Old School Look

[Francisco Vazquez]

Hey, i'm going to be shooting a film this May. After talking with the director, we're going to shoot a movie that takes place in the 70s, and we want to make it real stylish.

 

We want something along the lines of this:

 

 

http://www.vimeo.com/5863422

 

I want that old school look, I want it to have that overblown blue/green look. We are going to be filming on 16mm Negative (7219) since we have a bunch of extra rolls of it. All exterior shots, and in only daylight.

 

So far this is what we're planning on.

 

We're going to color process the film.

throw on some 85b (since we have tungsten balanced film)

Overexpose (not sure by how much yet) to get a more blown out look.

 

I know there's some tricks we can do in post to achieve the look, but I want to do as much as I can at the shoot.

 

Any tips on the color processing, or ways to get that certain look? Should we get a softing mist filter? Any help or advice would be awesome.

[David Mullen ASC]

Both clips seem to be cheap telecine transfers (or refilmed images) from a print off of the negative, adding even more distress and dirt.

 

Anyway, I'd start out with an old lens, like the classically poor 12-120mm Ang. zoom, before resorting to diffusion filters.

 

Both clips have a 70's home movie aesthetic, not a 70's Hollywood movie aesthetic.

[Chris Burke]

You might want to consider super 8 in 7219. You get the flexibility of the modern stock, but with a more retro look. It will also be a bit cheaper than 16. All the formats seemed to have jumped up a step due to vast improvements in stock and scanning. Super 8 looks a lot like the footage you used as an example. It looks very much like 16 of yore. Camera rental for sync sound could be little dicey, but doable. Lots of great labs and transfer out there.

[Satsuki Murashige]

That film on Youtube is beautiful! I remember shooting stuff like that when I first got my hands on a 16mm camera in film school...

 

I would try shooting with cameras like the Bolex RX5 with Switar lenses, and the Canon Scoopic 16M for a zoom.

 

Wouldn't bother with diffusion filters or drastic overexposure. If possible I would try a slower daylight stock - Fuji 8622 64D would be nice. Fill in with tungsten fresnels gelled with CTB.

 

Maybe you can try making a workprint and do a telecine off of that to get that old school texture.