Greig Fraser shot Dune with large-format Alexa LF and infrared-modified cameras, giving the Arrakis sequences an otherworldly quality where desert sand seems to glow from within. The palette is deliberately restrained: warm ochres for Arrakis, cool slate blues for Caladan, near-monochromatic darkness for the Harkonnen world. Fraser used almost no artificial lighting for desert exteriors, relying on natural and reflected light.
Recipes
Arrakis Daylight
Open desert under punishing light, everything bleached and warm
Film SimulationClassic Chrome
GrainWeak/Small
Color ChromeWeak
CC FX BlueOff
White BalanceDaylight
WB ShiftR+3 / B-2
Dynamic RangeDR400
Highlight-2
Shadow+1
Color-1
Sharpness-1
Noise Reduction-3
Clarity-1
ISOISO 200-400
Caladan
Cool overcast coastal light on the Atreides homeworld
Film SimulationEterna/Cinema
GrainOff
Color ChromeWeak
CC FX BlueWeak
White BalanceShade
WB ShiftR-2 / B+2
Dynamic RangeDR200
Highlight+0
Shadow+0
Color-2
Sharpness+0
Noise Reduction-1
Clarity+0
ISOISO 400-800
Spice Vision
Pauls prescient visions — blown out, golden, hallucinatory
Film SimulationEterna Bleach Bypass
GrainStrong/Large
Color ChromeStrong
CC FX BlueOff
White BalanceShade
WB ShiftR+4 / B-3
Dynamic RangeDR400
Highlight-2
Shadow+4
Color-2
Sharpness-3
Noise Reduction-4
Clarity-4
ISOISO 1600-6400
Shoot this look
These recipes run on Fujifilm's film-simulation engine — any current X-series body will do. A pairing to start from: