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35mm film w noticeable grain and saturation

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Threads and posts combined - welcome to Photrio.
The Nina Simone example is a combination of the film available at the time and the choices made when the negative or slide was printed.
 
Low contrast (overcast day), desaturated color. Could be medium format as the plane of focus is pretty thin, creamy, very out of focus background. If you matched the lighting, shot Portra 160 and tweaked a little in post (color, density) I think you would have it. I think it’s likely the “graininess” may be a printing artifact which could be added digitally.
 
A long lens and short depth of field will give the same focus as in the sample photo. That would mean on a 35mm camera, a 75-300 zoom set around the 300 end and using the widest aperture, probably f4 or f5.6.
A dull day would provide the flat lighting and a tripod to keep the camera steady.
For a grainy film, you will need 400 speed or if you can get it 800. I would bracket the shot, which is shoot at what the light reading is, then - 1 stop and then -2 stops.
Since you have the aperture opened as wide as you can, then you will need to change the shutter speed.
So for example the correct light reading is 1/250 f5.6 then you shoot at that, then 1/500 f5.6 and then 1/1000 f5.6
Regarding the film I would avoid Fuji Xtra400 as it appears to give more saturated colours which you don't want.

Maybe others can give better advice on the film to use.
 
I got similar results recently using Kodak Vision 3 500T movie film shoot at ISO 800. It does have remjet so it can not be processed as standard c-41. It was also a cloudy day without strong light. What also struck me about the album cover example you gave was the scene selection. The outfit on Miss Simone were colors that matched the surroundings. To my eye that is probably the more important part. Also may be a twilight shot with fading light. I think that the light and the scene are probably more important than the film.
 
Yeah, the scene and lighting are a lot of this.

If you DO want film grain, portra 800 is a bit more saturated and slightly less honest than Portra 160. You're getting the grain, though, so you have to be OK with that. It's more modern looking, though, and more colorful regardless of the subdue lighting in the attached photo.
 
That looks like every shot I make using an old Zeiss 120 Planar on my Hassy 500.
 
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