Step Printing Effect (dir. Wong Kar Wai)

“Step Printing” is the name that’s been given to a certain film effect, where the frame rate is extremely slow and the shots look blurry. It is used in scenes where the camera is handheld and shaky to create a deranged, surreal atmosphere. The frame rate is so slow that it looks like a succession of pictures, rather than a fluid video.

I discovered the effect when I watched Chungking Express (dir. Wong Kar Wai, 1994) for the first time (my favourite film ever). It was the opening scene of the movie and I was immediately captivated:

(watch from 0.28)

The effect has become more frequently used in music videos, for example:

(watch from 1.31 - 1.36)

I also found some student examples which tested different shutter speeds:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WBpHxvqWpXI

https://vimeo.com/286274803

The effect on Chungking Express was made during filming, by lowering the camera’s shutter speed. However, most digital cameras nowadays are automatic and won’t let you change the settings to such an extreme. I tested it on a school camera and I wasn’t able to get the effect on video (only on pictures), so I decided to add the effect in post production by editing.

These are the tutorials I watched when trying to get the effect on the camera:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NX0H4G1Ug1M

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qyhZQwF3D44

I tested out two different Adobe Premiere tutorials on how to achieve this effect:

These are the tutorials mentioned in the video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1FNKGASdA0M (tutorial 1)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sdjWuO4Yxek (tutorial 2)

I prefer the look that tutorial 1 gives it, but I still need to experiment more (and with the specific clips that I use in the end product), because I’m not completely satisfied with how blurry it is and different parts of the video react differently to the effect.

I don’t like how tutorial 2 makes it look because it also changes the colours.