How to get "this" look on GH2 video
 

Im playing around with some GH2 photos...
I plan on shooting a video and will be using an old cabin similar to this..or maybe this one.

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I CC this still and like the look. How can I apply this to the "entire" music video? Would I have to use an external diffuse filter, or can this be done in Premiere or other software?

Thanks,
Jeff

Re: How to get "this" look on GH2 video
 

There are about ten million ways to do it Jeff. The easiest is in Magic Bullet Looks. You may even be able to do it in the free version.

I just looked and there is a preset in the paid version but not in my free version.

You can piece it together using the effects in PP though.

If you have Photoshop, you can do it in that also and apply to the entire clip.

Re: How to get "this" look on GH2 video
 

Agreed; this is no challenge in post. Even FCP 7 has a vignette preset that would do that part right out of the box. The CC is just what you figure it to be.
Doing this in-camera would be a bit more challenging, but it's just what you'd think it is with filters and pushing your colors to magenta a bit.
If you didn't want to BUY a vignette filter, you could do the OLD school technique of putting a bit of Vasoline around the edges of a UV filter. That gives a nice organic look to things, but... can be a bit messy. Yuk.
I'm not recommending it, just saying there are options.

Re: How to get "this" look on GH2 video
 

Looks like you could use a crappy wide CCTV lens to get the voluminous CA, barrel distortion, and edge softening... something like the SLR Magic 25/1.4 Toy Lens or a Pentax 6/1.2 in ETC, for instance (although those are actually fairly sharp vs. what I'm seeing here). Putting one or more cheap Chicom wide angle adapters on an otherwise good lens can also yield these results.

Re: How to get "this" look on GH2 video
 

Matthew, you're telling your age...kinda like using your hands to vignette under the enlarger.

Re: How to get "this" look on GH2 video
 

Thanks to those that replied...and will reply.

Yes, Id definitely like to do it in post. Clips will be shot over several days, with varying amounts of light for sure. A typical scene is to have musicians on the porch of one of the cabins, with the singer "center porch".

Using stills, it's easy to vignette/blur the edges,top,bottom and leave the center(musicians) in sharp focus. I think doing this will be a real challenge for a video.....ya think?

I can always resort to a undistorted video....if I "have" to. LOL.

All tips appreciated....even the sourpuss ones.

Jeff

Re: How to get "this" look on GH2 video
 

Sorry, didn't mean to sound sourpuss... I'm not against the idea by any means - heck, I've shot a few things with cheap Chicom wide angles and the Tamron 4-12 - and even both together - that's why I know you can get exactly that look with cheap wide lenses - the crappier the lens, the greater the effect (and lower the cost). Sometimes it's what you want.

FCP and Premiere have vignetting filters that will get you the edge softening and darkening, but it'll take a mix of other things (distortion, some sort of color channel blur or shift) to get the rest of the look.

Re: How to get "this" look on GH2 video
 

@Kevin....
Definitely no offense taken Kevin...just joking ...I do that too much. ha

I'm going a little nuts trying to "rush" the learning curve of both video and photography with my GH2 and XA10.
Too different animals in some respects...video and photography.

For a long time I "thought" I knew what I was doing. Seems the more I learn the worse and confused I become. ha

Onward,
Jeff

Re: How to get "this" look on GH2 video
 

You're right Kevin. It would probably be better done in AE layers.

Re: How to get "this" look on GH2 video
 

Jeff - I lean towards doing it the way old Hollywood did it. I would slip a $30 into my $50 . If I was more comfortable with my NLE, I might feel otherwise :-)

Good luck - please let us see the results when you're done!

Best,

Bill

Re: How to get "this" look on GH2 video
 

HAHA!
Tell ya something; I do indeed remember Dodging and Burning parts of an image using my hands and bits of cardboard under the lamp in the dark room.
Ahhh... Yeah... I really don't miss the smell of developing and fixing chemicals. ;-)

But sometimes those old ways are still quite good.

Re: How to get "this" look on GH2 video
 

How do you like that mattbox Bill?

Re: How to get "this" look on GH2 video
 

Don, some people would say that it is flimsy (it's made out of some kind of thin plasticized board), but it keeps the Sun out of the lens and it holds my filters securely. I like it a whole lot better than screwing and unscrewing filters and lens hoods, especially when the camera is on the tripod or the Flycam. It really can't be beat for the price.

Bill

Re: How to get "this" look on GH2 video
 

@Bill....

I've noticed a lot of short film shooters using a mat box and filters. It would be fun to experiment with. Like you say, you cant beat the price.

Do you leave the UV protector lens on the cam while using the matbox/filter setup ?

Re: How to get "this" look on GH2 video
 

Jeff,

Yes, I do. I probably lose a little light, but I am paranoid after losing two sacrificial UV filters over the past few years. If I hadn't had UV filters on the lenses, I might have lost their front elements. In both cases, the lenses were fine.

A couple of pictures of the matte box on the GH2 are attached. There is an in one of the slots.

Cheers,

Bill