Effects options in Premiere Pro

[Bubbles5EA0]

I'm editing a 1080p digital video in Premiere Pro and I'm looking for a way to make the finished product look glossy and smooth, the way a professionally shot interview or a promo for MasterClass looks.

I am already using a LUT and the Lumetri Color tools to correct color tones and add brightness but I cannot figure out how to add an overall glossy look.

Is there an effect in Premiere I should be using?

Is there a third party plugin or filter I can use instead?

I haven't been editing with Premiere for very long and I'm looking for a little guidance/suggestions.

[Phillip Harvey]

Disclaimer: not a professional colorist. But I suppose I don't fully understand what "glossy" means in terms of a finished video product.

One thing I can tell you about a high end video with a professional color grade is that it starts during production with the lighting, the lenses, and the camera. If we remove any kind of user error from the equation and assume lighting is comparable, there are high end lenses that are going to give you higher quality images, and if those are going into a high end camera that is shooting in 10 or 12-bit color depth, there's a lot more color information there to work with during the final grading process. And on a high end video they are possibly using a professional colorist with the hardware and experience to really get it right. I've been editing for close to 15 years and while I can do a moderately okay job with color, I can't... well, see my disclaimer. Those guys are good at what they do, they have a career devoted to it.

I'm not saying it isn't something to aspire to - and hopefully some color savvy people can give you some actual tips - but I just want to emphasize that if you shot on an 8-bit camera with an ok lens, you're not going to have the base image or color information to begin with to compare to high end video productions, and that's before getting to the color grading hardware.

[R Neil Haugen]

Not sure what you mean precisely by "glossy" ... ?

Neil

[Bubbles5EA0]

I'm looking to achieve a look similar to this: 

I understand that they would have had a more extensive lighting set up and a high quality camera and lens, but I'm trying to get as close as possible to this look. I have had some luck with LUTs in terms of adjusting the color tone but I'm having trouble achieving a richness to the scene. Do you have any suggestions for an effect I can apply?

Or even a third party plugin or something I can use in conjunction with Premiere?

Thanks for your time

[R Neil Haugen]

Ahh ... that must start with the shoot. Period.

Those have a full range of tones because they were lit so well to begin with. First, the entire 'scene' is lit with enough 'base' lit so there's no excessive contrast between lights and darks anywhere.

Then the woman for instance has a slightly brighter light fairly close to her on camera left, so it gives a bit of a lift to the tones of the left side of her without being too bright compared the the 'shadow' side of her face. This also lifts her highlight face just a bit above everything, so it is visually dominant.

Then they used a well-placed spot above and behind her to give the highlight edge to her shoulders and hair. Again, separating her from the background.

The gentleman in-studio ... again, they started with a well-diffused base or fill light level covering the entire scene, background and subject. Then added a key or main light (as with the woman above) but this time of course, it's on the camera right. A soft, diffused light probably only one to one and a half 'stops' of light brighter than the fill level.

One of the big things so many want is to look "filmic" ... and as someone who's made professional images for over 40 years, and works with several noted colorists regularly ... you know how to make your work look filmic?

Shoot it like they shot film projects. Which means carefully balancing your lighting of the scene taking into account the scene itself ... what are the tonal brightnesses and color differences of the scene? How can you block or add light to give depth and control the viewer's attention? Do you need to change the color or position of some scene element? Change camera angle or field of view to control the viewer's view of that scene?

It can mean adding lights, but just as well mean moving things around or being careful of clothing, furniture, "practical" lamps/light-sources in the scene, just ... using your eye and a light-meter to get things "balanced" before you even set the camera up.

If you do that, which doesn't necessarily take a lot of time, just some thought ... you both save a ton of post time and accomplish things you really can't do in post.

Neil

[Bubbles5EA0]

I appreciate the advice for filming, but I'm looking specifically for post-production advice. Assuming we've already lit and shot as closely to those examples as we were able to, what can I do in post-production to enhance the richness of the shot?

Any advice you could give would be appreciated.