How can I achieve a film look on a normal picture? How difficult is it?

Question

I have been interested in knowing how to achieve the effect of film on a picture.

I have tried to google photoshop tutorials but it is hard to find the specific one.

What programs do the art or media people use in the film industry to achieve a very saturated yet clean look on an image.

All the pictures I take are really "raw" real and so I would like to achieve the effect without damaging the quality of the image.

Any good suggestions? Any good tutorials? Any good program? What do professionals use to create those great images in billboards and CD covers?

here is an example: Did these pictures were taken out of the original film and then retouched or are they taken with a camara and then retouch?

http://movies.chocolate4breakfast.com/wp-content/uploads/2006/02/takeastandlarge.jpg

Answer 1

Shots like this are typically studio or setup shots and then heavily modified by the graphics people.

Photoshop would be primary software used with maybe something like Maya added in. Remember, these people are all very highly skilled from the photog on out. You won't find a tutorial specifically on how to achieve these effects. They are the result of someone knowing their tools so well that they can go from a visual concept to a work process. They can envison a result and imagine basically how it can be achieved.

On the pro photoshop specialty forums and websites there are discussions about how something was done, but they are on a level that a beginner won't be able to follow. They assume the readers have advanced skills.

I don't think that there is a 'Do this, get that result' answer for you.

Vance

Answer 2

Simple answer, use film and make it professional fim.

Generally slide film is better at this than negative film. Agfa and Fuji make the best.

Also, slow it down. Slower speed films, like 50 or 100 speed, are generally the best. This is also generally true of digital cameras as well. Set the ISO speed to the lowest possible for the situation. This, theoretically, gives the computer in the camera more time to get the colors right in the file that it creates.

Generally speaking, it is better to start with better raw materials than to try to make a bad picture look good. There is only so much an editting program can do in the hands of someone without years of experience.

As a little tip, though, you can try playing with the component curves. This can help a little bit. I can not get detailed without being there to show you.

Answer 3

Those shots were taken under carefully controlled, studio lighting conditions. I suspect that there were "live action" effects going on, such as fog machines in all of those shots.

Lighting, for example, would include multiple sources, from various angles and range from overall spread, to pinpoint spots to highlight certain features. That is not a situation you could duplicate with any typical, amateur's home situation.

These were, clearly studio shots, and may have been originally shot with larger format cameras, instead of normal 35 mm rigs. Even with that, there may have been additional work done on the images, after the shoot. You never know and are not INTENDED to know. If you can SEE the artificiality, then the image does not work.

You can improve your work by being as technically proficiant as you can possibly be. Carefully compose and frame your shots. Experiment with whatever lighting situations you can find or create. Look around for appropriate backgrounds for each kind of "look" you want. What should be in focus needs to be SHARPLY in focus. What needs to be out of focus should be APPROPRIATELY blurred. What distracts from the image should be eliminated from the shot. That's what is meant by "studio conditions." Things are completely under the photographer's (or art director's) complete control.

Answer 4

There's all sorts of filters that will allow you to add grain and so on. Some will let you do "film look" effects.

You could always just turn up the saturation and add a bit of contrast... unsharp masking and so on. To me, your samples just look like they're autoclipped.

...They are autoclipped.

Answer 5

Visit dxo.com and check out their "FilmPack v1.1"

It claims to allow you to "Rediscover the magic of film in digital photography!"

I find this rather ironic.