So I want to ask, what do you perceive as one of the core values that makes an image look cinematic? And this term has been highly debated since the DSLR revolution with the 5D Mac 2, because there's a lot more that goes into making an image look in cinematic than just the camera that you're filming on. The costume, the lighting, the location, and even the acting can contribute to a cinematic looking image. However, there is of course a stone difference between the image quality from an arrow in comparison to a GoPro. Now is that just down to the sensor, the resolution, the frames per second, the colour science? Well, it's a mixture of them all, but one value that is often overlooked is the highlight rolloff. So if I just turn on this spotlight behind me and on the Bcam till app so we can bring it into frame, I'm sure you're going to notice a stone difference between the two. The Acam is a red commode and the Bcam, the Canon R5. On the Canon R5, a very capable and well-manufactured camera, the ascension into the highlights is very quick until we get to that clipped area simply because the light is too bright for the sensor to capture any data. With the red commode, the highlights slowly ascend into the brightest areas and there's a nice gradual highlight rolloff. This is one of the most often overlooked aspects of making an image look cinematic. The common myth within the film world is that every highlight needs to be saved, but the truth is you will often see highlights in movies and TV shows that don't hold any data value, like from the sun, a window or the sky. So what makes these highlights visually appealing? Yep, it's the highlight rolloff. Now the highlight rolloff is a characteristic of saluloid film, where the highlights gradually round off and fade into wide, rather than having a sharp transition. It's organically pleasing, not digitally compromising. Of course, when we hear the term film look, it refers to the visual aesthetic of images captured on saluloid. Now digital camera companies have been trying to replicate this highlight rolloff for years, with some like red and aryled in the pack. So while colour science, dynamic range and sensor technology will set the barrier for how well a camera will produce a cinematic image, I genuinely believe that highlight rolloff can be one of the most prominent attributes in making the image look filmic, as opposed to video. In contrast, when filming with a lower budget camera, the digital images can have limited dynamic range and tend to clip at either end of the tonal scale. The highlights can quickly become overexposed and turn into flat white areas with no detail. This happens because the photo sites that make up the digital sensor have a linear response and quickly reach what is called the full-world capacity. Lacking the relaxed increase in the overexposed areas are seen in film. So you may think, okay, if my camera doesn't have great dynamic range or an excellent highlight rolloff, I'm kind of doomed in this sense. But no, that is not the case, because we can somewhat mimic highlight rolloff with a diffusion filter. So this here is a diffusion filter, and this one specifically is the Tiffin Black Prometh diffusion filter, and it's known for creating a hazy glow around the brighter objects within your image. It's able to do this down to etched imperfections of the glass when the light rays hit these imperfections. They'll redirect scatter across the uneven surface, create a hazy glow that these filters are known for. And it's this tool that may help you obtain a more filmic image if you find that your camera just isn't capable of gradually rolling into the highlights and it clips too fast. So we know that film has the gradual rounding off of values for the highlights, where they fade or progressively bloom into white, and we know that diffusion filters spread light and soften the transition between highlights and white areas. So, okay, you probably get where I'm going with this. Yes, we can use a diffusion filter to prevent the highlights from appearing too harsh or blown out. When using the diffusion filter, filmmakers and photographers can add a subtle layer of texture and tonal variations to the image, which can help enhance the image's overall perception and create a more cinematic look. So while a blossom around the highlights and highlights roll off, are inherently two different things and display different visual characteristics. The hazy glow created by a diffusion filter can undoubtedly push you closer to producing a more naturally pleasing image. You may be looking at these comparisons and finding yourself thinking, Lewis, these differences are so small. And yeah, you would be 100% correct. Quite like our negative fill examples, the difference is minimal, but it's the combination of these incremental additions that contribute to a filmic image, not just any singular camera. As I noted in the introduction, although the diffusion filter can give your work a cinematic look, relying on something other than this effect is crucial. The cinematic look is of course created from a combination of factors, not just a fuse light and a hazy glow. So make sure to use the filter to contribute to the story that you're trying to tell. But in general, if you find that you're working with a camera that has limited dynamic range and the highlights being clipped too quickly, while a diffusion filter won't help the dynamic range, it will help the ascension into highlights appear more organic and less visually displeasing. Alright guys, I've been Lewis with Fideeva and I'll catch you next time.