How to achieve a Film Look – DSLR film making

See more of my films at my website: http://www.jakecoppinger.com
A tutorial on creating a cinematic look with your footage for low budget film making. In this video I cover the basic cameras settings to achieve this look and some very effective editing techniques to begin with.

Download the 2.35 ratio crop template here: http://cl.ly/0Z1z390h1E2g

Something I did not mention is that you can use a neutral-density filter to reduce amount of light entering the camera. This will allow you to shoot with a wide aperture in bright daylight while keeping the exposure correct.

See more of my film and other work at my website! http://www.jakecoppinger.com
Video Rating: 4 / 5

25 Comments

  1. BLUEWIRED
    April 26, 2015 at 7:15 am #

    good video … you should have mentioned ND filters though, as they are
    very esential to filming in daylight with wide aperture! and whats the name
    of the font on your video thumbnail?

  2. Rebassed
    April 26, 2015 at 7:49 am #

    Alright good video, good points but this video has a few inaccurate points,
    as a DP this really makes me happy and sad at the same time, it makes me
    happy that you are trying to help the community but at the same time it
    makes me sad because there are alot points wrong here.

    You are right about the shutter speed and shutter angle thing, but you
    missed a few points and i can hope i can help you out here.

    So to sums things up for you that you did right :

    1/48 Check
    2.35 letterboxing check ( a very cliche way of making the ”film” look btw
    )

    Now here comes where you and 95% of the (Canon) DSLR making community falls
    into a pit. which is Dynamic range, do not kill your highlights and shadows
    while grading, never do this never ever do this, its called the film look
    for a reason, actuall FILM (4 perf 35mm kodak film) has a HUGE dynamic
    range, so dont kill it in post production.

    Next up is grading, grading is cool its alright but grading according to
    ”film” standards really means trying to simulate film stock ( the look
    you see in the movies ) so that usually means using a lut instead of using
    some preset which kills skin tones and makes your video look everything but
    the film look, because the moment you screw with skin tones you bassicly
    killed your look. I suggest you to study the color of film ( google this :
    Kodak 52199, Fujifilm etc to get references)

    and at last always add a litle bit of film grain to get that film texture.

    Goodluck

  3. Micah Lindstrom
    April 26, 2015 at 8:30 am #

    Frame rate has a much deeper reasoning behind than ‘Because we’ve been
    conditioned to equate 25p (UK) with a cinema look’. One skin deep
    perception would be that we’ve been conditioned to it. A more scientific
    perspective (the way 24p was arrived at in the first place some 40 years
    ago) is that 24p allows for BOTH a realistic motion blur as well as a slow
    enough framerate to be perceived by our brains as unrealistic or ‘not real
    life’. It is readily accepted by the brain because it is so slow compared
    to our brain’s ~40 moments per second for literally ‘real life’. 24p leaves
    the image very artistically trustworthy and far from the uncanny valley
    mental rejection of an unreal thing looking ‘close but not quite close
    enough’ to real life itself (like androids).

    All this 60hz ‘modern’ imaging built in as the preset in modern tv’s is
    destroying the way people perceive the cinematic. I can spot the higher
    framerates in a heartbeat, but apparently most other people only see it
    subconsciously. There is just too much visual information in those higher
    framerates for something to look cinematic. The high framerate image says
    LOOK EVERYWHERE where a good 24/25p image easily says “Just look right
    here”.

  4. J. Nwokedi
    April 26, 2015 at 8:43 am #

    I just want to say, if God has blessed you to stumble upon this video, like
    it, favorite it, and watch it before you edit/film anything. This is the
    best tutorial I’ve found on youtube (and I might’ve watched them all). I
    have been into film for a few years now and everything in this video I feel
    like I’ve learned already but it’s still worth the knowledge refreshment.
    This video is a gem, GOOD JOB JAKE!

  5. Ezequiel Pereyra Lucena
    April 26, 2015 at 9:20 am #

    why not set the project with less pixels o: ? instead of black bars ?

  6. Victor Antal
    April 26, 2015 at 10:12 am #

    How you do that beam of light at 6:46? Thanks.

  7. Vfx Blender
    April 26, 2015 at 11:00 am #

  8. Ariunsanaa T
    April 26, 2015 at 11:55 am #

    Hi. Thank you for your video. I’d like to know your opinion about editing
    in Adobe Premiere vs Lightworks. I’d like to learn one of them, at least at
    the beginning. Thank you.

  9. Take 5 Channel
    April 26, 2015 at 12:20 pm #

    I learned SO MUCH from this video! Thank you!!

  10. Willem Sanders
    April 26, 2015 at 1:11 pm #

    Does anyone know a FREE editing software where you can color correct your
    footage and where you can also easily achieve the 2.35 : 1 aspect ratio?
    Please answer

  11. Ralph Nudi
    April 26, 2015 at 2:03 pm #

    DSLR Film making

  12. Raystopmotions
    April 26, 2015 at 2:03 pm #

    Very helpful! Thanks a lot!

  13. Harshith C
    April 26, 2015 at 2:42 pm #

    //Woww.. Thank you

  14. Kristin Ryans
    April 26, 2015 at 3:23 pm #

    thank you! This is very helpful!

  15. Dakoolguy111
    April 26, 2015 at 4:08 pm #

    What if i am using a nikon d5300, and when I enter live view mode to record
    video, it does not allow me to lower the shutter speed below 1/60?

  16. Video Entrepreneur Magazine
    April 26, 2015 at 4:46 pm #

    How to achieve “the film look” using your DSLR: http://ow.ly/JBudt

  17. Bryce cox
    April 26, 2015 at 5:11 pm #

    I got a bunch of great tips from this, didnt feel like 11min and was easy
    to watch so thank you

  18. Micoola Warden
    April 26, 2015 at 5:20 pm #

    What would you say the best software for Mac user’s are for post
    production?

  19. Nezih Onur GÜL
    April 26, 2015 at 6:13 pm #

    Very nice video thanks

  20. Shiv Raaj
    April 26, 2015 at 7:08 pm #

    If i compare between Canon T3i and D5200 which one is stands best for film
    making ?

  21. Dah-V Ortiz
    April 26, 2015 at 7:10 pm #

    I would like to see a movie in 60fps rather than the “traditional” 24fps.
    especially animated movies.

  22. Rishi Jha
    April 26, 2015 at 7:36 pm #

    And which camera did you use to make this video? Is it the EOS 60D?
    Will you recommend this camera to a complete novice who also happens to be
    a technical noob? I learnt everything I had to from this video(and thank
    you for it) so I’ll learn on the way. Recommend or too expensive?

  23. Akshay Maldhure
    April 26, 2015 at 7:51 pm #

    Very nicely presented. Kudos!

  24. Andre Lackner
    April 26, 2015 at 8:15 pm #

    what was the music at the end of your video?

  25. Richard Mullen
    April 26, 2015 at 8:49 pm #

    One of the most helpful vids on this subject. Thanks so much!

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