Alexis Zabe shot The Florida Project on 35mm film, giving the pastel-colored budget motels of Kissimmee a warmth and texture that digital would have made garish. The palette is defined by the architecture — the purple of the Magic Castle motel, turquoise of neighboring buildings, pink and yellow of roadside attractions, all under perpetual Florida golden light. Zabe shoots primarily during magic hour, making even the cheapest motel look momentarily beautiful. The film sees this world through Moonees eyes — everything saturated with the wonder of a six-year-old. For Fujifilm, Astia captures the pastel saturation without overdoing it.
The Florida Project shows life in a purple motel near Disney World through a child's eyes. The colours are bright pastels — purple, pink, turquoise — but behind them is hard, hot daily life. The film switches between candy-coloured golden hours and harsh midday heat.
Purple walls and pastel signs glowing in warm evening light. Colour is bright but soft, like a postcard.
Recipe: Magic Castle ↓Harsh sun, bleached concrete and washed-out colour. Contrast is high, shadows are short.
Recipe: Parking Lot Summer ↓Much of the film is shot low, at a child's eye level, which makes the world look bigger and more colourful. Crouch down — it changes the feel more than any colour setting.
The recipe handles colour and tone. These handle what a recipe can't.
A light mist filter blooms highlights and softens contrast — the haze a pastel recipe alone can only hint at.
Bounce low sun back into faces. The gold side adds the honeyed fill these warm recipes are built around.
Rent or stream it tonight, then pause on a frame and shoot it.
The disc carries far more image detail than a stream — worth it for a film you study.
Astia for the soft, colourful pastel scenes and Classic Chrome for the harsh midday heat.
Motels, fast-food signs, pastel buildings and parking lots — ideally in warm evening light.
All settings work on current X-Trans V bodies such as the X-T5, X-S20, X-T50 and X100VI. The X-T4, X-S10, X-Pro3 and X100V run them as well, and X-T3-era bodies can use them if you skip Clarity and Color Chrome FX Blue. Every body renders slightly differently, so take a few test shots and adjust.
Alexis Zabé, who shot the film on 35mm. Sean Baker directed.