Shooting a 1950's look on the Red

[Taylor Dansen]

I was wondering if anyone has either experimented or might know a way to get a more vintage 1950's look with the red camera.
Thanks!

[radiant]

I would recommend on shooting with BNCR lenses, such as The Super Baltar which was a high end lens back in 50's & 60's. Or the old Schneider and Cooke's. There beautiful classic lenses, hard to convert to PL mount but it's been done, but it's bit costly. A better solution would be to use the
P+S Technik IMS System

http://www.pstechnik.de/en/optics-ims-red.php

[Digital Upstart]

Which vintage look are you going for?

The kind of ultra saturated colour of a US-set Cary Grant screwball comedy, or the technicolour look of something like Bridge over the River Kwai?

Or is it more of a vintage composition you're looking for?

[Brandon Fraley]

its true that there are many different "50s" looks so it's difficult to give a single answer. HOWEVER, one thing that I feel most people miss when going for an older look is that film stocks are way more sensitive now. IMO to get that 50s look, you gotta POUR light into the shot. stop down or use NDs, but try to use twice the ammount of light you might normally need. look at those old movies and you'll see what i mean.

[Mohammed El Sharqawy]

well.. That's very interesting ..
I was searching for how to make techni color like look with a digital camera.. Like singing in the rain.. And 70s play boy magazine look of their prints..
I thought about compressing the dynamic range in the image but it seems that colors are an issue.. Don't know.. Maybe any of you can help me with that..

[Nir Shelter]

One technique is to light to about a stop over and place a stretched woman's stockings either in front of the lens or over an optical flat. I heard of some people that placed it between the rear end of the lens and the mount then put the lens in to hold the material in place.

The fabric adds a slight soft and haze effect giving a particular vintage look depending on the color and the type of material.
The resulting looks can vary between 30's to 50's depending on the material's thickness and color. Experiment with saturation and contrast adjustments in post to find your look.

[Bob Gruen]

Do it in post...

Once you limit yourself on capture that's it, that's the best it will ever look. If you capture the best, cleanest look you can always electronically degrade it to look like what you want it to.

I think your answer is just in saturation. Currently, movies are described as being 'punchy' while older films were more accurate (less saturation) or colorful (more saturation, more contrast).

Bob

[Nir Shelter]

In post or in production?
I wont go into that old can of worms....

BUT!!!

I will say that you should always shoot to a look experiment or rely on past experience but shoot to a look. Many times this may require an in camera/lens/filter/lighting effect or adjustment as well as a post effect. But you should never rely solely on the grade the worst is when the director says "...ah we'll get it n post..."

Know what your shooting for!

[bobaandy]

Do it in post...

Once you limit yourself on capture that's it, that's the best it will ever look. If you capture the best, cleanest look you can always electronically degrade it to look like what you want it to.

Bob

I think for the next generation of cinematographers, that's ALL they'll know how to do.

[Jason Murphy]

Do it in post...

Once you limit yourself on capture that's it, that's the best it will ever look. If you capture the best, cleanest look you can always electronically degrade it to look like what you want it to.

I think your answer is just in saturation. Currently, movies are described as being 'punchy' while older films were more accurate (less saturation) or colorful (more saturation, more contrast).

The problem is that a "50's" look isn't just about digitally grading the footage to match a certain look. When it comes to movies, it's every bit as much, if not more so, about a style of lighting, which you can't replicate in post if you haven't lit and shot for it on set.

Good grading will still, of course, be a necessity. Emulating the color stocks of the 1950's isn't trivial. I have yet, for example, to see a successful attempt at digitally replicating the look of Kodachrome or 3-strip Technicolor.

Of course, as previously mentioned, there isn't only one 1950's look. We're talking everything from Touch of Evil and Night of the Hunter to Rebel Without A Cause, Vertigo and Singin' In The Rain. (Not to mention epics like Ben-Hur, etc). And that's assuming we're not including influential Japanese and Italian films, etc. Any film in particular that has the look you need? That would make things a lot clearer...