Mr. Robot and HER Look

[Jo]

Hi guys :D

I have seen the Mr. Robot and Her from Spike Jonze a few days and I loved it the look of both. My question is do you know some kinda of LUT Identical of the look of Mr. Robot or Her film?

thanks guy :)

[David Mullen ASC]

Why don't you just color-correct to create that look?

[Chris Burke]

Is it my misunderstanding or is there a misuse of or misunderstanding of what a LUT is? Lots of people use the term as if it were a plug-in that you simply put in a camera to get a certain look. I don't mean to single out or pick on the original poster, but it seems the use of the term Lut is incorrect. A lookup table is a set of parameters usually applied to a monitor to convert one color space to another for viewing am I correct? It seems as if people, at least what I observe on this forum, are using it more and more frequently incorrectly.

[David Mullen ASC]

You can create specialized LUT's that will create a different look than standard, but those are mainly used for dailies, to apply a look to everything quickly -- in the final color-correction, you usually go back to the original raw or log file and work from that.

 

So while I think the term LUT in the original question is somewhat correct, I just object to the reductive thinking because it refers to "the look", which is a rather broad term that goes way beyond color-correction. I could create a "Gone With The Wind" 3-strip Technicolor LUT, for example, but applying it to some iPhone footage of my sleeping dog on the couch isn't going to make people think "hey, this looks just like 'Gone With The Wind'!"

 

The look of "Her" for example, is mainly in the lighting, framing, and shooting wide-open on Super Speeds -- I'd describe the color-correction as being on the lower-contrast side with softer color saturation, which is a fairly simple thing to do in color-correction, so I'm not sure why you'd need a LUT just to dial down the contrast and the chroma. Of course the final color-correction of the movie was more sophisticated than that... but a LUT isn't going to be able to recreate tricks like use of Power Windows, etc.

 

Plus you have to factor in that the movie was shot on an Alexa, so using a camera with a less-wide dynamic range is going to make it harder to get that look.

 

And the most distinctive visual thing about "Mr. Robot" is the framing, which a LUT isn't going to contribute to.

 

Any student is always going to learn more by breaking down images they like into their individual components rather than to look for short-cuts.

 

Besides, when someone says "I like the look of 'X' movie or TV series", the problem is that someone else may have a different idea of what the look is -- you HAVE to be more specific. I've worked on films where the director says something along the lines of "I like the look of Terry Gilliam films", for example, so you show up with a bunch of super wide-angle lenses and it turns out the director hates wide-angle lenses and was responding to some other aspect of Gilliam movies that didn't stick out to you.

[Robin R Probyn]

"but applying it to some iPhone footage of my sleeping dog on the couch isn't going to make people think "hey, this looks just like 'Gone With The Wind'!"

 

​What if the dog farts.. that could sway the masses.. ;)

 

​Although I think the OP is being a bit optimistic thinking that a LUT will make footage look like Mr Robot or Her.. re Chris,s point.. further down the food chain where I exist.. a 3D Lut is often now "burnt in" the recording.. as a "look", a more nuanced approach than just adjusting the matrix,that was the "old " tv style with ENG camera,s.. a LUT can be made in say Resolve and then input straight to the camera and burnt in.. of course to shoot RAW or Log is better.. but often productions don't have the time ,money or expertise to deal with log.. let alone RAW.. a LUT is a LUT of course.. and it sort of goes against the whole idea of having LUT,s to just record it in.. but this is now something that is being done more and more.. I haven't shot anything in "custom" REC 709 in a couple of years now.. its just a cheap /easy way of getting away from the "standard " look of say a Sony camera.. which wasn't possible a few years back ..

[Jo]

Thank you for your replies and your help.

Maybe Im not explain well I need to know and sorry for that. Basicly I'm gonna shoot a short film with my a7s camera in S-log and im gonna use a external recorder like a Shogun and I want a look like of the film like"Her" and "mr.Robot" look, like low contrast and low saturation with just some saturation in specific colors like red and yellow. So I put this question because I wanted convert the S-log signal on monitor/recording assist with a LUT. But I think the best way to do this using Rec 709 for exposing correctly the image and control this "low contrast and low saturation" to the film on postproduction, I'm right?

Sorry for my bad explanation guys :(

[David Mullen ASC]

Shooting S-Log will get you halfway there to that pastel, low-contrast look, you may only have to add a little contrast back in later.

[Will Montgomery]

I could create a "Gone With The Wind" 3-strip Technicolor LUT, for example, but applying it to some iPhone footage of my sleeping dog on the couch isn't going to make people think "hey, this looks just like 'Gone With The Wind'!"

Bravo.

 

Jo, you should dive into the world of color correction and what colorists do...tons of online videos I'm sure. David of course is right, if you shoot in S-log the file right out of the camera will be low contrast and about halfway there. If you own that camera already, do some experiments shooting in S-log. Try setting up some similar shots to what you like in "Mr. Robot" with some volunteer models. Framing and lighting are critical but then spending some time with a color correction tool like DaVinci Resolve (for free from Blackmagic!) will help you get closer.

 

I'd also suggest checking around Portugal and see if there are any colorists in your area. It is a very specialized profession. You may be able to hire one for an hour and bring your test footage in to see if they can help you achieve the look you want. Always remember film is a collaborative process and you can't always know how to do everything yourself, but you should know the capabilities and limitations so when you are creating you don't try for something that's not possible.

 

The most I've ever learned about images and color has been sitting behind talented colorists who almost always love to share how they do what they do.

[Robin R Probyn]

Hi Jo

 

Slog2 is recommended for the A7 series.. (where as Slog3.cine is usually the go to for larger Sony cams.. Fs7/F5/55)..google a guy called Alister Chapman.. his site has alot about shooting log on A7,s.. and generally Sony,s cine EI mode../Slog workflow.. alot of good info in one place..

[Anthony Schilling]

 

Thank you for your replies and your help.

Maybe Im not explain well I need to know and sorry for that. Basicly I'm gonna shoot a short film with my a7s camera in S-log and im gonna use a external recorder like a Shogun and I want a look like of the film like"Her" and "mr.Robot" look, like low contrast and low saturation with just some saturation in specific colors like red and yellow. So I put this question because I wanted convert the S-log signal on monitor/recording assist with a LUT. But I think the best way to do this using Rec 709 for exposing correctly the image and control this "low contrast and low saturation" to the film on postproduction, I'm right?

Sorry for my bad explanation guys :(

 

I am not an expert in this area but recently covered it in Resolve training. There is a LUT folder which of course has a rec 709 LUT. The grading tools in Resolve are second to none, really good qualifiers and power window tools to isolate colors and saturation areas.