Joel Famularo Phantom LUTs Fx6
The A7s3, Fx3 and Fx6 are game changing cameras, with incredible features, image quality and lowlight capability all in a super compact form factor.
The Sony colour science has really come a long way but I still felt there was room for improvement.
To me, the gold standard for colour science is still to be found in the ARRI Digital Camera family, and so using my own ARRI Amira as a benchmark, I developed a LUT that reverse engineers the colour science of the Alexa709 LUT, which I’ve always found to look filmic and natural, straight out of camera; The result is my ‘Phantom Neutral LUT’.
Using this ARRI Emulation as a base, I further developed 9 additional creative LUTs divided into two LUT Packages centred around two themes:
The ‘ARRI Looks’:
The ‘ARRI Look’ LUT pack was developed alongside my ARRI Amira to first and foremost provide a way to emulate the Alexa709 look with the ‘Neutral LUT’. Included with Alexa709 Emulation LUT are four look LUTs to act as creative variations and alternatives for further colour grading options. The Fx6 sensor is very similar to the A7s3 and Fx6 specific versions are included with the A7s3 LUTs as a package deal.
Comparing my LUT’s Characteristic Curve to the Alexa 709 LUT (NOT the Arri709 LUT) you can see they’re practically identical right down to the 10 bit values and middle grey IRE level. Ensures for very simple and intuitive matching with the Alexa. This curve is the backbone of the Alexa look largely responsible for the silky smooth tonality which makes it famous.
The 5 LUTs Described Below:
LUT 1) Neutral
- Developed to emulate the ARRI Rec709 LUT as close as technically possible.
- Featuring immaculate ARRI-like skin-tone reproduction.
- Drastically Improved colour accuracy with all primary colours and skin tones for a clean, neutral starting point for grading
LUT 2) Tungsten
- A slightly warmer golden cast designed to be utilised for subjects bathed in tungsten light.
LUT 3) Ice Blue
- Blue, colder cast with punchy, deep blues (looks amazing on subjects with blue eyes).
LUT 4) Jamaica
- Green and gold cast – distinctive, rich, filmic greens and beautiful golden skintones.
LUT 5) Utopia
- The most filmic look of the LUTs, with blood red reds and filmic blues and greens with a slight boost in contrast.
- It’s my personal take on what Utopia would look like.
The ‘Film Looks’
The ‘Film Look’ LUT Pack contains 5 LUTs inspired by real film stocks designed to give your A7s3 & Fx6 Footage the Film Look. The emulations are based on my own research and subjective impressions of the film stocks listed.
The 5 LUTs Described Below:
LUT 1) ‘Vision’ – Modelled on Kodak Vision 5274
- Shot on: The Matrix, Lord of the Rings Trilogy, Gladiator
- The most colour accurate stock with accurate blues, slightly cool greens, accurate skin tones which slightly skew pink/gold
- Strong contrast and filmic subtractive colour model in saturation
- Gentle roll off and rich, smooth fall off in shadows
- Skews green in shadow areas and when underexposed
- Classic film character but less stylised than any other stock
LUT 2) ‘Eastman’ – Modelled on Kodak Eastman 5247
- Shot on: Apocalypse Now, Bladerunner, Alien, ET
- Vintage, dated Kodak look and feel.
- Saturation strongest in mids and falls off in shadows and highlights.
- Greens skew warm, blues slightly turquoise, gold/pink skin-tones.
- Smoother contrast than modern stocks.
LUT 3) ‘Vision Teal’ – Variation on Kodak Vision 5274 (LUT# 1)
- Subtle Orange/Teal colour scheme.
- More stylised version of ‘#1 Vision’. Less realistic – ‘prettier’.
- Greens are slightly warmer, blues slightly turquoise and skin more golden.
- Overall lift in saturation and contrast compared to ‘Vision’ but still balanced.
- Can elevate a dull scene with its look but not overpower a rich scene.
LUT 4) ‘Eterna’ – Modelled on Fuji Eterna 8563
- Shot on: Captain Phillips, Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps, The Butler
- Overall smoother contrast and rolloff compared to Kodak.
- Rich but not overpowering colours and saturation characteristics.
- My go-to for Fashion and Beauty but can work with almost anything.
- Very flattering skin-tones.
- Greens are cool and rich, skin is golden, blues skew turquoise and modern, colour accurate yellows compared to Kodak.
LUT 5) ‘Bleach’ – Modelled on Fujifilm Super F 8552
- Shot on: Munich, War of The Worlds, Crash
- Modelling the Bleach Bypass process for strong contrast and low saturation.
- Aggressive, gritty look – halfway between black and white and colour film.
- Great for War Films, Crime, Urban Fashion.
- Works especially well with heavy film grain.