Modifying the Clip to Give it a Cinematic 60 s Feel

Modifying the Clip to Give it a "Cinematic '60's" Feel

With technologies and concepts such as "HD" and "24p," the holy grail of digital video is the transformation of video into film, or more precisely, the look of film. While most solutions involve expensive cameras and software, as well as special filming techniques, we can create an acceptable approximation by simply taking some of the Image Control settings for the clip and deliberately pushing them outside the normal range. Also, by adding a bit of "noise" (in some applications this is actually called film noise), we can also help to soften the harsher lines of video and create the illusion of the somewhat softer look of film.

Brighten the Clip

Click the retro-footage.avi clip on the Video 1 track to select it.

In the Properties panel for the retro-footage.avi clip, click the triangle next to Image Control to reveal the effect's controls.

Set the following new settings:

• Brightness: 20.0

• Contrast: 80.0

• Hue: 10.0°

• Saturation: 200.0

Tip

Scrub the Current Time Indicator (CTI) on the Timeline to a point in the clip past the black, so that you can see the changes in the clip as you make them.

Add a Little Noise

Click the Effects and Transitions button on the Media panel to switch to the Effects and Transitions view.

In the Effects and Transitions view, type noise in the text box.

Drag and drop the Noise effect onto the retro-footage.avi clip on the Video 1 track on the Timeline.

Tip

The Noise effect might not be visible at first. To see it, you may need to scroll down.

In the Properties panel for the retro-footage.avi clip, click the triangle next to Noise to reveal the effect's controls.

Tip

You may need to close one of the other effects or scroll down the list of effects, to find the Noise effect.

Set the Amount of Noise to 10.0%. Leave all other settings "as is."

Did You Know?

There's more to creating a "film look." This was a very simplified version of what is a very complicated process involving a lot more than what was covered in these last couple of pages. But you did get a taste for not only the power of the built-in color effects in Premiere Elements, but alsoand more importantlythe ability of color in film and video to set a mood. We're using color almost exclusively to suggest film, and to suggest the super-saturated, bright colors of 1960's Technicolor® films in particular. However, there are other software products and plug-ins available that are made specifically for achieving that "film look" with video.

Understanding Aspect Ratio and Garbage Mattes

The unfortunately-named set of mattes known as, collectively, garbage mattes, serve an important purpose within Premiere Elements: they let you hide stuff you don't want, basically the "garbage."

For the purposes of this project, we're using the Four-Point Garbage Matte to simultaneously crop our stills and create the black background we want. Premiere Elements also has an Eight-Point Garbage Matte and a Sixteen-Point Garbage Matte available.

The Coordinates on the Screen

The standard video signal in North America and Japan that is, the non-letterbox, not-high definition signalis 480 by 720. This is known as the aspect ratio.

These numbers are used when positioning items on the screen as coordinates. Specifically, the location of any item on the screen can be defined by its "x" (horizontal) and "y" (vertical) coordinates. For an NTSC signal (the television standard in the United States and elsewhere in the world), the horizontal length (left and right) is 720, and the vertical length (up and down) is 480.

As shown in the previous illustration in Cartesian terms (x, y), the four corners of the television screen (as well as the Premiere Elements Monitor panel), for an NTSC signal would be expressed as 0,0 for the upper left corner; 720,0 for the upper right; 0, 480 for the lower left; and 720,480 for the lower right.

Controlling the Garbage Matte

The Four-Point Garbage Matte's controls are listed on the Properties panel in order, from the top two corners to the bottom two corners. Each corner, such as "Bottom Left," shows the coordinate for the x-axis first, followed by the coordinate for the y-axis. You can also view the controls "by side." As shown below, the Left side controls are at the top and bottom, while the right side controls are in the middle.

You can also control the size and shape of a garbage matte by grabbing the garbage handles and dragging them to a new position, or by entering new sets of x, y coordinates in the Properties panel, or a combination of the two methods. In the illustration on the next page, the handles can be seen in each of the four corners after the title of the Four-Point Garbage Matte effect in the Properties panel has been clicked.

How to Use the Matte