We talked about the ARRI look a few times here – especially how to mimic it with various cameras. Today, the camera to check out is the Sony FX6 (alongside the very similar FX3 and a7S III).
While Sony has definitely tweaked the overall color science of these cameras to something people are very willing to work with there is still something about trying to nail that ARRI look.
If you want to know how to take Raw footage from your FX6 and get it looking like an ARRI ALEXA, filmmaker Spencer Stanley has put together a guide doing just that.
A surprising shift for Spencer as he moved from mirrorless to a cinema camera was not actually learning the menu, it was understanding exposure and color. The FX6 offers Cine EI modes and some slightly different color rendering and both of these things need to be udnerstood if you want to maximize performance.
One aspect of working with advanced color profiles, like S-Log3, is the need for LUTs to get a quick and easy look from your footage. LUTs dramatically speed up your workflow and help you get a good image during shooting.
If you are starting out with your FX6, you’ll want to learn the Cine EI mode. This mode works by recording at the camera’s base ISOs (800 and 12,800) and then makes adjustments in camera to adjust the exposure. One thing to note is that a little bit of overexposure can help in darker environments.
Image Credit: Sony
After you set your camera for proper exposure at ISO 800, you will want to use a LUT to make sure your final image is going to come outright.
You can actually load up any LUTs you have, such as the Phantom ARRI LUTs that Spencer likes, via an SD card and import them into the FX6. You can then select a monitoring LUT in the camera so that when you are shooting this look is visible on the monitor but not baked into your footage.
Once you have this set up, you can actually work by looking at the footage on the monitor. Then, you need to bring the captured media into post and use the same LUT by applying it to the footage. Add in some more tweaks to your taste on each shot and you should be good to go.
If you want the ARRI look then going with a good exposure using S-Log3, there are some quality Phantom LUTs available that will do the work for you. This is a great spot as hand grading a lot of this will be difficult for new shooters and editors.
[source: Spencer Stanley]
Order Links:
- Sony FX6 Cinema Camera (B&H)
- Sony FX3 Cinema Camera (B&H, Amazon)
- Sony a7S III Mirrorless Camera (B&H, Amazon)
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