XL2 Settings / Info?

The film look has little to do with the camera...it's mostly to do with what's in front of the camera. Good locations, lit well and good actors in good costumes.

The only real thing to do in camera to go for a film look is position everything so the background is out of focus...which means the actors should be a bit distant from the background and the camera closer to the actors than they probably will feel comfortable with...you have a limited amount of pixels in the CCD of the camera, so the more you dedicate to each object, the better it will look...since the background has objects that are small, you'll get better looking backgrounds by throwing it out of focus, so the choppy edges aren't as obvious.

To get the defocussed backgrounds, you can also zoom into the subjects from far away to pull the backgrounds closer making its defocussedness more obvious. That's a real word, I just used it in a sentence .

My site has lots of footage from an XL1s (we actually had 2 of them, but one had a bad lens...so we have to do some post magic to make that footage look like it fits. You'll notice it's highly contrasted and grainy...but the footage from my camera looks great.

in fact use this as a reference:

http://www.gumspirits.com/scenes.html

they shot this with a GL2...which is the younger brother of the XL series of cameras...this is what to strive for

Production values will get you closest to a 'film look'. Good lighting, compositing etc. I know people say this all the time but it really is true. After that some good color correction can bring out the best in your already great footage

All I can add is what shaw said. Good lighting. DoF (depth of field), Good acting (most important) and clean audio.

It's difficult to work outside with low end equipment. I do everything in post production since I can't afford anything decent.


I havnt done anything in months, but I'm going to get back into it again. I been playing with animation mostly. There are alot of tricks in post production you can do if you don't mind doing the extra work. as an Amatuer I find that Vegas Video has a decent audio gate adjuster. So you can filter out background noises.

I also use 3D Studio max. It's not designed for editing films, but whats great about it is you can composite and you can (if you have the time) to render your shots in anamorphic settings. add a 35mm Cine look to your film.

You can manipulate your videos in Vegas Video to look very film like as well. I own a HD camcorder but my little Panasonic DV120 has much better color. it's only 720x480 rez but you can manipulate it in vegas and crop it down to 720x405 or 720x380 to get that anamorphic look. A bit grainy on larger screens though.

I'm obviouslly no expert, but the definition of getting a "Film Look" is going to change over time. New HD digitial cameras will probably replace film in the next decade. When high end Video cameras can get 24fps at 8megapixles, You will have film quality without the overhead.

They're getting very close to that right now. of course those cameras are in the millions of dollars, I give it 10 years and they will have prosumer end ones for about 5k.

Did you get your Canon at Frys in Concord? That place is a effen mess. The sales people on the floor there are rude. No one wants to answer your questions

Goldy - No I didn't get my XL2 at Fry's. I found it on line, for a cheaper price. It did take like 2 weeks to get it when they said it was in stock. The package came with an hard case, tapes, extra battery, UV Filter, and it was still like 600 bucks less than Fry's. I know what you mean about Fry's in Concord. I live 5 mins away. I like to get in and get out ASAP and I try to buy stuff that I KNOW I won't have to return, because their Customer Service area Sucks. I waited almost 1 1/2 hour waiting for them to give me a replacement computer. (I bought their replacement plan). Are you near Contra Costa County?

Gustamize said:

Goldy - No I didn't get my XL2 at Fry's. I found it on line, for a cheaper price. It did take like 2 weeks to get it when they said it was in stock. The package came with an hard case, tapes, extra battery, UV Filter, and it was still like 600 bucks less than Fry's. I know what you mean about Fry's in Concord. I live 5 mins away. I like to get in and get out ASAP and I try to buy stuff that I KNOW I won't have to return, because their Customer Service area Sucks. I waited almost 1 1/2 hour waiting for them to give me a replacement computer. (I bought their replacement plan). Are you near Contra Costa County?

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Yeah, East Coco. Bestbuys is 10x worst. I bought a JVC camcorder at frys and returned it 3 months later and got a brand new one. So they went easy on me. It's why I like to shop there. Best buys is ok for small stuff but anything over 200 bucks I will never purchase from best buys again unless they really can beat anyone elses price.

Goldy - I actually went to Fry's yesterday, and they don't have the Canon anymore. (Then again I haven't looked in the camera dept in a long time) I went there to see if they had any cool accessories. Didn't find anything. The only people that seem helpful are the guys in the Comp area. (You know where you buy the Motherboards, HD, Memory) You better be a hot chick if you want any of the other guys in other dept to help you, and the chicks think they're too good to help you. lol.

I haven't really had a bad expierence with Best Buy in Pleasant Hill or the one in Pittsburg. For the exception of some of the sales people don't really know their stuff. I've been there quite a few times (PH) that I know which ones know their stuff. I check the big three here. Fry's , Best Buy, and Circuit City.

Gustamize said:

Now is there any settings, or techniques I can use to give my short that "film look" (to use along side the 24fps feature). Perhaps a website? or maybe some personal advice from someone here? My short will most likely be edited with Premiere Pro 1.5 if that helps with some post production advice. Thanks in advance! -G

PS: also any links to other footage that were filmed w/XL2 would be great (Something to make my friends want to strive for)

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We have filmed our motion picture with the XM-2 which is the european version of the GL-2. We used an anamorphic lens from Optex and I did a complex deinterlacing process with AviSynth in the post.
You have the advantage of the XL-2 having a true progressive and anamorphic mode, which will give you a good start. A very important thing is to have the light situation under control, otherwise it will look like a homevideo.

You can download the movie trailers and teaser here: http://www.jenseits.at/download.html

A nice short made with the XL-2 and great pictures can be found here:
O sole mio - trailer

and here

Die Wahrheit über das Volk der Mäuse - trailer