Black-and-White Film
Watch as an animation →
In plain words
Removing color leaves only light, dark and grain, giving a classic, serious mood where it's hard to tell the era.
When to use it
Flashbacks, history and documentary scenes, fashion and perfume ads, a highlight effect that keeps just one color.
Example videos
Will AI handle it well?
Public AI example available — Veo 'monochromatic black and white', Runway Text to Video guide 'Film grain, low contrast, black and white', Sora 2 guide '16mm black-and-white film'
One-click prompt
Black-and-white film, rich silver grain, deep blacks, high contrast monochrome, an old accordion player sits on a stone step in a narrow alley, locked-off camera, 50mm lens, hard side light, timeless serious mood, 6-second shot.
Tell the AI like this
black-and-white film, rich silver grain, deep blacks, high contrast monochrome
Example films
The Lighthouse (2019) — 35mm black-and-white film (Double-X 5222) and a nearly square 1.19:1 frame · Schindler's List (1993) — Shot in black and white to look like archival footage of the time, with only the red coat left in color