Gate weave, glow and halation

Two more texture choices, each made once for the film and only when the treatment asks for them.

Gate weave, only where the treatment wants a film-era look (decided): a slight, slow drift of the whole frame, as a film gate gives. It goes on once for the film, on the same adjustment layer as the grain, using a gate-weave plug-in or a weave tracked from real 35 mm film. Scale the layer up just enough (about 1–2%) that the drift never shows an edge of the frame. This is the one exception to the rule that no movement is added in the edit, and it covers film-era treatments only.

Glow and halation are added in finishing as a look choice [proven], never generated as decoration, and only where the texture line asks for them. Halation is the faint red halo where a very bright point or edge meets darker surroundings. It is not a glow over the whole frame. Look at the look stills with and without them, and choose.

What reads cheap (this Guide's judgement): decorative bloom, any glow on skin or on the product, and materials that light themselves. The brand book may forbid them outright.

Sources

• The Holdovers (No Film School) (subtle gate weave tracked from real 35 mm, and halation around highlights).

• Dune: Part One (American Cinematographer).

• Tim Smith, Cheat (LBB) (blooming to soften highlights).

• Steffan Perry (LBB) (gate weave only if needed).

• Wikipedia, Halation (the physics).