Dream Layers - The (Not So) Secret to the Cinematic Look?

What makes a film or other piece of media “cinematic”?

People have been arguing about this online for two decades, especially as digital tools have democratized productions. The “cinematic look” has been a holy grail that filmmakers have tired to achieve using the right combination of lenses, LUTS, and filters. But I think the conversation has been missing something important. Instead of asking the question: do I have the right gear to make my footage look cinematic, we might start with this question: how am I going to transport my audience into an alternate reality? Into a dream.

“Cinema uses the language of dreams” - Federico Fellini

In this video I break down a theory I’ve been working on called Dream Layers, a phrase that refers to the layers of production needed to transport the audience into the world of the story. And I make the case there’s a reason analog film is still the north star for the look of movies, layers of them.