DISCLAIMER

PLEASE SUPPORT THE NATIONAL FILM PRESERVATION FOUNDATION

If you love movies, play a part in saving them. The NFPF helps archives across America preserve and present motion pictures that might otherwise be lost. "We also partner with archives in other countries to save long-unseen American films so that they can be screened and studied here at home once again. For this preservation work, we receive federal money on the condition that we match it with donations and grants to keep our programs running. Contributions from film lovers like you make this all possible."-National Film Preservation Foundation

Xavier De'greeves

SAVE FILM METHOD

If you're here FILM must mean something to you. Presented here and nowhere else is the actual authentic film look. All other plugins, presets, or node structures that are currently on the market, claiming to give a real film look, said to be made by current and ex film scientists, are all off by a landslide. I hate to use the word film emulation because it's used to death. At this point, the words "Film emulation" have only a reputation of promises that never really feel kept. Pretty images made prettier but never looking like genuine film once played side by side to the original classics. They also have a tendency to not be used in our workflows consistently. They also end up not being useful for long as we are offered the next newer and better tool. This happens to be the only method that actually looks like film that we all remember and love from yesteryears and I haven't had to expand upon it or use anything else ever since. No matter personal opinion or taste, not a single person would be able to tell the difference between the film method, and actual celluloid, isn't that what we want when we imitate film?

A NOTE ABOUT CAMERAS

The camera one shoots with in order to get the best Match to film matters a lot. For many years I've pushed two Digital cameras and I still stand behind my model theory that the Sony PMW-F3, and the Sony F35 are the only two cameras that behave exactly like film. Starting off with those systems is more than a starting place, it's a cure to so many issues currently wrong with the look of cinema today.Not all examples on the site are shot with these cameras. Various others are used to showcase the strength of the process.

Fell free to skip this little section

Resources: (and geek material)

"Building The Genesis," This is a fan favorite video. Not really educational or is it? Whatever it's purpose, it's adored by enthusiasts of the most beautiful digital cinematography camera ever created.

Join the dedicated Dvxuser community of F35 collectors

And the newly formed and growing Sony Pmw-F3 User Facebook group

Newsshooter's write up on the F35

SAVE FILM: This isn't a process I care to give to ASC members quite frankly; it's this society of craftsmen that put us in this situation with the clinical digital look plaguing our big and little screens now. The Cinematographers blame the production companies. They say they are demanding the use of certain cameras, but that also proves how scared these cinematographers are to stand up for images of integrity.

This is made for the indie filmmaker who never got the chance to shoot on film and so desperately wants the look and ephemeral nature it could bring to their projects. Cinema needs restoring and fast. It can't be ignored anymore that audiences want the look of film back, all kinds of professionals unrelated to the creative side of the industry have noticed the difference now and it's effect on the bottom line. The world as a whole is begging for their movies to just stop missing this secret ingredient. Consumers don't know what to call that thing, it's called FILM.

I don't have to explain all the science stuff behind making digital look like film because you can just see for yourself if it's achieved or not. Plus, every other person in the film emulation cash grab already built websites that sound sleek and scientific enough as it is.

MORE THAN GRAIN

Pull off the grain from any of the current film emulation presets or plugins currently sold, and just like that, it doesn't look special anymore. It's comparable to a well colored Digital final at best and that's all. Film has always been more than just grain, there is a subtle but ever present fullness to it and that's what gives it this attention commanding ability to transcend and suspend disbelief. The same way a paint's irregular anatomy and behavior on canvas differs from a print out of it, grain is only a piece of the larger process. This method has every aspect pulling it's own weight, results always looks like film no matter if you add grain or not.

More Than just normal Contrast adjustments

Try to achieve this look and you will begin to notice the push/pull struggle that everyone faces for yourself. Apply simple contrast, midtone detail, or any other sharpener in resolve, or any other program, and the Save film method will not be achieved. Reason being, Film is more than just contrast, Color, sharpness added in post. More than a black promist, or pearlescent diffusion filters in front of our lens. Remember before we apply any stylistic choices to film it's still "film" before those adjustments, which means it must look like something on its own. Understanding this unpopular thought process is why it probably has taken this long in experimentation for so many to realize.

WHY DO YOU WANT THE FILM LOOK?

Why do you want a film look? are you struggling to find a way around the lack of impact these clinical cameras of today produce? Is your project in deep need for the kind of staying power that only Film can bring to it? If this is more or less just curiosity about the overall aesthetics of it, you may be in the wrong place. There are a lot of providers that can appeal to that easily for free with a click. Film is a rare medium, the way Ultramarine blue was once a rare paint, only seen on the palettes of royal portraits and those who could afford it. Film is a real chemical that has been long held out of reach, and impossible to emulate. For years the question has been, how do you replicate it to integrity? No matter the level of shooter you are, even the worst shot digital footage will look like the worst shot film footage when you apply this process. That is the leveling of the playing ground that I'm seeking to help provide to artists who are seeking it.

SCREENING +20GB Download

* Below are before and after videos. Feel free to watch and take it all in to your liking. I pride that film has finally made its way to digital and encourage anyone who wants to explore and study the method to do so. Videos are available for download to get the maximum quality. Downloading is also a great option for large display demonstration purposes of the Save Film Method.
For Dolby screening consideration please get in touch.

How does it work?

No color space transforms, scripted backend plugins, no LUTS, and no excuses. It's just a 22 year old node graph, but not any node graph, one that for the first time replaces film stock digitally. You apply the Save film method first and then grade if you want, it's that simple.The Save film method now becomes your camera.Every aspect of the Method can be changed to suit all color needs. This isn't a color grade over your footage. It's just digital film waiting to do whatever you want with it. All examples on the site are without any color grade whatsoever, just the film applied.

$2,500 to own the method for yourself. If you cannot afford this then message me your story, and what little you can afford. From there I will personally put the look on your footage for the sake of integrity and saving film alone. People have no idea or can care less about the actual medium of film in material form. The LOOK is the food they eat.