In this video, I break down my experience using Dehancer — a film emulation plug-in designed to bring the texture, color, and feel of real film into your post workflow. I test Dehancer against actual film scans, highlight what it does well, where it falls short, and how I integrate it into my custom grading process. If you’re curious about film emulation or looking to elevate your digital footage, this one’s for you. Chapters: 0:00-0:34 - Intro 0:34-4:16 - Setting a Look 4:16-5:06 - Custom Workflow 5:06-6:11 - Matching to 35mm Film 6:11-7:23 - Pushed Film Look 7:23-9:54 - Redscale 9:54-11:12 - Film Damage 11:12-12:07 - Film Emulation v Real Film 12:07-12:47 - What I Like 12:47-13:54 - What I Don't Like 13:54-4:32 - Final Thoughts Music & SFX - Artlist Use code "KAIJI" for 10% off of Dehancer: https://dehancer.com To see more of my work, or to reach out for business inquiries, please visit: https://www.kai-dickson.com

Redscale is a unique technique in which you expose the film through its back side, resulting in an image coated in tones of red. Here I explain how to do the technique using 16mm film, how I came across it, and how it might be useful for film lovers. For more info about shooting Redscale for motion picture, check out this blog post from Autumn Hendrix: https://www.autumnhendrix.co.uk/blog/kodak-vision3-500t-7219-16mm-redscale Chapters: 0:00-0:20 - Intro 0:20-0:49 - What is Redscale? 0:49-1:28 - How to shoot Redscale 1:28 -2:35 - Exposure Tips 2:35 -3:39 - Final Thoughts Featuring: Angelo Mota BTS: Brandon Schloss Dancers: Marika Mccully Hailee Payne Katey Besser Isabella Halek Music & SFX - Artlist Film Emulation (for Titles) - Dehancer Thumbnail Image from Marc Boujong Use code "KAIJI" for 10% off of Dehancer: https://dehancer.com To see more of my work, or to reach out for business inquiries, please visit: https://www.kai-dickson.com

Produced by Angelo Mota & Alex Metcalfe Directed and Shot by Kai Dickson Edited by Kai Dickson and Devon Solwold AC: Brandon Schloss Art: Jenna Tooley & Addison Toney Movement Director: Malia Baker Dancers: Marika Mccully Hailee Payne Katey Besser Isabella Halek

A long time ago, a close friend and I decided to take a film camera out for a weekend and shoot. There was no plan, no shot list, only a a couple rolls of 16mm film and an intention to create. To this day, this simple piece is still one of my favorites, and was probably my singular most important learning experience in shooting on film. I hope you enjoy. A film by Calvin Herbst and Kai Dickson Music by Raury Arri 416 with Zeiss/Arri Ultra Primes Kodak 250D (pushed one stop)

I built an ultralight Ronin RS2 rig inspired by The Creator, designed for fast transitions and maximum versatility. Bigger productions have dedicated cameras for studio builds and gimbal work—but what if you could combine them into one? Parts & Pieces SmallRig Baseplate: https://amzn.to/3FnTXTn 90° Cheese Plate: https://amzn.to/4kFORBX SmallRig Power Supply Base: https://tinyurl.com/6mwrjvp8 Carbon Fiber 15mm Rods: https://tinyurl.com/4hsevyx4 Tilta Gold Mount Battery Plate: https://tinyurl.com/3jbyrhvc Niceyrig Handle Grips: https://tinyurl.com/mwpv64cd LEMO to D-Tap Cable: https://tinyurl.com/y6csbvv5 Tilta Advanced Operating Handle: https://tinyurl.com/33x5ynpn Chapters: 0:00-0:28 - Intro 0:28-1:13 - My Rig 1:13-1:54 - Breakdown + Parts 1:54-2:55 - Practical Applications 2:55-3:13 - Final Thoughts Music & SFX - Artlist Use code "KAIJI" for 10% off of Dehancer: https://dehancer.com To see more of my work, or to reach out for business inquiries, please visit: https://www.kai-dickson.com

Sharing my approach to creating lighting breakdowns, diagrams, and some pre-vis techniques, helping to optimize our time on set and ensure smooth scheduling with the crew. 0:00-0:59 - Lighting Breakdown 0:59-1:50 - Diagrams 1:50-2:24 - Helpful Tools 2:24-2:51 - Cine Tracer Lighting Breakdown Template: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1odiVGJBkcnBbdMrR3ruti7aSY41FmUEqJV3RW-NVTr0/edit?usp=sharing Tools Used: Cine Tracer - https://store.steampowered.com/app/904960/Cine_Tracer/ Sun Seeker - https://apps.apple.com/us/app/sun-seeker-tracker-surveyor/id330247123 Music: Artlist To see more of my work, or to reach out for business inquiries, please visit: https://www.kai-dickson.com

Breaking down how I take a script and turn it into moving images. From visual concepts to shot listing and storyboarding—this is my step-by-step approach. Templates: -Visual Concepts -Shot List -Storyboards Download: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1c-34omi9k9GF9JmgdRc4-n9oqik3sZAr?usp=sharing Chapters: 0:00-0:40 - Initial Script Read 0:40-1:38 - Identify Visual Concepts 1:38-3:03 - Designing Your Shots 3:03-4:15 - Storyboarding 4:15-5:30 - Keep an open mind Music: Artlist To see more of my work, or to reach out for business inquiries, please visit: https://www.kai-dickson.com

Wanted to see what I could do with only two lights and some painted backings in my garage to film some product shots. Hope you like it. Film purchased, processed and scanned at Spectra. https://spectrafilmandvideo.com Gear I used: Amaran F22C Amaran 300C Amaran Spotlight SE 19° Lens Sidus Link Pro

Technical testing develops your skills, creative testing develops your eye. Chapters 0:00-1:07 - Don’t Follow Blindly 1:07-3:03 - Testing My Arriflex SR2 3:03-4:16 - Try Crazy Things 4:16-5:40 - Keeping Tests Creative 5:40-6:22 - Where You Can Test 6:22-7:02 – What I Learned From This Test Special Thanks MacGuffin Makers - https://www.macguffinmakers.com Gavin Chin Matthew Wozniak Addison Toney Grant Lafferty Places to Test (in LA) https://www.oldfastglass.com https://atlaslensco.com Music & SFX - Artlist Aves - Grand Avenue Itamar - Doari Notize - Bring it Back Film Processed at Spectra https://spectrafilmandvideo.com To see more of my work, or to reach out for business inquiries, please visit: https://www.kai-dickson.com

The best camera of 2025 might be from the 1980s.. Let me tell you why. Chapters: 0:00-0:33 - Intro 0:33-1:16 - Why I bought a 16mm camera 1:16-1:28 - What's in my kit? 1:28-2:01 - Financials 2:01-2:47 -My experience shooting film 2:47-3:15 - Outro Music Notize - Hasta Luego Dan Zeitune - Siara Aves - Boppin To see more of my work, or to reach out for business inquiries, please visit: https://www.kai-dickson.com/

Camera test conducted for a short film I shot in 2017 called "The Fray". This was my first time shooting on 16mm for a project, so I wanted to test a few different stocks and exposure techniques with my director, Davi Pena, to dial in the look. Doing these tests is one of my favorite parts of pre-production and is something I try to do on every project if time and budget allows. Captured using the Arriflex 416 w/ Zeiss Ultra primes and a combination of film stocks: 7219, 7207, 7203. For the film, we ended up primarily using 7207 under exposed about a stop. All color grading was done myself. To see more of my work, or to reach out for business inquiries, please visit: https://www.kai-dickson.com/

When prepping a film project, I always like to find the look's visual recipe beforehand via testing. In this case, we were going bold and shooting on expired 35mm film which we decided to push quite aggressively. I was super happy with the results. Shot using my Arri IIC (4-Perf) Kodak 5219 (from 2011) Pushed +3 stops Cooke S4i / 20-100 Zoom + 1/4 Black Frost Shot, edited, and colored by Kai Dickson Gaffer - Jonah Krier Loader - Nic Huey Processed at Kodak Atlanta To see more of my work, or to reach out for business inquiries, please visit: https://www.kai-dickson.com/

I don’t often step in front of the camera, but lately, I’ve felt compelled to share some thoughts. Here is a glimpse into who I am—my philosophy, my journey, and what drives me forward. Shot and edited by Kai Dickson All other film content featured in this video is from past projects I’ve personally shot. Music: 'What Will' by José González and the Brite Lites" To see more of my work, or to reach out for business inquiries, please visit: https://www.kai-dickson.com/

In soft-preparation for a project, I was curious to put my Arri IIC next to Alexa 35 to study the difference. Gear Used Alexa 35 w/ G733 Nostalgic Texture Signature Primes Arri IIC Ultra primes Kodak 5219 +1 Stop Push Process Crew Dir - Joshua Okwuosa DP - Kai Dickson Lighting - Jonah Krier Loader - Nic Huey Processed at Kodak ATL LUT by Justin White - Company 3 ATL To see more of my work, or to reach out for business inquiries, please visit: https://www.kai-dickson.com/