Getting DV to look like film
Introduction
Video has a look unlike film. For many it is too "real" and lacks gloss, saturation and the "mystic" quality that is associated with feature film production. In truth both mediums have their uses and video can be used to great effect to convince viewers of the reality of a subject.
Many film makers using DV want to achieve a film-like look, and this article offers some help and advice in achieving it.
What are the technical differences?
The primary technical differences between video and film are ...
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Frame rates
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Interlacing
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Colour / grading
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Aspect ratio
Frame rates
Film employs a frame rate of 24 fps, DV uses either 25 (PAL) or 29.97 (NTSC). This difference has a small part to play in the different looks of video and film. Frame rates can easily be changed within an editing application.
Interlacing
Fields
Each frame of DV consists of 2 interleaved (or interlaced) "fields". In simple terms ... imagine each frame or picture on your TV is made from a number of horizontal lines drawn close together across the screen (actually it is, this is how cathode ray tubes work). If you were to number them from top to bottom 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 through to 576 (for PAL) then the first field would consist of lines 1, 3, 5, 7 etc and the second lines 2, 4, 6 etc. PAL DV has a resolution (frame size) of 720 x 576 therefore each field is effectively 720 x 288.
These fields are "drawn" onto the screen one after the other effectively making the frame rate of PAL DV 50 "half" field frames a second and NTSC approx 60 "half" field frames a second. It is this interlacing that is most responsible for video's "real" look.
How to de-interlace
The easiest way to make video look more film like is to de-interlace (remove one of the fields) but this will half the vertical resolution of each frame resulting in a huge loss of information and detail. The following are solutions ...
Manual de-interlacing
In your video editing software create 2 video tracks and place copies of the same clip on both. Reduce the opacity of the top clip to around 25% and de-interlace the clip on the track below with a filter (FCP has one which discards one field and duplicates the remaining one). The top clip will replace some of the missing resolution and detail de-interlaced from the bottom but the overriding look should be more film-like.
Smart de-interlacing
Smart de-interlacing works by analysing each frame and working on only those parts of the image that won't produce visual side effects. This cannot be achieved manually and requires a dedicated filter (see later).
Jan E. Schotsman's free de-interlace programe for Macs
Colour
Many film looks are achieved by "grading" the film in post production. These can usually be achieved with DV by changing the colour balance of clips with filters. Effects like de-saturate, colour correction, Curves, bleach etc will all help produce the look of film. Dedicated 3rd party filters can also help (see later).
Aspect ratio
Film makers rarely use the 4:3 aspect ratio of standard TV but DV film makers can film and edit in 16.9 anamorphic mode (most cameras and editing applications support this) or simple crop their video in the edit (obviously losing some resolution) Click here for more info.
Film look filters
QuickTime
Apple's QuickTime Pro includes some effective colour and film distress filters such as "Film noise".
Film Effects from Nattress
For £60 you can buy G Filters from www.nattress.com. This suite includes dedicated de-interlace and colour filters to help achieve a film look. There's a demo but it's well worth the £60.
Film Effects from Magic Bullet
£200 odd buys you this terrific bundle of plug-ins. A must for the serious DV film maker who wants to achieve a great film look. www.thecarpark.net
Related downloads
None at present
