Just saw this movie, and while I am a Wes Anderson fan, this one didn't do it for me. The film seemed entirely based on the visuals while the competing/symbiotic story lines were frankly extremely boring.
Anyway... I know this is the look they were going for, but the cyan/orange colour palate pushed to 11 was just too much for me. It reminds me of my early days of film scanning before negative lab pro came out, when I did it all myself in LR trying to invert colours and balance them. I had no idea I was recreating a Wes Anderson look..
It is interesting though that while the film was shot on Kodak Vision 200, it was sent off for extensive colour grading for the final result. I'm not familiar with movie production so I assume this is normal? But if the look is achieved through grading i.e. PP, what was the point of using that specific film stock?
It actually why I shoot the cheapest colour film I can get my hands on, and not waste my money on Portra. Because I scan and process it myself, I can adjust the colour balance and tonal range the way I see fit.
FYI the upcoming Chris Nolan film "Oppenheimer" was also shot on film. That one looks incredible!
p.1 #2 · Wes Anderson's Asteroid City shot on film
Desmolicious wrote:
It is interesting though that while the film was shot on Kodak Vision 200, it was sent off for extensive colour grading for the final result. I'm not familiar with movie production so I assume this is normal? But if the look is achieved through grading i.e. PP, what was the point of using that specific film stock?
Oh yes, grading has a history that long predates digital. For film it was called color timing, not grading. Color timers changed colors and exposure at the print stage (from negative to positive). Nowadays since the movie houses don't show actual film anymore the color grading happens at the digital stage. See for example https://blog.frame.io/2020/11/16/color-grading-lessons-from-celluloid-film/
p.1 #3 · Wes Anderson's Asteroid City shot on film
I honestly think the lighting being basically all natural is the more intriguing tidbit than the color, but I was wondering about the grading since the examples I've seen of Vision 200 looks nothing like the film.
p.1 #4 · Wes Anderson's Asteroid City shot on film
bjhurley wrote:
Oh yes, grading has a history that long predates digital. For film it was called color timing, not grading. Color timers changed colors and exposure at the print stage (from negative to positive). Nowadays since the movie houses don't show actual film anymore the color grading happens at the digital stage. See for example https://blog.frame.io/2020/11/16/color-grading-lessons-from-celluloid-film/
p.1 #5 · Wes Anderson's Asteroid City shot on film
RoamingScott wrote:
I honestly think the lighting being basically all natural is the more intriguing tidbit than the color, but I was wondering about the grading since the examples I've seen of Vision 200 looks nothing like the film.
That's my point. It may have been shot on Vision 200, but they changed the colour so much it could have been shot on any colour film stock. Of course that statement would have made a lot more sense 20-30 years ago when there WAS much more colour movie stock!
It almost made the movie look like a cartoon, and I assume that was the intention.
Now Chris Nolan's upcoming Oppenheimer was also shot on Kodak film. Looking forward to seeing how that looks!
Just saw this movie, and while I am a Wes Anderson fan, this one didn't do it for me. The film seemed entirely based on the visuals while the competing/symbiotic story lines were frankly extremely boring.
Haven't seen it but this is what I was afraid of. The French Dispatch bordered on boring too, but a few storylines were strong and the set pieces were incredible, so it all worked out. But I think Wes's visual/emotionally stoic aesthetic is getting in the way of good writing.
Shoot on film is a process to these guys. Nolan and Tarantino, too, will argue that it makes them light and be more deliberate and to them that is the tradition of film production. Camera positions, marks, etc. This forces them to move slow, get it right in few takes (not that any of them have to worry about film purchasing), and carry on cinematographic heritage or whatever.
Roger Deakins sort of represents the flip side to that - move faster, light more naturally, be spontaneous, lots of handheld, etc.
It's funny because like stills there are opposing methods of optical use too. Wes goes for maximal DOF, and since he hauls in so much lighting he can shoot at F16 all day long. A lot of younger guys shooting digital love the bokeh and all of the coloration of natural lighting (greens, ambers, etc).
I noticed Tarantino's last flick had so much saturation that I assumed he was scanning the print. My father-in-law is a retired post-production house tech, he insisted it's all scanning the source negatives directly, editing and grading from there. I know Nolan and Tarantino in particular want film prints so when you go to see the film in an actual projection house you might be seeing an entirely different color science.
I love Nolan's films and am pretty excited to see Oppenheimer. I feel like one of the few people who loved TENENT.
p.1 #7 · Wes Anderson's Asteroid City shot on film
ottokbre wrote:
Haven't seen it but this is what I was afraid of. The French Dispatch bordered on boring too, but a few storylines were strong and the set pieces were incredible, so it all worked out. But I think Wes's visual/emotionally stoic aesthetic is getting in the way of good writing.
Shoot on film is a process to these guys. Nolan and Tarantino, too, will argue that it makes them light and be more deliberate and to them that is the tradition of film production. Camera positions, marks, etc. This forces them to move slow, get it right in few takes (not that any of them have to worry about film purchasing), and carry on cinematographic heritage or whatever.
Roger Deakins sort of represents the flip side to that - move faster, light more naturally, be spontaneous, lots of handheld, etc.
It's funny because like stills there are opposing methods of optical use too. Wes goes for maximal DOF, and since he hauls in so much lighting he can shoot at F16 all day long. A lot of younger guys shooting digital love the bokeh and all of the coloration of natural lighting (greens, ambers, etc).
I noticed Tarantino's last flick had so much saturation that I assumed he was scanning the print. My father-in-law is a retired post-production house tech, he insisted it's all scanning the source negatives directly, editing and grading from there. I know Nolan and Tarantino in particular want film prints so when you go to see the film in an actual projection house you might be seeing an entirely different color science.
I love Nolan's films and am pretty excited to see Oppenheimer. I feel like one of the few people who loved TENENT. ...Show more →
I really like the Darjeeling Limited and found Anderson's colour use/palate to be beautiful. It made the one shocking turn of event (that he normally has in his movies) more jarring. Like it snapped you out of your slumber (in a good way). And my favourite of his movies - The Life Aquatic - to me was perfect. The colour was great - warmth that added, that got you lost in it. And the miniature set pieces were terrific. Also a superb storyline that you could actually follow along with and care about the characters.
But Asteroid City? It looks like a cartoon. Maybe intentionally so - and this isn't a spoiler alert when I mention there are a few brief appearances of a road runner on screen (because it doesn't actually have anything to do with the story). To me, the movie really is all about the look. And then trying to get meta with a movie w/in a play, which just comes over as an early film school attempt at being clever.
And this, my friends, is why Fred should have a dedicated film section! So we can talk about cameras, film, post pics, talk about processes etc.
p.1 #9 · Wes Anderson's Asteroid City shot on film
What did you watch the movie on? For the best experience you gotta make sure the settings are as close as reference as possible so it's not oversaturated.
I like the sprezzabusa style of Wes Anderson films. Sometimes I mute certain films just to study the scenes more.
Unrelated I just watched the new Indiana Jones in IMAX and it looked great (Arri LF plus the Panavision Anamorphics).
I'm a big fan of Deakin (he even replies on the DP forums occasionally, very down to earth) so I'll definitely watch this asap.
p.1 #11 · Wes Anderson's Asteroid City shot on film
Go buy some Kodak Vision 200 and send it to Midwest Film Co for ECN2 processing with scanning on their motion picture scanner and you'll understand (https://www.midwestfilmco.com). The .tiff files you'll get back will almost look like very flat LOG video footage with tons of latitude for post processing.
p.1 #12 · Wes Anderson's Asteroid City shot on film
it reminded of skyfall so I wanna say more deakins, i remember reading about the crazy light setups they did for specific scenes. they are a great duo though.
ottokbre wrote:
I loved the look of Blade Runner 2049 but its hard to know how much of that was Deakin and how much was Villeneuve.
p.1 #13 · Wes Anderson's Asteroid City shot on film
Irrespective of being shot on film, isn't it projected digitally, so it is a 'scan' of the film, the same as you shooting Kodak Gold then manipulating it digitally and sharing it online... It's awesome that these movies are shot on film though, it must generate big volumes of production.
p.1 #14 · Wes Anderson's Asteroid City shot on film
coogee wrote:
Irrespective of being shot on film, isn't it projected digitally, so it is a 'scan' of the film, the same as you shooting Kodak Gold then manipulating it digitally and sharing it online... It's awesome that these movies are shot on film though, it must generate big volumes of production.
Its why I keep going back and forth from film to digital. I love Film colors, but it always ends up digital so I struggle to go back to film. The cycle continues.
Cool looking film for the video. Bummer the movie wasn't any good!
On a side note, I can't stand Tom Hanks anymore. Since he played that role in Elvis, (he ruined that movie) I just can't watch him anymore.
p.1 #15 · Wes Anderson's Asteroid City shot on film
ftllens wrote:
What did you watch the movie on? For the best experience you gotta make sure the settings are as close as reference as possible so it's not oversaturated..
p.1 #16 · Wes Anderson's Asteroid City shot on film
I also loved Tenent!
ottokbre wrote:
Haven't seen it but this is what I was afraid of. The French Dispatch bordered on boring too, but a few storylines were strong and the set pieces were incredible, so it all worked out. But I think Wes's visual/emotionally stoic aesthetic is getting in the way of good writing.
Shoot on film is a process to these guys. Nolan and Tarantino, too, will argue that it makes them light and be more deliberate and to them that is the tradition of film production. Camera positions, marks, etc. This forces them to move slow, get it right in few takes (not that any of them have to worry about film purchasing), and carry on cinematographic heritage or whatever.
Roger Deakins sort of represents the flip side to that - move faster, light more naturally, be spontaneous, lots of handheld, etc.
It's funny because like stills there are opposing methods of optical use too. Wes goes for maximal DOF, and since he hauls in so much lighting he can shoot at F16 all day long. A lot of younger guys shooting digital love the bokeh and all of the coloration of natural lighting (greens, ambers, etc).
I noticed Tarantino's last flick had so much saturation that I assumed he was scanning the print. My father-in-law is a retired post-production house tech, he insisted it's all scanning the source negatives directly, editing and grading from there. I know Nolan and Tarantino in particular want film prints so when you go to see the film in an actual projection house you might be seeing an entirely different color science.
I love Nolan's films and am pretty excited to see Oppenheimer. I feel like one of the few people who loved TENENT. ...Show more →
p.1 #17 · Wes Anderson's Asteroid City shot on film
coogee wrote:
Irrespective of being shot on film, isn't it projected digitally, so it is a 'scan' of the film, the same as you shooting Kodak Gold then manipulating it digitally and sharing it online...
Not at all the same as me doing it — the ciné digital manipulation is done be people a lot more skilled than I am in post-processing.
