How to imitate the look of Saving Private Ryan and or the Constant Gardner !

It may sound strange, but does any one know how to get the "look" of Saving Private Ryan and The Constant Gardner. I maybe wrong but I believe it should be possible to imitate the color saturation, the contrast etc. of those films using Photoshops controls. If nobody knows how to imitate them perhaps someone may know of a forum where I might have a better chance of getting an answer. Thanks in advance for any help.
Joe

I think you should consider posting an example of the effect you are trying to emulate - plus, perhaps, the image you are trying to adjust. <http://www.pixentral.com> is a good place for posting.

By your written description all I can suggest is thet you experiment with Hue/Sat and Curves.

Chris.

Good idea. I don't have screen shots of Private Ryan or Constant Gardener. But I do have some photos with a "look" that I have been trying to emulate for some time with mixed results. I have uploaded them as you recommended. Here are the links:

1) < http://www.pixentral.com/show.php?picture=1ycPQ0RG8Pujr5hmpm ZpJ63Mnu8FtK0>

2) < http://www.pixentral.com/show.php?picture=17vO7dAzFBNKRuHOPW Q50HvsNBDd1>

3) < http://www.pixentral.com/show.php?picture=1xfftIxy27smANzmep 7bm3lp977x>

4) < http://www.pixentral.com/show.php?picture=1tkLFP1nHS1p4exP4i hciSUohQQY1>

5) < http://www.pixentral.com/show.php?picture=1RkyQbrZMKK14C7MNy LtqTkFacnMc>

6) < http://www.pixentral.com/show.php?picture=1OJ9NzBqjApDnkKXFx DQsrqImpv1j>

They have a look that I would describe as a "1950s" look. I find it hard to put my finger on exactly what characterizes the it, but in the photos of the level crossing (2-4) the silver metal of the crossing barrier and the silver metal silos have a distinctive look. The blue skies also seem to have a certain something about them.

Thanks,

Joe

'Desaturate' with help with the fifties look, use an adjustment layer.

You can also use curves layer to modify the look further.

Many colour pictures shot in the fifties had a grainy texture to them. Try adding grain (FILTER>TEXTURE>GRAIN) then play around with the contrast and saturation to achieve the "feel" you are after.
..

If this is what you mean, I'll describe the steps (desaturate and some curves).

< http://www.pixentral.com/show.php?picture=1tl7fnqhZppJnEQIqO yJwVXPGH7IM>

Rob

Now that's where I have to disagree Rob :-)

The images Joe posted were MORE saturated. And this WAS a characteristic of colour photographs from that era. Sadly, I am old enough to remember ;-)

Hi Chris,

The image is not desaturated per se, I just used Desaturation as an intermediate step.

Also, I didn't aim at the fifties, but at a supposed cine effect.

I'm older than you! :-)

Rob

A little off-topic, but in this write up, the cinematographer is quoted on the different techniques used in Saving Private Ryan.

< http://www.widerscreen.fi/2003/1/through_the_looking_glass.h tm>

Re the 1950s look:

I think that you are sort of on to something with the desaturation and the grain, (although to my eye the grain wouldn't be as important). However, I don't think that desaturaion is the answer on its own.

In my efforts to get that 1950s look, the closest I got was to (1) convert the photo to Lab mode.
(2) and in the channels tab deselect the a channel so that only the Lightness and the b channel are visible.

For certain images this seems to give a rough approximation but its not the complete answer. The greens of grasses and the blues of skies are very close but reds are completly removed where as in my examples above (see 2) they are there.

I don't have a clue what the a and b channels in Lab mode actually represent but I wonder if the films of the 50's were somehow sensitive to the L an b parts of Lab mode? (if thats possible!)
Take a look at these examples of images with the a part of the Lab mode removed

7) < http://www.pixentral.com/show.php?picture=1YGoXiuEdjjWAorKLm r7IFsSZvx7dR>

8 ) < http://www.pixentral.com/show.php?picture=1hDPCkIqqRA0u4VEZx sHJqM5p3yF>

As regards the link to the info on Saving Private Ryan its very interesting.

Thanks
Joe