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80's period piece


F Bulgarelli

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Hello again,

 

I will be shooting a small indie feature that takes place in the mid 80's.

Since our budget is so low, we dont have the luxury of a lot of production design to sell the look

I'm starting to do some reasearch as to how to pull this off

I'm looking at films like the runaways which had a great 80's look

Some of the visual elements I'm taking into consideration are:

 

Softer glass (cooke panchros, baltars)

Saturated colors

Heavy make up (80's style)

Smoke for certain scenes, specially bars obviously

Basic primary colors like party red and green, blues, I dont think color schemes in the 80's were that sophisticated

 

 

re: David Lynch 80's films, Valley Girl,

 

Was hoping to get some advice and feed back

 

Thanks

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Hello again,

 

I will be shooting a small indie feature that takes place in the mid 80's.

Since our budget is so low, we dont have the luxury of a lot of production design to sell the look

I'm starting to do some reasearch as to how to pull this off

I'm looking at films like the runaways which had a great 80's look

Some of the visual elements I'm taking into consideration are:

 

Softer glass (cooke panchros, baltars)

Saturated colors

Heavy make up (80's style)

Smoke for certain scenes, specially bars obviously

Basic primary colors like party red and green, blues, I dont think color schemes in the 80's were that sophisticated

 

 

re: David Lynch 80's films, Valley Girl,

 

Was hoping to get some advice and feed back

 

Thanks

 

Hi, don't forget wardrobe and hair, big recognizers of the 80's. Some good movies to look at for fashion are E.T. (what mom wore and her hair) and When Harry met Sally. These will give you a good idea on wardrobe and the you can check out the thrift stores for bargains!

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If you want to evoke the 80s by having your film look in some way like an 80s movie, consider basic light levels. We're getting used to scenes shot now regularly at ASAs that weren't possible in the 80s. Lighting has changed because of that and even lots of night and low-light (for the times) scenes back then might seem more obviously lighted when viewed now. When 5293 and 5294 came out, they were used a lot and movies started to look different in many ways.

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Those are good points, thanks Cathy and Tim

Digital cameras are so light sensitive now days makes it hard to apply the same amount of foot candles they were using in the 80's

I will test different ISO's with the Red camera to try to find a way to convey a similar look

Generally speaking harder light was applied in those days, something to keep in mind

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The other mistake that gets so often made, often by people who should know better, is that you don't make something look like it is set in the 1980s by filling every set or location with 80s memorabilia. In the real-world 1980s, you were were always going to be surrounded by relics of the 70s and 60s; in the 70s it would be 60s and 50s stuff and so on.

Similarly, not everybody was an 80s fashion victim with huge hair and padded shoulder. In fact, if you look around you, you will see that most people tend to dress fairly conservatively, in fairly timeless clothes fashions in all eras. (The 70s is probably the most notable exception with all the the huge ties, flared pants and sideburns :rolleyes:)

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The other mistake that gets so often made, often by people who should know better, is that you don't make something look like it is set in the 1980s by filling every set or location with 80s memorabilia. In the real-world 1980s, you were were always going to be surrounded by relics of the 70s and 60s; in the 70s it would be 60s and 50s stuff and so on.

Similarly, not everybody was an 80s fashion victim with huge hair and padded shoulder. In fact, if you look around you, you will see that most people tend to dress fairly conservatively, in fairly timeless clothes fashions in all eras. (The 70s is probably the most notable exception with all the the huge ties, flared pants and sideburns :rolleyes:)

 

 

 

That is so funny; the party scene in Valley Girl is full of kids/characters clinging to the late 70s look as more conservative high school kids do stick with tried and true styles,

which sets up even more the contrast between them and the punky N. Cage character.

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Hi Bulgarelli,

 

A quick idea comes to mind, what about posters 80s style?

 

I know they can be hard to come by, and some times expensive. But if you print them yourself from your own printer then you save a bundle and have the posters you need.

 

Follow this guide: 80s posters – starts halfway down

 

Regards

Citron

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