Faking the Film Look of a Super 8mm Camera With Your DSLR [Rf Video of the Week]

Always on point when it comes to improving and diversifying your filmmaking (here are 50 quick tips to whet your appetite), Simon Cade from DSLRguide.com is back with ways to mimic the ever-in vogue “film look.” Not only does it differentiate you from the pack of other filmmakers (especially those going the 4K route), it’s also the look that lots of clients seem to be attracted to right now—30 Rising Star Tomasz Wagner discussed why and how he uses it in our June Filmmaking issue, “On Making a Different Kind of Wedding Film.”

In this segment, Cade takes us step-by-step, comparing an actual Super 8mm camera with a DSLR and demonstrating ways to mimic the look in-camera, so that you don’t have to rely too heavily on post. One big tip: Turn off the “dead giveaway” of digital footage, Cade says, which is in-camera sharpening.

Whether you’d want to shoot an entire video with this film-like look, or just use it selectively for particular scenes, Cade shows that you can more or less use any camera to evoke that nostalgic aesthetic. “I would just say this,” he clarifies, “no matter how much we try and fake the film look, it’s never going to be as perfectly imperfect as real film. But the nice thing about doing it this way is that you can pick and choose which features you use.”

Check out more Videos of the Week, and email Libby Peterson with submissions.

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