arri alexa look

Hamza Ben · February 27, 2012

hello guys

how r u?

u knw i'm a dslr shooter, and really i love the look of arri alexa...its so lovely.

for example this video, look at it , its washed out, its i dont knw lookds whitey or dusty or i dnt knw how to describe it xD

could this look be achieved using a dslr? i knw there are many factors like lights,lens...etc

but any tips on how to achieve this?

Robert Houllahan · March 8, 2012

You can make a Ford Fiesta as fast as a Ferrari by strapping a solid rocket booster to it, but then you can't stop.

No You can't make the dslr footage look like an Alexa, sorry.

-Rob-

Phil Rhodes · March 8, 2012

Actually I think some DSLR stuff already looks quite like an Alexa in terms of its colour rendition. Big sensor, big pixels, just nasty moire and horribly compressed. Certainly more than the 3-chip cameras.

That last 5% of excellence is what costs 95% of the money.

Travis Gray · March 8, 2012

Lighting, grading, maybe a little bit of the lens...

I don't see too much that can't be attempted to achieve I don't think. You'd only have the issues that Phil mentioned with moire and compression (especially if pushing the grade too much).

Lower saturation, push gamma, add a little yellow maybe? (I'm still working on exacting color skills...)

Andre Labous · March 8, 2012

Maybe ARRI varicon.

Mei Lewis · March 9, 2012

I'm really interested in this, if you send me a DSLR clip you have I'll try to work out how to do it.

mei@missionphotographic.com

Stuart Brereton · March 9, 2012

There is nothing intrinsically Alexa about this look. They have deliberately used lens flare to veil the image. You can do this with a torch or small lamp just out of frame. The rest of the material has been timed to match. To me it looks like lifted blacks and mids. Any NLE with a 3 way color corrector will be able to replicate this look with just a few clicks of the mouse.

Phil Rhodes · March 9, 2012

Stuart, I think what's going on here is that people now associate any very low-con look with high end cameras, because they've all seen improperly corrected log images...

This goes some way to explaining the obsession with low-con looks for the DSLRs, regardless of how useful they actually are.

Hamza Ben · March 9, 2012

well after beholding this :

http://vimeo.com/30859426

i think that arri alexa with its gamma log c has already that kind of washed outlook ...so it just needs few adjustments in post and thats it.

on the contrary of dslrs which need some time in post even with the cinestyle (which is in my opinion not that close to arri c log).

For me i think like Travis and stuart said lowering the saturation, lifting shadows and gamma(which is essential in this case), and lil of yellows in highlights, thats what i think....ofcourse after setting the mood (environment) with some lights make ups ...etc.

but still something missing...i dont know how they created that kind of HAZE which i love, specially from (00 sec to 06 sec)..i dont knw if they used lens flares like stuart said "They have deliberately used lens flare to veil the image. You can do this with a torch or small lamp just out of frame" ... :huh:

actually i know how lens flares look... what kind of torch or whateva can make that kind of lovely haze??? lol

Travis Gray · March 9, 2012

Have you tried doing something similar yet?

Think about how you counteract haze... now just do the opposite. I think lifting shadows/gamma will get you started in the right direction.

Play with picture profiles in camera. Just do a bunch of tests. Rent a haze machine.

Stuart Brereton · March 9, 2012

i dont know how they created that kind of HAZE which i love, specially from (00 sec to 06 sec)..i dont knw if they used lens flares

There's a veiling flare over that opening shot. you can actually see it top right corner at about 3 seconds just as the woman moves to lie down on the bed. I'm not convinced that it's a real flare, it could quite easily be a post effect, but the result is the same - overall loss of contrast and washed out blacks.

Veiling flare like that, rather than the visible rings and other artifacts, is often caused by large sources. A bright overcast sky can cause havoc with flare.

Hamza Ben · March 10, 2012

Have you tried doing something similar yet?

tell you the truth i ain't pro :)

There's a veiling flare over that opening shot. you can actually see it top right corner at about 3 seconds just as the woman moves to lie down on the bed. I'm not convinced that it's a real flare, it could quite easily be a post effect, but the result is the same - overall loss of contrast and washed out blacks.

Veiling flare like that, rather than the visible rings and other artifacts, is often caused by large sources. A bright overcast sky can cause havoc with flare.

aha u know i didnt know really that there's a technique called veiling flare...i googled it, and i got it and i love it ;)

actually i came by their behind scene of this video, and i really see what you mean .. its in 1:22sec,1:23 and 1:50 <in this shot the man at the right holding the light but he's standing so far from the camera (possibly his light is so powerful)

do u think i can achieve something like that with affordable lights?? ..the one they used seems expensive.

i'm going to try that tomorrow, hope it'll work out with me :)

Stuart Brereton · March 10, 2012

It looks as if they are using a .575HMI Dedo light to flare the lens. That is a pretty powerful lamp at the distance they are using it. You should be able create a similar effect with a smaller lamp, you'll just need to experiment with positioning it.

Also, not every shot of that commercial is flared, some of it has just been timed to match.

Hamza Ben · March 11, 2012

It looks as if they are using a .575HMI Dedo light to flare the lens. That is a pretty powerful lamp at the distance they are using it. You should be able create a similar effect with a smaller lamp, you'll just need to experiment with positioning it.

Also, not every shot of that commercial is flared, some of it has just been timed to match.

hi

i tested this technique today (actually right now i'm doing some post) ...it worked for me indoors, with a torch out of the frame, so there was that kind of haze i wanted :) it just needs a powerful light source and being tricky placing it...what i noticed is that the light of the torch (haze) was blue i switched the wb presets but at the end the light has a beluewish look.. is it because of the LED light? does it need HMI to be compelte white?

by the way i could fix that in post, in color balance reducing the blues which worked giving the light a normal look (white haze)...and by upping the gamma and lift i somehow could create that look :) and thank you for that guys :rolleyes:

BUT the big challenge was when i took the camera outside, it was cloudy so the light was kind of diffused(which i thought is perfect), i set the exposure, cinestyle and took the torch tried the technique...and nothin at all, the torch wasnt at all powerful to be seen on the screen...so by here i u understand that i need kind of very powerful light source... the one u mentioned is freakin expensive ...so u tell me no other way to do it? how many wats i need? if u can guess ...and actually i tried some tricks like putting a mirror and reflecting it u knw like doubling the light source that i had but it didnt work.