Hello Everybody, my name is Elliot, I am from Under The Ledge and welcome back to a new video. In this week’s video we’re talking about the secret to creating cinematic images.
Throughout history, Artists have been trying to create three dimensional images in their art. Whether this is through the use of Sculpture, Drawings, Paintings, Photography, or Films which is the subject we will be focusing on today. So, to start, how have artists made their artwork ‘Cinematic’ in the past? They have made their artwork 3 dimensional. Now it seem’s easy to create a 3D sculpture doesn’t it. But how do you make work on a 2-dimensional surface 3D? The answer is to create depth. How do you create depth? The truth is that there are many different ways, but today I’ll just be telling you a few.
Firstly, the use of lighting. Lighting plays a huge part in what creates a cinematic image. Choosing to backlight your subject can make a huge difference in making your image look traditionally ‘Film like’. I actually made a whole video about natural lighting, which breaks down backlighting, and using window light to create cinematic images. You can watch it here.
Secondly is the use of Foreground, Mid-ground and Background. Shooting against a flat wall never looks good. To add depth to your image, try using layers. If you can clearly identify the Foreground, Mid-ground and Background in your image, then your image will look good. Here’s a few examples. Just remember that you can always break the rules, but make sure it is for a creative effect, for example in this shot we use a flat image to show that this character is trapped.
Next there is the use of depth of field, or Aperture. There is shallow focus, which is typically what you would see in a Hollywood movie. The reason why Hollywood use a smaller F stop is to make the background (and foreground) seem blurry, with creates depth. The issue that we are seeing in the Morden day of film now is that all cameras are capable of shooting images with a shallow depth of field. I just kind of wish that people actually knew what so called ‘Portrait Mode’ was doing to their image and that you can still create beautiful and cinematic images with a wide depth of field.
Finally, there is the use of colour. Colour plays a huge role in creating ‘Cinematic Images’. Hue, Saturation and Brightness all have an impact on how the colours in your image will actually look. To be honest there is quite a lot to break down here so if you want a whole video about colour theory, vote in the poll on my Instagram (Link in description).
Okay so to recap, to make something look cinematic is to make is to make it look three dimensional. You do this through creating depth. Ways to create depth include Lighting, Backlighting, Using Layers, depth of field and colour.
Thank you very much for watching, before we go, I just want to tell you about our weekly email newsletter. Every Wednesday I send out a quick, 2 minuets read, updating you about what I and others have been up to in the film industry. You can sign up via the link in the description. With all of that said I want to thank you very much for watching, and I’ll see you in the next one.
Elliot.
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