How will i get the Grindhouse look?

B

busterberg

Aight, so as the title says, it's about creating the grindhouse look.

I am shooting a feature at the moment, that i am planning to have wrapped up by next December. I have already shot about half of the picture and will shoot the other half next year, and then as a final touch in post-production give the film the old-film look..

This being said, I'd like to point out that I am not planning to completely mess up the quality of the film, but just give it a slight old film-grindhouse look (the reason being that the concept of my film is very... well, old school, grindhouse-ish..

I've already done a grindhouse ATTEMPT on one of the trailers for the film (link below..)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W3OU7pNf6Vg&feature=channel_video_title

But what I would like to achieve is something similar to what we see in these old films;

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O4ndzUPNDHU

(and yes, i know, i probably won't reach the EXACT same look, since i'm shooting on digital, and with cheap lighting, but how do i get as close as possible to this look... What software..? And how much would you to suggest that I "grindhousify" the film :)

All responses, comments and ideas will be HIGHLY appreciated..
 
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Well, as I’m sure you know, you’re going to want to be adding film grain to the footage, possibly a little heavier for “grindhouse” than you might for just a “film look”. Other imperfections in the film itself will add to that look. These, you can do in post.

Trouble is though, the major factor in making a film look old-school is to use old-school techniques. If you’ve already shot half your film, using these techniques might not be feasible.

But, in case you can use these techniques, I’d suggest watching plenty of exploitation films and study how they were made. One example, today we’re told to dolly instead of zoom. But look at the old exploitation films, they loved to zoom.

Poor editing, both picture and sound, seem to add to the effect. The cuts between scenes always seem to come too soon, sometimes cutting in the middle of the last characters final word. The music always seems to end abruptly too, as if the music was added to each individual scene, then cut along with the film.

How about poor visual effects? Blood that’s a little too red, perhaps?

That’s all I got. Try some of those things. It might help you get the look you’re after.

Have you seen Ti West’s ‘The House of the Devil’? That film does a great job of recreating the ‘grindhouse’ look, using technique as apposed just aging the footage.
 
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Here's the trick.

Shoot the entire film exactly how you've been doing it and edit it. Once your edit it locked do the following.

Buy a VHS deck or just use a VCR that you already own.

Export from your computer via composite output. Record onto a VHS tape.

Once you do this you will have your entire film on the VHS tape, correct? Yes.

Recapture your entire film from the VHS tape to the computer via composite input.

So now you basically captured the entire film from the VHS tape via composite input.

Do the above step one more time. Export to the VHS tape via composite output. And recapture from that VHS tape via composite input back into the computer.

So basically you have like 2 generations of exporting and inputting to and from VHS. This will give you that ghosting image/ grindhouse look, etc. Then you will need to bleach out the colors, etc. But that's simple color correcting.
 
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mad_hatter said:
Well, as I’m sure you know, you’re going to want to be adding film grain to the footage, possibly a little heavier for “grindhouse” than you might for just a “film look”. Other imperfections in the film itself will add to that look. These, you can do in post.

Trouble is though, the major factor in making a film look old-school is to use old-school techniques. If you’ve already shot half your film, using these techniques might not be feasible.

But, in case you can use these techniques, I’d suggest watching plenty of exploitation films and study how they were made. One example, today we’re told to dolly instead of zoom. But look at the old exploitation films, they loved to zoom.

Poor editing, both picture and sound, seem to add to the effect. The cuts between scenes always seem to come too soon, sometimes cutting in the middle of the last characters final word. The music always seems to end abruptly too, as if the music was added to each individual scene, then cut along with the film.

How about poor visual effects? Blood that’s a little too red, perhaps?

That’s all I got. Try some of those things. It might help you get the look you’re after.

Have you seen Ti West’s ‘The House of the Devil’? That film does a great job of recreating the ‘grindhouse’ look, using technique as apposed just aging the footage.
Click to expand...

I miss that zoom.
 
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TheOpusFuller said:
Here's the trick.

Shoot the entire film exactly how you've been doing it and edit it. Once your edit it locked do the following.

Buy a VHS deck or just use a VCR that you already own.

Export from your computer via composite output. Record onto a VHS tape.

Once you do this you will have your entire film on the VHS tape, correct? Yes.

Recapture your entire film from the VHS tape to the computer via composite input.

So now you basically captured the entire film from the VHS tape via composite input.

Do the above step one more time. Export to the VHS tape via composite output. And recapture from that VHS tape via composite input back into the computer.

So basically you have like 2 generations of exporting and inputting to and from VHS. This will give you that ghosting image/ grindhouse look, etc. Then you will need to bleach out the colors, etc. But that's simple color correcting.
Click to expand...

This is so simple, its GREAT. I'm putting the idea in my dossier. :)
 
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I dont like the idea of it. Not that I doubt it works.. but for me its not about REPLICATING a a nostalgic look, rather its about replicating the feel in the modern world. I wound not settle for low res crap cause someone is trying to sell me "authentic" grid house look, I will stomp my foot and yell ...
"'cmon is 2011, I want grindhouse look X10!" Bigger, better, gritier etc..

thats my $0.02..
 
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Thanks for all the responses!! And Opus, I probably will go with your way, especially if I find that it works!!

And yes, wheatgrinder, not everyone buys it and or gets it.. It's like a mockumentary; we know that it's a film and we expect it to be fake, why would you add shaky cam to make it "feel more real" instead of making it clearer.. If that makes sense.. Anyhow, it's just a thing that I chose since I LOVE those old 70s trash-films SO much more than anything that they make in today's horror-world. For me it's more about "fantasizing" about being in that era of film-making, and I totally get it if some people won't watch it.

thanks for all the responses!
 
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To mention 'The House of the Devil' again, this was shot on 16mm. Other than that, no "grind house" film effects were added, yet it still looks way more 'exploitation' than the likes of 'Deathproof', 'Machete' or 'Hobo with a Shotgun'.

Don't go too OTT with it. Not sure what you're aiming for, but a gimmick like this will put off a lot of people. With 'Planet Terror' and the other trailers from Grindhouse, it works because they are essentially comedies, and it adds to the comedy value.

Just another thought, how's the soundtrack looking? That'll go a long way to making the film feel "grind house" too.
 
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TheOpusFuller said:
Here's the trick.

Shoot the entire film exactly how you've been doing it and edit it. Once your edit it locked do the following.

Buy a VHS deck or just use a VCR that you already own.

Export from your computer via composite output. Record onto a VHS tape.

Once you do this you will have your entire film on the VHS tape, correct? Yes.

Recapture your entire film from the VHS tape to the computer via composite input.

So now you basically captured the entire film from the VHS tape via composite input.

Do the above step one more time. Export to the VHS tape via composite output. And recapture from that VHS tape via composite input back into the computer.

So basically you have like 2 generations of exporting and inputting to and from VHS. This will give you that ghosting image/ grindhouse look, etc. Then you will need to bleach out the colors, etc. But that's simple color correcting.
Click to expand...

Great process, Opus. I've done something similar with old college films and it works very well. Of course, always good to keep an original version of the material around just in case.
 
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