… for Random Weirdness

Tip #1143: 5 Tips to Make Video More Cinematic

Larry Jordan – LarryJordan.com

Notice – nowhere in this list does it mention frame rate.

This article first appeared in MotionArray.com. This is a summary.

One of the most asked questions that come from beginner filmmakers is, “how do I make my films look more cinematic?” Today, we’re going to go over five tips to help you make your next video look and feel more cinematic.

Part 1: What Does Cinematic Footage Mean?

There are a couple of interchangeable terms we can use. Cinematic, professional, high-quality, sharp, etc. Essentially, the highest overall goal is to make your video look like what you see when you watch a feature film in a theater.

Part 2: Tips to Make Cinematic Films & Videos

1. Create Depth. You might have heard that shooting with a shallow depth of field is an easy way to make your footage look more cinematic fast. That’s because it does! It really helps, and it’s mostly because it’s a very effective shortcut to giving your shot depth.
2. Get Your Light Right. Lighting is such a huge category that we can’t do it justice in just a quick overview. Instead, this article offers some quick solutions that can help you out in a pinch to get better quality shots out of whatever camera you’re using.
3. Aspect Ratio. Basically, you can trick your audience into seeing your footage as more cinematic by changing its aspect ratio.
4. Color Correction. You knew this one was coming. Color correction is a huge piece of this puzzle. This is where you take the image you captured and shape it into the final product in terms of light and color.
5. It’s All an Illusion. Movie-making is all a magic trick. Because that’s what a movie is — it’s a trick. So the last goal in all of this is to make sure you don’t remind your audience that they’re watching a movie.

EXTRA CREDIT

This article goes into more depth, and multiple steps for each of these points. This is a nice refresher of things you once knew, but, maybe, forgot.