is there by any chance that u could make a tutorial on how to colorgrade? If not, can u then tell me what effects u used for colorgrading the shot? The before and after shot in the end is very very intresting.

[polcan99]

@HungryPolice I did two tutorials on color correction already... check out my channel ... click on the tutorial playlist on the right and then watch tutorial 6 and 7

[drunky1022]

Whats up with the black bur around the shot. Is that the exposure?

[jaro1020]

@HungryPolice u dont use effects to colour correct, depending on which editing programme you're usin there shud be a colour corrector included within, like in final cut pro if you double click a video clip, go to effects and you will find "3-way-colour correct" under video filters which is great, also you need to make sure when colour correcting to use a specialised colour correction screens, the imac already has it built in, reason being is that you can see true colour.

[HungryPolice]

@jaro1020 .I've been experimenting with3 way for a while but i only seem to enhance the footage but without getting a look or feel to it so i will definitely look into it. Thanks alot for the information, i i appreciate it!

[jaro1020]

@HungryPolice alright, well you just have to look at the mood of the scene first and then work out what kind of colour you would like it to be, for example blueish tints/colours would be for a scene from the matrix or a scene with a dark coldish sort of mood, and on the other hand for a romantic scene you would add a warm tint (this would be orange, red colours)...

[randallpaulcom]

yes shot with the red but he is absolutely correct you can get great footage from your Sony and Panny's etc 1080i Shot set up, set design, filters etc. A camera is ot going to shoot for you, also realize how the footage has to be compressed mom and pop are not going to tell much difference or rate your footage based on your camera. Nice job onthe example here

[EstayMedia]

Thanks!

[L0zer797]

I like how you say its not the equipment, its the person behind it....

designing the shot is a great way to put it... the camera will just capture that.

[ValyenFluff]

@DatKiddAce canon 550d

[redspre]

Cool! But I would like to know how to get the first shot you have at the beginning.

The little boy with the girl. That's more interesting for me. :-)

[polcan99]

@redspre Thnx! That's a good idea for a tutorial. I will try to do a tutorial on that film and that shot in the near future.

[ValyenFluff]

@polcan99 How can you sit there saying it isn't down to an expensive camera yet use the red one .. lmao

[polcan99]

@ValyenFluff :) Check out my other videos or music video most of which have been shot on the Canon 7D, T2i or Canon XHA1 and you'll see they look much better than this

[TooManyOnes]

@redspre Steadicam or small crane, i'd think.

[redspre]

@TooManyOnes For sure that is one reason, but I think lighting, composition and not least the camera (most for the dynamics and base colors) make the difference. But hey, I'm just supposing. Polcan can say better what's the point. :-)

[TooManyOnes]

@redspre Oh, sorry! I apologize. It was the way you worded your question! :D I didn't realise you were asking about the tones and lighting and such. I didn't understand. Sorry. :)

[redspre]

@TooManyOnes Oh no, I meant anything that makes look good the shot. For sure I see a smooth camera movement and that is a part of a good shot, but, as I can see, there's more in it.

So, I wanted to know what makes that difference. Lighting? Camera dynamics? Color profile? :-)

[TooManyOnes]

@redspre Yeah! Sorry :P

[Homefilmstudio2010]

pretty interesting tips :) It is important for a nice shot so you don't need to edit so much later. It feels more natural if you use less effects at times.

[incoming559]

thumbs up if he sounds like Vincent Cassel to you!!

[5830862]

Great works tom. Can you please tell me what camera and editing program have you used for the jay rayez; little innocent video. Tnx

[polcan99]

@5830862 Thnx! We shot that music video on Canon 7D and editing done in Adobe Premiere CS5

[2109917162]

I am studying to become a filmmaker and I know some stuff. There is no doubt that this is one of the greatest tutorials for film-making ever I have ever seen but still there are a couple of flaws. 1 You need to shoot in 24 fps. That gives it the cinematic look. Then the shot doesn't work itself because its not natural. Standing next the garage door like that isn't something one would do. If she leaned further back it would be ok. Then her look is unnatural. As a director you should know that.

[randallpaulcom]

So true and important to have good taste in your shots. Called art direction. Good Point . The frames message whould have many elements.

[xSBxUltrax]

how could you afford a 25000 dollar camera?

[polcan99]

@xSBxUltrax You can always rent it for cheap instead of buying it ;)

[myshortflims]

yes i learned something :)

[arvinbehshad]

Very good tutorial! You helped a lot.

[THEORYZ1]

I know you said you prefer using the color corrector in the program better, but if you had to choose some preset color plug ins which ones would you recommend?

[polcan99]

@THEORYZ1 Magic Bullet is pretty good. I still wouldnt use their presets but some of the tools they have for color timing, or even better the Colorista which is from the same company. It´s a powerful, fast yet very simple plugin for FCP, AfterFX, Premiere for color timing.

[scorepyo]

That was a very helpful tutorial! Thanks!

You got my head out of compromising quality because of my lack of budget. Cinematographic competence is what truly makes the difference.

And btw, the girl in red is super hot!

[StinkyKnobcheese]

Awesome! This is the sort of tutorial everyone else seems to pay little attention to. Thank you polcan99!

[goldbutterfly29]

Wow! What software did you used for editing that video?

[albloves]

Really great tutorial! Thank you Tom!

[oneeyedgeek]

I just watched about 12 of your tutorials. They are great, very informative. I have the XH-A1 and a decent light kit (and just ordered some kinoflow lights), and your videos will make my videos look even better. Thanks!

[gangstermafia]

Thank your for the tutorial Great video!! .. it was very inspiring and gave me a lot of understanding on Cinematography. 

[FilmsCreo]

:-)) great video looking forwarding to seeing the others

[FilmsCreo]

hey just a thought regarding 'girl outside garage door' segment.IN ur final framing what if instead of flower pot(white block color) in foregrnd, we had the actuals flowers in that flower pot in the foreground?would it be too distracting?

[polcan99]

@FilmsCreo No.. ure right... that would work even better. I remember on the day I shot that we tried to bring the flower pot lower so we could see the actual flowers instead just the bottom but we almost broke the wall hook that the pot was attached to, so then we left it alone :)

[MrDonTattalia]

I "Liked" this just for the description ! now..let's watch the video!!

[MrDonTattalia]

I "Liked" this for just reading the Description ! ..lets watch the video!!

[zcikovac]

Finally, I found tutorial which really helped me! Thanx a lot!

[NickyE]

Fantastic stuff. You've just opened my eyes to a lot of good ideas. I want to go out and shoot now :)

[HardcoreMontoya]

so the camera dosent make the direnctor....Cool



[radjoezel]

made a short movie for school (2min) and I need to get as much views as possible, the more views the higher the grade and if you have any constructive critisism on how I can improve please do click my name to check it out

[chingon99999]

Really helpful thanks! For Some reason I felt horrible when you said some ppl fail miserably while correcting colors XD

[Boxcleverfilms]

FILM LOOK - I've made a video which explains how to shoot and edit DV footage to look like film: /watch?v=y-kVEbY-_3E

[Smog909]

Helpful stuff, thanks mate.

[polcan99]

@normansmother1 It means to adjust your f stop to as low a number as you can. For example on a F 2.8 prime lens, you should set the aperature to f 2.8, etc

[415Arrie415]

/watch?v=LzS61NOeWUo

[alexbezdicek]

what do you do if you need artificial light in outsides?

[avsamu]

VERY HELPFUL TUTORIAL. I SUBSCRIBE TO YOUR POINT OF VIEW ABOUT EXPENSIVE EQUIPMENT. (ANDREI - NY FILMMAKER)

[mukuday]

Thank you brother. Thats realy helping for me.

[TheCrownom]

Very nice and helpful information! Thumbs up and subscribed, you're worth it! :)