10 Techniques for Cinematic Video

Posted July 13, 2017

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Everyone wants their video to look cinematic. They want the film look that they see when they go to the cinema or turn on HBO. It's hard to define exactly what this look is, but some of the factors that help achieve the looks include lighting, lenses and some editing techniques. While getting your video to look like a Spielberg film can be costly, there are some techniques and tools you can use that cost very little or nothing to give your video a more cinematic look.

In this video, filmmaker and YouTuber Mathieu Stern gives us 10 of those techniques that will give your next film more production value including framing, depth of field, and color grading.

These tips show that with a little effort and planning you can easily take your video to the next level and make it look more cinematic. Here are the tips in the video:

• Frame using the Rule of Thirds
• Create shallow depth of field
• Use a camera stabilizer or stabilizing techniques
• Use a stabilizer in the edit in either Premiere or Final Cut
• Add cinebars (black bars on top and bottom making a 'letterbox' aspect ratio)
• Apply a color grade in Premiere or Final Cut
• Capture your footage in slow motion or a higher frame rate
• Avoid blowing out the lights and use proper exposure
• Use a slider
• Use cinematic fonts

These are some great ways to make your video look better, but they are just some of many factors that can help you video look better. Remember, that if you don't tell a proper story then your no matter how good it looks no one will watch it all the way through. 

Let us know some of the best ways that you make you video get that 'cinematic' look.