Color

🎨 Post-Production Color: Painting Your Film’s Emotion

The Magic Paint Box Story

Imagine you just finished drawing a beautiful picture. But wait—the colors look a bit off. The sky is too bright, your friend’s face looks greenish, and the whole thing feels… flat.

What if you had a magic paint box that could:

• Fix weird colors (make that green face look normal!)
• Make certain things pop (that red balloon stands out!)
• Give your whole picture a “mood” (spooky, happy, dreamy!)

That’s exactly what color grading is in filmmaking! You filmed your movie, and now it’s time to paint the emotions.

🎯 What We’ll Learn

graph TD
    A["🎬 Raw Footage"] --> B["🔧 Color Correction"]
    B --> C["🎨 Primary Colors"]
    C --> D["✨ Secondary Colors"]
    D --> E["👤 Skin Tone Fix"]
    E --> F["🌈 Color Grading"]
    F --> G["📦 LUTs & Presets"]
    G --> H["🎥 Final Film"]

1. Color Correction Basics

What Is It?

Color correction is like being a doctor for your footage. You’re fixing what’s “sick” or wrong.

Simple Example:

• You filmed indoors with yellow lights
• Your video looks orange and weird
• Color correction makes it look normal again!

Why Does Footage Look Wrong?

Cameras are not as smart as your eyes. Your eyes adjust automatically. Cameras? Not so much.

The Goal

Make it look like what your eyes actually saw.

Think of it like this: You take a photo of your dog. On screen, your white dog looks yellow. Color correction turns your yellow dog back into a white dog!

2. Primary Color Adjustments

The Three Magic Sliders

Primary colors affect your entire image. You have three main controls:

graph TD
    A["🖼️ Your Image"] --> B["Exposure/Brightness"]
    A --> C["Contrast"]
    A --> D["Color Balance"]
    B --> E["Is it too dark or bright?"]
    C --> F["Is it flat or punchy?"]
    D --> G["Is it too warm or cool?"]

1. Exposure (Brightness)

Like a dimmer switch for your whole image.

Example:

• Filmed in a dark room? → Slide UP to brighten
• Filmed in bright sun? → Slide DOWN to darken

2. Contrast

The difference between your darkest darks and brightest brights.

Example: A foggy morning naturally has low contrast. A sunny beach day has high contrast.

3. Color Balance (White Balance)

Shifts your entire image warmer (orange) or cooler (blue).

Example:

• Sunset footage → Already warm, maybe cool it slightly
• Snow scene → Already cool, maybe warm it slightly

3. Secondary Color Adjustments

What’s Different?

Primary = everything changes Secondary = only specific colors change

The Paintbrush Approach

Imagine you could say: “Only change the red things” or “Only fix the blue sky.”

That’s secondary color!

Example: Your actor wears a red shirt. It’s TOO red—distracting! With secondary color, you can:

• Select ONLY the red
• Make it less intense
• Everything else stays the same!

Common Uses

How It Works

1. Pick a color (red, blue, green, etc.)
2. Adjust ONLY that color
3. Everything else stays untouched!

Real Example: Your car commercial has a red car. You want that red to POP. Secondary color lets you boost ONLY the car’s red. The actor’s skin, the road, the sky—all stay normal.

4. Skin Tone Correction

Why Skin Tones Are Special

Humans are experts at recognizing faces. If skin looks even slightly wrong, we notice immediately!

Example:

• Green-ish skin = looks sick
• Orange skin = looks fake
• Too pale = looks ghostly

The Vector Scope Secret

Colorists use a special tool called a vectorscope. It has a “skin tone line.”

graph TD
    A["Vectorscope"] --> B["Skin Tone Line"]
    B --> C["All humans fall here!"]
    C --> D["Dark skin"]
    C --> E["Light skin"]
    C --> F["Any ethnicity"]

Magic fact: ALL human skin tones, from every ethnicity, fall on the same line! The difference is just how far along the line (saturation).

How to Fix Skin

1. Isolate the skin (use secondary selection)
2. Check the vectorscope (is it on the line?)
3. Nudge toward the line (shift hue if needed)
4. Adjust saturation (too orange? Desaturate slightly)

Example: Your actor’s face looks a bit green under the trees. You:

1. Select their skin
2. Add a tiny bit of magenta (opposite of green)
3. Now they look healthy!

5. Color Grading for Style

From “Correct” to “Creative”

Color correction = fixing problems Color grading = creating a MOOD

Example: Same footage, different grades:

The Hollywood Look: Orange & Teal

Why is it everywhere?

• Orange = human skin tones
• Teal = opposite of orange (complementary)
• Together = skin pops, image looks cinematic!

Example: Action movie poster: Hero with warm orange skin against cool blue/teal background. Looks striking!

Building a Look

graph TD
    A["Start with corrected footage"] --> B["Choose your mood"]
    B --> C["Push shadows to a color"]
    B --> D["Push highlights to a color"]
    C --> E["Cool shadows = serious"]
    D --> F["Warm highlights = nostalgic"]

Example workflow:

1. Correct your footage first (fix problems)
2. Decide your mood (scary? Happy? Nostalgic?)
3. Push shadows toward a color (often teal/blue)
4. Push highlights toward a color (often warm/orange)
5. Adjust intensity to taste

6. LUTs and Color Presets

What’s a LUT?

LUT = Look Up Table

Think of it like an Instagram filter, but for professional filmmakers!

Simple explanation: “When you see THIS color, change it to THAT color.”

The LUT contains thousands of these instructions.

Types of LUTs

LOG Footage

Many cameras film in “LOG” format:

• Looks flat and gray
• Contains MORE color information
• NEEDS a LUT to look normal

Example: You shoot LOG footage. It looks washed out and ugly. Apply the camera’s “LOG to Rec.709” LUT. Now it looks like what you saw with your eyes!

Creative LUTs (Presets)

These are like “recipes” made by other colorists.

Example:

• “Teal and Orange” LUT
• “Film Emulation” LUT (looks like old film)
• “Day for Night” LUT (makes day look like night)

Warning About LUTs

LUTs are starting points, NOT magic buttons!

Example: You download a “Movie Look” LUT. Apply it. Your footage looks terrible! Why?

• LUTs are made for specific footage
• Your footage is different
• You STILL need to adjust!

Best Practice

1. Correct your footage first
2. Apply creative LUT
3. Adjust intensity (usually 50-70%, not 100%)
4. Fine-tune to your specific footage

🎬 Putting It All Together

The Professional Workflow

graph TD
    A["📹 Raw Footage"] --> B["1. Balance & Exposure"]
    B --> C["2. Primary Correction"]
    C --> D["3. Secondary Selection"]
    D --> E["4. Skin Tone Fix"]
    E --> F["5. Creative Grade"]
    F --> G["6. Apply LUT optional"]
    G --> H["7. Final Adjustments"]
    H --> I["🎥 Export!"]

Example: Wedding Video

1. Raw footage: Indoor, yellow lights, uneven exposure
2. Balance: Cool down the yellow, even out brightness
3. Primary: Add contrast, set white/black points
4. Secondary: Make the white dress pop, blue sky bluer
5. Skin tones: Ensure bride and groom look healthy
6. Creative grade: Warm, romantic, soft look
7. Optional LUT: “Wedding Film” preset at 50%
8. Final: Tweak until perfect!

🌟 Key Takeaways

🎨 Your New Superpower

You now understand how filmmakers paint emotions with color!

Next time you watch a movie, notice:

• Is it warm or cool?
• Are the shadows colored?
• How do skin tones look?
• What mood does the color create?

Remember: Color correction fixes problems. Color grading tells stories.

Now go paint your film’s emotion! 🎬✨