How To Make Video Look Like Film

By: Bobby Ivie

Break Studios Contributing Writer

If you want to know how to get your home movies to look like those on the big screen, you need to know how to make video look like film. This will give you a nice smooth look and make your movies look more professional. It’s not hard if you have the right tools and know a few tricks.

What you need to make video look like film:

  • Camcorder with 24p capability. This can be high definition or standard.
  • Camera support such as a tripod. This will help you stabilize the camcorder during motion shoots.

What to do to make video look like film:

  1. Set the camcorder to 24p. Reducing the amount of frames recorded per second will give you a smooth look to make your video look like film.
  2. Zoom in on objects. The closer you zoom in on an object the softer the look will be and that will help to make your video look like film.
  3. Open up the iris. This will decrease the depth of the video. It’s not necessary to have one, but you could also use a 35mm lens adapter to get this effect.
  4. Adjust the shutter speed. Put the shutter speed setting on the double frame rate setting. This setting is 1/48. This will help to decrease motion blur. To get the proper effect you will need to use slow fluid motions when recording scenes with motion. Panning should be done slowly. The camera support or tripod will help with this.
  5. Use the camcorder filters. Camcorders normally come with editing tools which can help you put the final touches on your video. These filters include de-interlacing, adding grain and adjusting the gamma of the video. These features can help you put the final professional touches you need to make video look like film.
Posted on: Sep. 30, 2010