The all-purpose formula for your videos cinematic look

These tools need to be in every filmmaker’s toolkit

Filmmakers want the cinematic feel, that’s it! It plunges audiences back to their childhood, evokes warm, feel-good emotions, helps them immerse in the video — no wonder it’s the Holy Grail.

How to get it though? Well, we’re happy to say that we analyzed it and broke it down to the very essential tips for a cinematic look! Give us a couple of minutes, and we’ll lay them out for you nice and clear!

Titles to give a cinematic look to your videos

Movie-inspired typography is everything for a cinematic look. Simple yet sophisticated, with dramatic appearance or effects suiting the film’s narrative. Smooth and clear, it can’t consume the viewer’s attention one bit more than necessary. 
Have you ever found yourself scouring font sites for hours in a single sitting and ending up with a collection of 50 fonts and hardly any work done? If yes, take our shortcut to some awesome fonts, designed for titling in your productions. 
Some bold, some light, all beautiful. And the secret ingredient in this cinematic recipe? A dash of animation to allure your viewer with modern motion design and introduce an authentic film atmosphere to your edits.

As usual, we test ourselves and we ask our community and experts for further feedback before recommending a product, after that, we can say that these plugins and the ones below are our top picks: mTitle Cinematic 2, mLogo Cinematic

The importance of transitions

Solid cinematic transitions are an integral part of the post-production arsenal. No one wants the audience to become unengaged by a random ill-fitted transition; we want viewers to be gripped by the movie. After all, breaking suspension of disbelief is a cardinal sin in filmmaking — pretty much a game-over. People can easily distinguish the good from the great, so you need something that not only fits the style of your film but also works smoothly. We believe the best transitions are discreet but still effectively and seamlessly let the film flow in the right direction. Our top pick, in this case, is: mTransition Fade

Choose good LUTs

The king of the castle is definitely a good LUT. Making your palette really pop is an easy way to add production value in an instant. We know striking the right balance with color can be tricky, but LUTs can help you out here and make the colors speak volumes. You can fine-tune the mood and convey your vision in greater detail. Don’t let your project be remembered as “bleak” or “gray,” use the color to its strength, and the results can surprise you. From pensive to expansive to jubilant, whatever your visual context, the audience is bound to be captivated.Our top picks: mLUT Plugin (FREE), mLUT Movie, mLUT Cine, mLUT Film 3

Soft Diffused Light

The final secret ingredient to enhance your videos’ effect is to add some soft and subtle luminance. It is sometimes hard to spot in high-end cinema pieces, but we assure you that it’s definitely in there. The most significant advantage of soft light is that it doesn’t draw attention to shadows as much as hard light, helping to concentrate on the main objects in the frame instead. And that is precisely what you need to achieve unless you are doing a noir flick. Moreover, applying soft light can make up for insufficient onsite lighting when filming, as we know good lighting can strain the budget. Add some magic with mLight Diffuse (FREE).

mFilmLook — the essence of a cinematic look

Since the cinematic effect is so widely strived for, no wonder there are dedicated, cinematic plugins available. An example of such is mFilm Look, designed to let you enjoy easy and intuitive correction, grading, and effects in Final Cut Pro. Nothing wrong with taking a little shortcut to perfection!

That’s our recipe! Hope you find it useful, the MotionVFX team rock, we strongly suggest taking a look and testing them on your next projects! 

Hope you enjoyed this new article, see you soon for daily content @filmmakersworld and stay tuned! If you love it, share it 🙂

FilmmakersWorld Team