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Colour in cinema: Abstract colour in Katsuhiro Otomo’s Akira

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Many new people who find my work today, think my lighting is simply inspired by me watching a couple of modern films. Either that or I get asked which photographer inspires me the most. The truth behind my lighting and colour inspiration is routed far further back than that though, and not even by cinematographers or photographers at all.

Although I’ve never consciously tried to be inspired by this, my best guess assessment of what inspired me and my work all those years ago was in fact not a photographer at all, but rather a comic.

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How to create the Wakui cinematic look in Lightroom and Photoshop

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Applying a cinematic effect to your nighttime city photos is a popular way to turn them from snapshots into something special, like in the examples of Masashi Wakui. I’ve been following his work for years, and finally wanted to try and figure out how this effect is done, without using any plugins in Lightroom and Photoshop. The key parts of this technique are the crushed blacks, the glow in the highlights, and the colour toning.

In this tutorial, you will learn how to recreate this effect by hand in Lightroom and Photoshop, adding a cinematic look to the photo below. The basis of this technique is to use an extreme white balance that is then recovered by split-toning.

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Want to shoot cinematic b-roll? Follow these three crucial steps

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Adding B-roll to your videos will without a doubt adds to their value and makes them more interesting and dynamic. But, you gotta do it right. In this awesome video from StudioBinder, you will learn more about the B-roll, its significance and the ways you can utilize it in your video work. The guys also share three crucial steps to nailing your B-roll and making it cinematic and professional-looking, so let’s get right into it.

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Level up your DJI Pocket Osmo videos with these three cinematic Hollywood shots

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The DJI Osmo Pocket is tiny, but powerful 3-axis motorized gimbal. With 4K 60fps video capabilities and its small size, it can come in handy in many situations. In this video, Josh Yeo shows you three Hollywood-style cinematic shots that will help you level up your videos with DJI Osmo Pocket.

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How to shoot cinematic footage on the cheap even with an entry-level camera

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When you want to shoot a professional-looking video, gear isn’t essential, but we can’t deny that pro gear sure can come in handy. However, if you only have an entry-level DSLR or mirrorless camera, don’t let it discourage you from creating. In this video from Mark Bone, you’ll learn a few tricks on how to turn even a cheap camera into a tool for creating cinematic videos.

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Here’s what it looks like to shoot a cinematic video with a $94 camera

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As we have seen before (more than once), you can take photos even with a potato. And what about video? Can you make it cinematic with a crappy camera? YouTuber Potato Jet didn’t use a potato to shoot a cinematic video, but he limited himself to a $94 compact camera and some items from a dollar store. Let’s see how it turned out.

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How to effectively light black & white shots for a dramatic look

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Lighting scenes for shooting in black & white is a little different from working with colour. For a start, you don’t have to worry about colour. Brightness, direction and quality of light come into play a lot more. This can simultaneously make shooting for black & white both easier and more challenging at the same time.

In this video, Nerris from the A-Team gets together with cinematographer Justin Jones to walk us through the thought process of shooting for black and white. [Read More…]

How to set up your drone’s exposure to get great cinematic footage

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Out of the box, drones, like most cameras, aren’t set up for shooting epic cinematic footage. No matter how silky smooth your movements, or the thought that goes into the composition, bad settings can ruin your shot. The camera has to be set up right, both from an exposure standpoint, and filters you may choose to use.

This video from YouTuber Atti Bear goes through the various settings, and filters he uses to create his drone footage when filming with the Mavic Pro. But the principles are the same for any drone. Atti also talks about some of the camera movements that can help get more cinematic shots.

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10 easy ways to make your video more cinematic with any camera

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Taking a bit of a break from the weird lenses, French photographer Mathieu Stern has been doing more work with video lately. Experimenting with a number of different styles and techniques he has come up with 10 great suggestions to help give your video a more cinematic feel.

Mathieu recently put together a short travel film, documenting the first visit to the planet MS-83. Of course, the planet isn’t real. Filming took place across four countries here on Earth. You can see several of the techniques Mathieu mentions in the video below in his short film.

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Travel in time with these three cinematic lighting setups to simulate different times of day

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The natural light entering our room changes quite dramatically throughout the day. The colour, contrast, overall tone and mood changes as our little planet spins about its axis. Creating artificial lighting setups to simulate those different times of day isn’t always that easy. But if you learn to recognise the characteristics of light, you can reverse engineer and rebuild it.

This video from Matt Workman at the Cinematography Database illustrates three cinematic lighting techniques. The bright daytime, the golden sunset, and the blue glow of night. Each different setup uses the same set, illustrating just how much of a different the light makes. The principles shown will work equally as well for stills or video.

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