Create an old film look in Premiere Pro (tutorial + templates)

It’s time to embrace the magic of vintage film looks. Using an old film look is a classic way to date a film. It’s also great for adding warmth and a historic feel to any project. The tell-tale scratch of the film, the yellowy-orange color, and even the film strip’s flapping instantly make viewers think of older eras. If you want to use this for your own videos, Motion Array is here to show you how to create an old film look right in Premiere Pro.

Part 1: How to edit an old film look in Premiere Pro

The best part of this cool effect is that it’s all done on a single track. That means you can save it as a preset and use it again. So, let’s get started.

Creating the color for a vintage film look

Once you’ve set up your clip on the timeline in Premiere Pro, you’ll want to change the shot’s color. You’re aiming for that famous old film look with warm hints of sepia.

1. To do this, search the Effects panel for the Tint effect.
2. Drop it onto your video clip. Under White, change the tint to a sepia color (in the yellow to brown range). There’s no single right answer, so you can choose what works for you.

Adding rough touches for an old film look

Now the color is right, it’s time to make your old film look in Premiere Pro authentic with some aging. First, you’ll want to add a Linear Wipe effect, which can also be found in the Effects panel.

1. Drop the Linear Wipe Effect on the timeline
2. Change the Transition percentage to about 15 percent and the Wipe angle to 0 degrees. 
3. Then copy and paste the effect back into your clip and change the Wipe angle to 180 degrees — this essentially crops the top and bottom of your video.

After you’ve changed the Tint and added the Linear Wipe effect, it’s time to add some roughness. You’ll use the Roughen Edges effect, which you’ll also find in the Effects panel. 

1. Drop the Roughen Edges effect onto your clip, and you’ll see some extra character immediately.
2. You’ll want to increase the Border and take the Scale down a bit to bring out some of the finer details.

Add some light leaks

We almost have a vintage film look. What’s missing is the light leaks common in older films. Analog and digital film are very different. Digital film is much cleaner and less susceptible to light leaks. It’s often a great thing, but not if you’re aiming for a true older feel. 

Find the Circle effect, also in the Effects panel. With this, you’re going to create a slight light leak overlay.

1. Make the color of the circle orange, and change its Blending Mode to Add.
2. Increase the Feather, and change the Position to bring it to the top left corner using the Center numbers. This gives your footage a bit of a film-burn look. 

The Strobe Light effect will give your footage a flicker. You can find it in the Effects panel and drag it onto your clip.

1. Change the Blend with Original to be about 98 percent and change the Color to a hot yellow. 
2. Finally, change your Strobe Operator from Copy to Add.
3. Decrease both the Strobe Period and Duration.
4. If you want, increase the Random Strobe Probability to make it more realistic.

Adding scratches

Film scratches are pretty easy to create — search for Grid in the Effects panel and drop it onto your timeline.

1. Change your Size with the Width and Height sliders.
2. Scale the width to be really large, so you only have one line using the Scale and Anchor options.
3. Then, scale the Height so there are no lines. 
4. Change the border to about 2 to make it nice and small.
5. Then change the Blending Mode to Screen, so you’re only left with the one line on the clip.
6. Make the line less prominent by taking the Opacity down some. 

Finally, go back to your timeline and set a Keyframe as the anchor point for your grid. Then, jump forward and back a few frames while moving the grid around to give the line a natural scratch look. Once you’ve a few keyframes set up, you can copy and paste them along the timeline for your grid.

The final touches

Lastly, you’ll finish the vintage film look with a film-like border and some last touches. Let’s start with the frame. The Transform effect creates a black frame around your clip.

1. Drop the Transform effect onto the footage and Scale the entire clip down to create the black frame around it. 
2. If you add additional effects, they’ll only apply to the clip area and not the black frame. You’ll have to search for the Solid Composite Effect to get rid of this issue.
3. Applying the Solid Composite Effect will turn the background into a solid behind the video.
4. You can use the Color feature to turn it dark gray. 

Next, the Curves Adjustment will help create a deep blue look.

1. To do this, navigate to the effect and pull the bottom line up a bit on the chart to give the darker colors a blue hue.
2. Then, for the top, you’ll want to pull down slightly on the line to keep the warm hues warm.

To complete your old film look, you’ll want to add some noise to everything. Remember, old film was much noisier than clean, modern film. Skipping this step is a giveaway that the footage is modern.

1. Search for Noise under the Effects panel and drop it onto the clip.
2. Increase the Amount of Noise to about 10 percent.

You can add specific keyframes throughout your video for this effect, but you don’t have to.
When you’re happy, it’s time to Render. If you want to save it as a preset, go to the Effects Control panel, select everything, right-click, and choose Save Preset. Name it as you wish and click OK.

Part 2: Top 5 Premiere Pro old film templates

Now you know how to create an old film effect in Premiere Pro from scratch. What if you want a quicker solution? Motion Array has some great vintage film look packs you can use.

1. Old Film Look

This pack features over 40 items to easily create your own old film look without the need to download anything else. With everything from damaged and burned film overlays to color gradients, this is perfect for use on any footage.

Download Old Film Look Now

2. Old Film Presets

Create amazing old flickering film footage to bring a feeling of the past to all your clips. Use it to show the passing of time or as a smooth transition for your storyline. With several frame designs, this is a classic you need in your toolkit.

Download Old Film Presets Now

3. VHS & Old Film Pack

With 10 old film looks and 9 VHS options, this pack offers a cool set of overlays that transform your footage into vintage films. Use it in your next project to recreate retro tape looks and finish your edits faster.

Download VHS & Old Film Pack Now

4. Old School Vintage Film

In this fun vintage film look pack for Premiere Pro, you can create grainy black-and-white videos with old-school title cards. Similar to silent movies from Charlie Chaplin’s era, you can easily replace the 10 text and 10 media placeholders and render your video.

Download Old School Vintage Film Now

5. 50+ Old Film Pack

If you want an all-in-one pack, the 50+ Old Film Pack offers vintage-looking transitions, color presets, overlays, and even sound effects. With it, you can create amazing videos for your family, friends, or followers to enjoy.

Download 50+ Old Film Pack Now

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Now, you’ve made a beautiful old film preset for your future Premiere Pro projects. If you want to hop right to it, Motion Array has tons of old film templates and presets to browse through. All that’s left is to start creating a vintage film look in your own projects.