I shoot movies and videos with a sony Hi-Def Cam. How can I get my movies to look like Hollywood movies?

Question

I want that film look, like most major motion pictures have.

An example is this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z4pWuFv48Zk&fmt=18

As opposed to this

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BHSs6odWYbs&feature=related&fmt=18

Answer 1

Well... lets see... to start with, you can use the cameras they use in Hollywood big budget films:

http://pro.sony.com/bbsc/ssr/cat-broadca...

http://www.arri.com/prod/cam/cameras.htm

and the skilled/trained staff that are needed to properly set up and operate film cameras (not miniDV tape or internal AVCHD hard drive compressed consumer equipment)... But the 24p Canon HV20, HV30, XHA1, XHG1, Panasonic DVX100B, HVX200 or Sony HVRV1U, or Z1U (among others) will get closer to that cinema look.

Then you can shoot in a studio or on a set with really controlled lighting

http://www.hollywoodlighting.biz/

And don't forget the audio engineers (film cameras don't record audio - that is stored separately)

http://www.hollywoodstudiorentals.com/Au...

and be sure to add in the post-production sound design.

And makeup and talent and post production staff for all the different compression methods for the different delivery vehicles (film, vs digital - and all the different compression formats...)

There's a LOT more that goes into making big budget films than pointing a $1,000 consumer grade camcorder at someone and editing on a home PC...

Answer 2

Great question, and well, I hate to tell you this, but Hollywood productions have insane budgets in order to get that motion picture perfect look. Many are using cameras that are easily a couple hundred-thousand dollars. They are using super complex 35mm film cameras such as those made by Panavision, many of which, aren't for sale...you have to rent them. However, there are some things you can do.

    Luckily, the advancement of digital HD technology brings us somewhat close to Hollywood. Still, even the best digital cameras cannot match their more expensive film counterparts, which is why most blockbusters still shoot and cut on film. There is just some things that digital video cannot replicate. For instance, digital camcorders run at a speed of 30 frames per second, while film runs at 24 frames per second. There has been developments to replicate the 24fps, called 24p, which was first developed by Panasonic on its AG-DVX100 camcorder. 24p simulates the smooth, pleasing look of film digitally, but is not quite perfect. With the a combination of 24p and HD, this effect is further advanced, but is still not the same. Another characteristic of film that filmmakers seek is a narrow Depth of Field (i.e. having the foreground in focus and the background out of focus, or vise versa). Pro digital camcorders with large CCD or CMOS image sensors are decent in replicating this effect, but its not quite good enough. However, there is a way to achieve that narrow DOF effect on a digital camcorder. You could purchase a 35mm adapter (like that of Redrock Micro or Cinevate Inc). These devices are attachments for your camcorder lens, that gives you a narrow depth of field.  

http://redrockmicro.com/

    A combination of 24p and a 35mm lens adapter can get you closer to that film-ish look. Some camcorders I recommend are:

-Canon XH-A1   -Sony PMW-EX1    -JVC GY-HD200U     -Canon XL-H1    -Panasonic HVX200   -Sony HVR-Z1u

and for standard definition

-Panasonic AG-DVX100B   -Canon XL2

   Sure, all of these camcorders will give you sharp images, but you find that it is still not quite as sharp as in the movies, because well, that's what you get for a couple hundred thousand dollar Panavision. But can you get this for cheaper? The answer is yes!

I'm sorry I waited this long to bring this point up, but one of the greatest deals you can get on a professional camcorder is with a relatively new model called the RED One. Made by the famous glases company, Oakley, the RED One may revolutionize the industry. It is $17,500 (additional accessories required), but it rivals camcorders ten times more expensive! The most impressive feature is that it shoots footage in 4K. In a quick summary, 4k is basically a high definition format that is better than HD. I'm not sure this makes too much sense, but true HD is characterized by 1920 X 1080 pixels. In comparison, the RED One is over twice that resolution at 4K!!! I know that $17,500 is probably not what you had in mind, but that's not all. I hear that next year in 2009, RED is planning the release of a new camera called the RED Scarlett. It is a smaller camcorder designed for single-person use, and shoots footage in 3K!! That's still better than HD, and it is expected to go for a price of under $3,000! I must admit I am a bit skeptical about RED; 3K for under $3K seems almost too good to be true, and I am not too sure how well they compare to Sonys, Panasonics, or Canons reliability wise, but the RED Scarlet may be a total steal! It is definately worth looking into.

http://www.red.com/

I apologize if I ranted too long about cameras, so I will move on to other things. Some other things you may want or need on a professional shoot is a pro shotgun Unidirectional microphone, a pro editing system, and possibly even a good tripod.

Regarding Shotgun Mics, they may be your best investment. Sometimes I believe that Audio quality is almost more important than Video, and many consumers overlook the fact that clean audio is a true deciding factor in separating the consumers and the pros. I also believe it is a good idea to invest in a good shotgun mic, as they will never become obsolete and the more expensive the mic, the better they are. I recommend looking into the Sennheiser ME66 or RODE NTG1 or NTG2, that's if you have a pro camcorder with pro XLR mic inputs. If you have a consumer camcorder with a 1/8" mini-stereo input, I highly recommend the RODE VideoMic.

Regarding Editing systems, the program you choose may be more important than your camcorder. A few years ago when I purchased my first standard def. pro camcorder, I had to edit on consumer programs. I tried many, such as Adobe Premiere Elemets, Avid Liquid, Pinnacle Studios, etc, and the best I got was extremely poor, pixelated footage. So, if you truly want high quality videos, I highly recommend the programs Avid Media Composer, or Apple Final Cut Pro. All the pros use either of these programs (more use Avid), so you could access the same tools as Hollywood! They are a bit pricy (Avid in particular), but you can get Avid at a huge discount. If you are a teacher, or student K-12 or college, you are eligible for a student discount at www.journeyed.com. It is a $4,000 program for $295 with a student discount!!!!!

http://journeyed.com/itemDetail.asp?ItmN...

I won't go too much into tripods, but it may be nice to have a sturdy tripod that has a fluid head for flawless pans and tilts.

Hope that helps. Again, sorry if I talked too much. Best of luck!

Answer 3

Watch this:

http://www.vimeo.com/431500

Before you soil yourself, take a look at this:

http://www.pma-show.com/news_images/0000...

Contrary to what some people believe, it is entirely possible to get an extremely decent film look using consumer video cameras, namely the HV20/HV30. To clear things up, we're talking about the film look and that's exactly what it means. Just the look. Not the big budgets, crews, and digital intermediates that make a Hollywood movie. Not even DOF. We're talking about the motion of 24p, and why it is the biggest difference between the look of video and film. And I'm pretty sure that's what you were asking for in the first place ;-).

I'm not suggesting to get the HV20. I'm telling you to go out and buy one now. That is, of course, unless you decide to get the HV30 (I'll talk about those differences later). I'm not going to get into the technical details, but just know that 24p makes HUGE difference in how your video looks. While some cameras shoot 60i and convert it to 24p on the fly, the HV20 shoots true 24p. It also has a large CMOS sensor (1/2.7") so that there is less noise and a large dynamic range. And best of all, it costs around $500 (check out the buy/sell forum on HV20.com). The HV30 costs about $800 and is essentially just a black version of the HV20 but it shoots 30p as well as 24p. If you're doing mostly web videos, which I assume isn't your main focus, then the 30p will come in handy. Otherwise, the HV20 is a lot cheaper and is more or less the same.

If you absolutely can't get the HV20, there are some steps you can do to make your videos look more filmic. The fastest and easiest way would be to deinterlace 60i video to 30p, which doesn't come close to true 24p, but looks less video-like. Alternatively, you can use a plugin such as Twixtor for After Effects that allows you to convert 60i to 24p. However, this method is extremely slow, and in both cases you lose resolution. If you convert in HD, it will take an ungodly amount of time. Magic Bullet, another plugin for After Effects, has 60i to 24p conversion but also film-looks that allow you to emulate the different colors/contrast/gamma of popular films. The only thing is it takes a long time to render as well. Usually curves works just as well and renders many times faster.

Yes, the Scarlet is scheduled to come out some time next year, and it's safe to say it will beat the HV20, but for $2500 more, it's not exactly cheap. Also, for $2500, you can get a lot more than just a camera (lenses, mics, lights, etc.) Check out this HV20 rig:

http://jlvideousa.com/Images-CanonHV20/C...

This doesn't really pertain to the look, but sound is one of the most important things to get right. Think about it, if we watch a video with good picture quality but with okay sound, we get frustrated, but if we watch something with mediocre picture quality but with music playing (read: professionally recorded sound), it is not so bad. As for mics, I have a RODE NTG-2 and a Beachtek DXA-2s for my HV20. While the NTG-2's balanced XLR connections are definitely a plus for me since I can mount it on a boompole without worrying about interference, the adapter and the mic together cost about $400. For film quality audio, you will definitely want to mount a mic on a boom pole, but if you're not willing to spend that much money, the RODE Videomic is a decent mic as well and only costs $150. The only downside is it has unbalanced outputs, so you can only go up to about 10' of cable using the RODE VC1. Alternatively, if you have some kind of sound recorder, you could just plug the Videomic into that and not worry about cables at all, but you will have to synch up your audio later when editing. If you need a cheap boom pole, I am selling adapters on eBay ;-)

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie...

Anyways, I hope this helped, and if you want to talk about filmmaking, feel free to contact me!