Everyone is after a Wes Anderson look right now!
When I first watched the trailer for the upcoming Wes Anderson movie Asteroid City, I thought perhaps it might be possible to mimic the aesthetic on my Fujifilm X-T5; however, I quickly realized that it’s not possible straight-out-of-camera. The movie has an orange and teal look, and I’ve tried unsuccessfully for years to achieve that on Fujifilm. In order to get orange and teal, the White Balance Shift requires plus red for orange and minus red for teal; it’s not possible to do both, so you must decide which one you want: orange or teal? After a few hours of unsuccessfully trying to get the settings right, I gave up.
Then I saw your pictures on Instagram. Specifically, there were photos captured using the Bright Summer, Bright Kodak, Kodak Portra 400 Warm, and Pacific Blues Film Simulation Recipes that had some Wes Anderson vibes to them, which convinced me to try again. I directly compared those four Recipes to Asteroid City screenshots, and decided that Bright Summer and Bright Kodak were the closest; however, none of them were quite right. So I set out to get a little closer—as close as I could—knowing that I wouldn’t be able to achieve a perfect match, but I hoped it would be similar enough that at a cursory glance it would pass for Asteroid City.
Knowing that most of you don’t have an X-Trans V camera, I made a version for X-Trans IV models, too, since the majority of those who shoot with Recipes do so on X-Trans IV cameras. Also, I figured that some of you won’t be satisfied with the results, and are after an even closer facsimile of Asteroid City, so I have some advice for that, too, a little further down, but it does require a small amount of post-editing with Capture One.
While attempting to mimic Asteroid City, I was inspired by another Wes Anderson film: The French Dispatch, specifically, the indoor scenes of the newspaper office, so I made Film Simulation Recipes for that, too—one for X-Trans V and another for X-Trans IV. I don’t know what the light situation was exactly in those scenes, so I don’t know if it would render similarly under identical light, but it does produce convincing results in certain artificial and mixed light scenarios.
If you are after a Wes Anderson look, check out the four Film Simulation Recipes below!
Vibrant Arizona (X-Trans V)
The Vibrant Arizona Film Simulation Recipe can be characterized as bright, colorful, and warm, yet still classic-analog-like, with some similarities to overexposed Kodak negative film. While not an exact match, I’m confident that it is as close as you’re going to get to an Asteroid City aesthetic straight-out-of-camera. The movie takes place in a fictional northern-Arizona town (although it was filmed in Spain, apparently), so that is why I’m calling it Vibrant Arizona.
An important note is that this Recipe uses D-Range Priority (a.k.a. DR-P), which takes the place of Dynamic Range and the Tone Curve (Highlight and Shadow). I don’t have a lot of Film Simulation Recipes which utilize D-Range Priority, but there are a few, including Pulled Fujicolor Superia, Scanned Superia, and Portra-Style, the last of which has some similarities to Vibrant Arizona.
This particular Recipe is for X-Trans V cameras, which (as of this writing) are the Fujifilm X-T5, X-H2, and X-H2s. For best results, use in sunny daylight. I shot in both the 3:2 and 16:9 aspect ratios, and preferred the latter for a more cinematic feel.
Film Simulation: Classic Chrome
Grain Effect: Weak, Small
Color Chrome Effect: Off
Color Chrome FX Blue: Weak
White Balance: 4350K, +6 Red & -8 Blue
Dynamic Range: DR-P Strong
Color: +4
Sharpness: -2
High ISO NR: -4
Clarity: -3
ISO: Auto, up to ISO 6400
Exposure Compensation: +2/3 to + 1 1/3 (typically)
Example photographs, all camera-made JPEGs using this Vibrant Arizona Film Simulation Recipe on myFujifilm X-T5:
Vibrant Arizona (X-Trans IV)
Because X-Trans V cameras render blue more deeply on some film simulations, the X-Trans IV version of this Recipe calls for Color Chrome FX Blue to be set to Strong instead of Weak, and is otherwise identical. This Vibrant Arizona Film Simulation Recipe is compatible with the Fujifilm X-Pro3, X100V, X-T4, X-S10, X-E4, and X-T30 II cameras. For the X-T3 and X-T30, you can ignore Grain size and Color Chrome FX Blue (since your camera doesn’t have those options), and use a 1/4 Black Pro Mist or 10% CineBloom diffusion filter in lieu of Clarity; however, it will look slightly different. For newer GFX models… I’m not sure if you should use this version or the X-Trans V version, but one of the two should work well on your camera—try them both, and see which you prefer.
Film Simulation: Classic Chrome
Grain Effect: Weak, Small
Color Chrome Effect: Off
Color Chrome FX Blue: Strong
White Balance: 4350K, +6 Red & -8 Blue
Dynamic Range: DR-P Strong
Color: +4
Sharpness: -2
High ISO NR: -4
Clarity: -3
ISO: Auto, up to ISO 6400
Exposure Compensation: +2/3 to + 1 1/3 (typically)
Example photographs, all camera-made JPEGs using this Vibrant Arizona Film Simulation Recipe on myFujifilm X-E4:
Asteroid City Edit
If you aren’t satisfied with how well the Vibrant Arizona Film Simulation Recipe matches Asteroid City, there is a quick and easy Capture One edit that will make your pictures even closer to the aesthetic of the motion picture film. Simply import your straight-out-of-camera JPEGs (not the RAW!) into Capture One, find the Basic Color Editor, and make these adjustments:
Cyan
Hue -30
Lightness -20
Blue
Hue -20
Saturation +50
Those are the adjustments that I made to the picture above plus the five images below. You might have to stray from the above settings and modify the exact parameters, just depending on the photographs, but for these six, I followed them precisely and made no other changes. With this edit, the pictures are pretty convincing, and there’s no doubt that we’re mimicking Wes Anderson’s Asteroid City. Even though this will get you closer to the movie aesthetic, I personally prefer the unedited versions.
There was a moment while creating the above Recipes that I became particularly frustrated with the process, so I took a break, and instead worked on a different Wes Anderson look. I was inspired by the indoor scenes inside the newspaper office in the movie The French Dispatch, so I began working on a Film Simulation Recipe to mimic that aesthetic. The look is warm when shot in warm light, with somewhat muted colors and low contrast. This is a much different aesthetic than Asteroid City, but it is another Wes Anderson film that’s popular right now.
While the movie takes place in a fictional French town, it was filmed in the real town of Angouleme, which apparently (and appropriately) is known as the City of the Image. While these Recipes look quite interesting in outdoor daylight situations, they are intended for artificial and mixed indoor lighting, which is where they really shine. That’s why I’ve named the two Film Simulation Recipes below Indoor Angouleme. Although none of the movie was filmed in the 16:9 aspect ratio, I used it for these Recipes, but feel free to use whichever aspect ratio you prefer.
Indoor Angouleme (X-Trans V)
This version of the Indoor Angouleme Film Simulation Recipe uses the new Nostalgic Neg. film simulation. It also utilizes the Auto Ambience Priority White Balance, which I’ve only used once before (on the Ektachrome 320T Recipe). Indoor Angouleme is compatible with X-Trans V cameras, which (as of this writing) are the Fujifilm X-T5, X-H2, and X-H2s. Those with newer GFX cameras can use it, too; however, it will likely render slightly differently.
Film Simulation: Nostalgic Neg.
Grain Effect: Weak, Small
Color Chrome Effect: Strong
Color Chrome FX Blue: Weak
White Balance: Auto Ambience Priority, -2 Red & -6 Blue
Dynamic Range: DR400
Highlight: -2
Shadow: -2
Color: -1
Sharpness: -2
High ISO NR: -4
Clarity: -3
ISO: Auto, up to ISO 6400
Exposure Compensation: +2/3 to +1 (typically)
Example photographs, all camera-made JPEGs using this Indoor Angouleme Film Simulation Recipe on myFujifilm X-T5:
Indoor Angouleme (X-Trans IV)
The Nostalgic Neg. film sim is somewhat similar to Eterna, and can sometimes be closely mimicked with it. Since X-Trans IV models don’t have Nostalgic Neg., I used Eterna instead. While this version isn’t 100% identical to the X-Trans V Recipe, it is pretty close overall, and retains the same feel.
This version of Indoor Angouleme is compatible with the Fujifilm X-Pro3, X100V, X-T4, X-S10, X-E4, and X-T30 II cameras. To use it on the X-T3 and X-T30, ignore Color Chrome FX Blue and Grain size (since your camera doesn’t have those options), select regular AWB (since your camera doesn’t have the Ambience option), and use a 1/4 Black Pro Mist or 10% CineBloom diffusion filter in lieu of Clarity; however, it will look slightly different.
Film Simulation: Eterna
Grain Effect: Weak, Small
Color Chrome Effect: Strong
Color Chrome FX Blue: Strong
White Balance: Auto Ambience Priority, -1 Red & -6 Blue
Dynamic Range: DR200
Highlight: -1
Shadow: -1
Color: +4
Sharpness: -2
High ISO NR: -4
Clarity: -3
ISO: Auto, up to ISO 6400
Exposure Compensation: 0 to +2/3 (typically)
Example photographs, all camera-made JPEGs using this Indoor Angouleme Film Simulation Recipe on myFujifilm X-E4:
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