Film Recipe - Cinematic Colour (Classic Neg)

Cinematic Colour: Colour Film Simulation Recipe

Cinematic Colour

Cinematic Colour is designed to bring the essence of classic cinema to your photography. Built on the distinct palette of Classic Neg, this recipe balances rich colour, restrained saturation, and tonal depth to create images that feel timeless, intentional, and filmic.

It’s not stylised for effect—it’s crafted for atmosphere. Slightly cool in balance, with contrast that builds rather than bites, Cinematic Colour suits photographers who want their frames to feel cinematic without ever shouting about it.

Fujifilm JPEG Settings:

• Film Simulation: Classic Neg

• Grain Effect: Weak/Small

• Colour Chrome Effect Blue: Weak

• White Balance Shift: R:-3 B:-2

• Highlights: +2

• Shadows: +1

• Colour: -2

• Sharpness: +1

• Noise Reduction: -1

• Clarity: +1

Notes on the Settings

• Classic Neg is the foundation here. With its unique colour response and slightly lifted blacks, it gives this recipe a cinematic film feel—perfect for story-driven images that don’t need high saturation to feel rich.

• Grain Effect: Weak / Size: Small adds texture, but it’s subtle—more tactile than visual. It complements the filmic feel without drawing attention to itself.

• Color Chrome FX Blue: Weak enhances cooler tones gently. Skies gain depth, shadows feel a little more dimensional, and blue-tinted light takes on a character of its own.

• WB Shift R:-3 / B:-2 introduces a subtle cool cast—just enough to evoke classic movie grading without flattening skin or making light feel artificial. It keeps things cinematic, not cold.

• Highlight +2 / Shadow +1 expands tonal shape. It builds contrast slowly—so light and dark play off each other without becoming harsh. This is key to keeping the recipe usable across varied lighting situations.

• Color -2 keeps the palette refined. Nothing feels overcooked. The saturation pulls back just enough to echo the colour restraint of older film stocks and 70s cinema.

• Sharpness +1 / Clarity +1 ensures definition while maintaining softness in transitions. This strikes the right balance between digital clarity and filmic smoothness.

• Noise Reduction -1 keeps a touch of organic texture in the shadows, helping avoid the over-polished digital feel.

Artistic Reasoning

Cinematic Colour is built for moments that deserve subtlety. It’s ideal for street photography in soft light, portraits with a sense of mood, or landscapes where atmosphere matters more than contrast.

It’s not about vintage aesthetics. It’s about tone and story. Use it when your images want to feel composed—like they could be stills from a film you haven’t made yet.

NOTE: Some settings may not be available on every Fujifilm Camera

Cinematic Colour: Colour Film Simulation Recipe Film Simulation Recipe (Sample Images)

If you prefer Shooting RAW:

Those of you who prefer to shoot RAW and edit with the more advanced latitude this gives you may be interested in my current set of Professionally designed profile-based Lightroom and Adobe Camera Raw Presets.