• Wondering which camera, gear, computer, or software to buy? Ask in our Gear Guide.

My "old film" test

Sort by date Sort by votes
Hi there!

You can definitely see that it's supposed to be old film footage. Here are some other things to consider:

- Convert the footage to 18fps. (I've found the simple Posterize Time filter works well for 24fps to 18fps)
- Reduce the flicker (it kinda looks like a canned "old film" preset in this way)
- Add some subtle grain (I like to render the grain on a 50% gray layer, blurred by 2 or so, on top of the footage.)
- Play with the Levels. (you might try adding contrast while also lifting the blacks.)
- Adjust Curves. (Tend toward one color or the other. For outdoor stuff, try boosting the red channel)

There are other things to try as well, such as cutting the footage such that you have the subject "jump" from one position to the next, to simulate a film splice.
 
Last edited:
Upvote 0 Downvote
Nice tips from Frank. I'd say to make the flicker more subtle and with less randomness in the rhythm of it. As I understand it, having the flicker is meant to mimic the flickering light of a projector, so it's going to be more rhythmic than not.

A little bit of grain could be nice, but I think it still looks great, as is. :)

What do you plan on using this for? Or was it just for fun?
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
The projector sounds more like a pitched-up lawn mower (at least to my ears).

The audio - if there's going to be audio (and very subtly even if there won't be) - needs a little hiss (15kHz - 20kHz), a few scratches and pops on the edits.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Dreadylocks - this is just a 24 second assignment for my experimental filmmaking class. Good advice on more of rythmitic flickering. I'll see what I can do.

Alcove - loved the comment of a pitched-up lawn mower! it probably was, i just picked up a quick sample from freesound.org. I don't think there will be any sound to this clip, just a sound of a lawn mower ;) But thanks for reference in the future, because I am planning on making similar idea, but only with sound.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
i like the look of the footage underneath, it has a 1970's vibe... To me the flicker isn't adding anything. I would remove it and add in some random errors in the film.. like a wander to the side here and there would be better .. but its your baby..
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
dlevanchuk,

A couple more ideas worth mentioning...

You might want to play around with edge blurring: Duplicate the layer and add a rounded-corner square mask to the top one, so that it only affects the outer parts of the image (use some fairly heavy feathering so that it blends well with the bottom layer.), then apply blurring. You may want to play a bit with slight radial blurring.

The second thing would be to add a vignette to get a bit of darkening in the corners.

I linked some test footage here a while ago that incorporates some of this stuff.

Well, hope some of this helps with your project!
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top