Using an old film look is a classic way to date a film. The tell-tale scratch of the film, the yellowy-orange color… perhaps when you picture it in your mind, it might also come with the flapping of the film strip. Well, if you endeavor to do this in your own videos, we have a pretty easy way for you to create an old film look right in Premiere Pro.
Summary
Part 1: How to Edit an Old Film Look in Premiere Pro
The best part of this approach you’re about to learn is that it’s all on a single track. That means you can save it out as a preset and use it again. Let’s get started!
Once you’ve set up your clip on the timeline in Premiere Pro, you are going to want to change the color of the shot.
- To do this, go to the Effects panel and search for the Tint effect.
- Once you’ve found it, drop it onto your video clip and under White, change the tint to more of a sepia color (in the yellow to brown range).
Next, you’ll want to add a Linear Wipe effect which can also be found in the Effects panel.
- Drop the Linear Wipe Effect on the timeline
- Change the Transition percentage to about 15 percent and the Wipe angle to 0 degrees.
- Then copy and paste the effect back into your clip and change the Wipe angle to 180 degrees — this essentially crops the top and bottom of your video.
After you’ve changed the Tint and added the Linear Wipe effect, it is time to add the Roughen Edges effect, which you can also find in the Effects panel.
- Drop the Roughen Edges effect onto your clip, and you will see some character begin to show.
- But to bring out some of the finer details, you’ll want to increase the Border and take the Scale down a bit.
Next, find the Circle effect, also in the Effects panel. With this, you are going to create a slight light leak overlay.
- Make the color of the circle an orange, change its Blending Mode to be Add.
- Increase the Feather, and then change the Position to bring it to the top left corner using the Center numbers. This gives your footage a bit of film burn look.
The Strobe Light effect will give your footage a bit of a flicker. You can find it in the Effects panel and drag it onto your clip.
- Change the Blend with Original to be about 98 percent and change the Color to a hot yellow.
- Finally, change your Strobe Operator from Copy to Add.
- Decrease both the Strobe Period and Duration.
- If you want, the Random Strobe Probability can be increased to make it more organic.
Film scratches are pretty easy to create — search Grid in the Effects panel and drop it onto your timeline.
- Change your Size with the Width and Height sliders.
- Scale the Width really large, so you only have one single line using the Scale and Anchor options.
- Then scale the Height, so there are no lines.
- Change the border to about 2 to make it nice and small.
- Then change the Blending Mode to Screen, so you’re only left with the one line on the clip.
- Make the line less prominent by taking the Opacity down some.
- Finally, you’ll want to go back in your timeline and set a Keyframe for the anchor point for your grid.
- Then jump forward and back a few frames while moving the grid around to give the line a natural scratch look.
- Once you have a few keyframes set up, you can copy and paste them along the timeline for your grid.
The Transform effect creates a black frame around your clip.
- Drop the Transform effect onto the footage and Scale the entire clip down to create the black frame around your clip.
- At this point, if you add additional effects, they’ll only apply to the clip area and not the black frame. To get rid of this issue you’ll have to search the Solid Composite Effect.
- The application of the Solid Composite Effect will turn the background into a solid behind the video.
- You can use the Color feature to turn it to dark grey.
The Curves Adjustment will help to create a deep blue look.
- To do this, navigate to the effect, and on the chart pull the bottom line up a bit to give the darker colors a blue hue.
- Then for the top, you’ll want to pull down slightly on the line to keep the warm hues warm.
To complete the old film look, you’re going to want to add some noise on top of everything.
- Search for Noise under the Effects panel, drop it onto the clip.
- Increase the Amount of Noise to about 10 percent.
Note: If you want, you can add some specific keyframes throughout your video, but you don’t have to.
After you’re happy, it’s time to do a Render. And if you want to save it as a preset, you have to go to the Effects Control panel, select everything, right-click and choose Save Preset name it and click OK.
Part 2: Top 5 Premiere Pro Old Film Templates
1. Old Film Look
This pack features over 40 items to easily create your very own old film look without the need to download anything else. From damaged to burn film overlays, as well as color gradients, this is perfect to use on any footage from travel or family videos.
2. Old Film Presets
Create amazing old flickering film footage to bring a nostalgic feeling to all your clips. Use it to show the passing of time or a smooth transition from locations that are seamless for your storyline. With several frame designs, this is a sure classic you need in your arsenal.
3. VHS & Old Film Pack
With 10 Old Film effects as well as 9 VHS options, this pack brings a cool set of overlays that transform your footage into vintage films. Use this in your next project to recreate retro tape looks and finish your edits faster!
Download VHS & Old Film Pack Now
4. Old School Vintage Film
In this fun promo for Premiere Pro, you will be able to create grainy black and white videos with old-school title cards. Reminiscing to the time of silent movies like Charlie Chaplin, easily replace the 10 text and 10 media placeholders and just render!
Download Old School Vintage Film Now
5. 50+ Old Film Pack
If you are looking for an all-in-one pack, the 50+ Old Film Pack offers you vintage-looking transitions, color presets, overlays, and even sound effects! Create amazing wedding, as well as anniversary videos for your family and friends to enjoy.
Download 50+ Old Film Pack Now
Now you’ll have a beautiful old film preset to use in future Premiere Pro projects! If you want to just hop right to it, we have tons of old film templates and presets to browse through. All that’s left is to start creating a nostalgic-looking film or video.
