墨尔本视频调色 2024

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As a professional colorist, I can provide you with information on the differences among Kodak 2383 D55, D60, and D65. These are different types of color correction filters commonly used in the film industry to achieve specific color temperature targets.

Kodak 2383 D55:
Color Temperature: 5500 Kelvin (K)
Daylight balanced filter
Produces a neutral color balance suitable for scenes shot under standard daylight conditions
Commonly used for outdoor daylight scenes or scenes lit with daylight-balanced artificial lights


Kodak 2383 D60:
Color Temperature: 6000 K
Similar to D55, but slightly cooler in terms of color balance
Often used to slightly enhance the coolness of daylight scenes or to balance scenes with mixed lighting conditions



Kodak 2383 D65:
Color Temperature: 6500 K
Daylight balanced filter
Provides a cooler color balance compared to D55 and D60
Suitable for scenes shot under bright daylight or artificial light sources with a higher color temperature


These filters are commonly used during the film scanning or digital intermediate (DI) process to ensure consistent and accurate color reproduction across different lighting conditions. They help in achieving the desired color grading or color correction effects to enhance the visual aesthetics and convey the intended mood of the scene.

It's worth noting that these color correction filters are primarily used in the traditional film workflow, but similar color temperature adjustments can also be made in digital post-production using software tools and techniques.

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Kodak 2383 is a motion picture film stock commonly used in the film industry for capturing and projecting movies. It is known for its distinct characteristics and has been widely used to achieve a particular look in cinema.

The major characteristics of the Kodak 2383 film look include:

Fine Grain: Kodak 2383 film has a relatively fine grain structure, resulting in a smooth and detailed image. It captures intricate textures and subtle nuances, preserving the fine details of the scene being filmed.

Warm Color Palette: This film stock tends to lean towards warm tones, giving a pleasing and nostalgic aesthetic. It often exhibits a slightly reddish or amber hue, which can enhance the overall warmth and richness of the image.

Balanced Contrast: Kodak 2383 offers a balanced contrast range, providing a good balance between shadows and highlights. It retains details in both dark and bright areas, helping to achieve a natural and visually appealing image.

Accurate Skin Tones: One of the strengths of Kodak 2383 is its ability to accurately reproduce skin tones. It is known for rendering natural and lifelike skin tones, which is crucial in many film productions.

Subtle Saturation: While not overly vibrant, Kodak 2383 film exhibits a pleasing level of color saturation. It enhances the colors present in the scene without appearing overly saturated or exaggerated, resulting in a more realistic and visually appealing image.

It's important to note that the "film look" can also be influenced by other factors, such as the cinematography techniques employed during shooting, lighting conditions, and post-production processes. Additionally, individual colorists may have their own interpretations and approaches when working with film footage, which can further shape the final look.

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As a professional colorist, I'd be happy to explain what split tone means. Split toning is a technique used in color grading or color correction to create a specific look or mood in an image or video. It involves applying different color tones to the highlights and shadows separately, hence the term "split" tone.

In split toning, the colorist selects two different colors or hues, typically one for the highlights and another for the shadows. These colors can be chosen based on the desired aesthetic or emotional impact. For example, warm tones like orange or yellow can create a nostalgic or vintage feel, while cool tones like blue or green can evoke a colder or more surreal atmosphere.

To apply split toning, the colorist adjusts the color balance of the image by introducing the selected colors into the highlights and shadows selectively. This can be achieved using dedicated color grading software or tools available in video editing software. By manipulating the intensity or saturation of these colors, the colorist can further fine-tune the desired effect.

Split toning can be a powerful tool to enhance the visual storytelling in an image or video. It allows for creative expression and can greatly impact the overall mood, style, or atmosphere of the content. Whether used subtly or boldly, split toning can help convey specific emotions, differentiate scenes, or evoke a particular time period, contributing to the visual narrative.

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Understanding color theory: the color wheel and finding complementary colors

Luis Gonzalez, senior brand designer at InVision, has an exercise for you: Think about the color red. What comes to mind? Perhaps feelings like anger, passion, energy simmer to the surface. Or maybe visions of flushed cheeks, a cherry lipstick shade, a stop sign, blood, or a heart float through your head.

While those might not have been the exact thoughts and feelings red evoked in you, it’s likely you associated the color with certain emotions, ideas, and objects. You’re not alone: This is a universal human experience—and it’s a powerful tool you can use as a designer. Understanding that color choice goes beyond personal preferences can help you not only improve a product’s usability—but even psychologically impact your users.

In order to unleash the power of color, you first have to start by understanding color theory, the color wheel, how to use complementary colors to create an impactful color scheme, and the psychological effects of those colors. Whether you’re first diving into the topic (or are just looking for a refresher), here’s how to begin:

Understanding color theory

Color theory can help designers determine which colors look good together. Color theory goes beyond just “eyeing” color combinations, though, which is where the science part comes in.

At the heart of color theory is the color wheel, which was created in the late 17th century by Sir Isaac Newton. Best known for his physics breakthroughs, Newton mapped the color spectrum into a circle.


Today, the color wheel can help artists and designers find harmonious color combinations based on the geometric relationships represented on the color wheel. As an example, a triadic color scheme involves three evenly-spaced colors on the color wheel and that will yield a bold combination. Meanwhile, a tetradic color scheme involves four colors evenly spaced out on the color wheel, and can work if you want to use a dominant color with supporting accent colors.

Designers looking to experiment with colors can use color picker extensions, use color palette generators like Muzli’s, or even consult Pinterest boards, Gonzalez says.

“My biggest recommendation would be go back to the basics and look at a color wheel,” he says.

His recommended reading? Josef Albers’ Interaction of Color, an art education book breaking down complex color theory principles.

Color wheel
The color wheel is a visual representation of colors, with hues arranged according to wavelength. Color wheels allow color relationships to be represented geometrically, and show the relationship between primary colors, secondary colors and tertiary colors.

In the traditional RYB color wheel, the primary colors are red, yellow and blue. You can create secondary colors—orange, green, and purple—by mixing primary colors. Red and yellow create orange. Yellow and blue creates green. Red and blue creates purple. You remember this from elementary school, right?

Then, mixing secondary colors and primary colors creates tertiary colors.

Many different iterations of the color wheel exist, but many involving these three relationship types show a dozen colors.

Modern color theory

Digital designers may be more familiar with an RGB color model with red, green and blue to mix light. Cyan Magenta Yellow Black, or CMYK, are the four basic colors for print images, and, as subtractive colors, get darker when blended.

Principles of color theory

You were probably first introduced to the most basic color theory concept back in elementary school when you were given a palette of primary colors to paint with. Red, blue, and yellow are primary colors— and they can’t be created through mixing colors. Mix them all together and you get brown. But mix them and you can create all other colors.

Color theory also involves a color’s darkness or lightness, or color values. You can change a color’s hue by adding white for tint, which will give you lighter pastel colors, and black for shade to darken and dull color. When gray is added to a primary, secondary or tertiary color, it creates a tone. If a color is toned down, its brightness and intensity is lessened.

Once you add tints, shades, and tones, you get an expanded color wheel.

Also, color theory involves how you arrange colors together to create schemes. For example, a monochromatic color scheme is one with one color in various tints and shades. Or, an analogous color scheme involves neighboring colors on the wheel, like red, orange and yellow.

Complementary colors

When you’re pairing colors, you can find harmony through choosing complementary colors. In this case, opposites attract. This particular color scheme draws from two colors on the opposite side of the color wheel. When you do this, the result is a high-contrast color combo that’s bright and that pops.

Examples of complementary color combinations are: Red and green; yellow and purple; orange and blue; green and magenta. Complementary color combos tend to be bold, which is why sports teams often use this formula for their colors.

To throw in a third color, and make the color scheme less intense, you can use a split complementary color scheme. It uses one color as a base and two colors adjacent to its complement.

Additional considerations for color theory

Now let’s dive into how designers can use color theory to enhance their projects. Think about the last time you filled out a contact form on a website. Miss a field, and a red error message likely pops up. On the contrary, if you need to re-enter a password for verification, and you enter everything correctly, a green message signals you to proceed. In this case, not only does color communicate how to use your product, but also draws on psychology to evoke emotional responses (green = good, red = bad).

Red and green aren’t the only colors with psychological power: The color wheel can also be sliced into warm and cool colors. People associate cooler colors like blue with peace and calm. Warm colors like red are more energetic and associated with passion.

And color has an effect on products themselves. Research suggests people make a subconscious judgment about a product within 90 seconds, and 62% to 90% of that assessment is based on color alone, according to CCICOLOR – Institute for Color Research. Another 2011 study published in the Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science found color was an important factor in how consumers perceive brands.

According to a 2003 study by Joe Hallock for a thesis at the University of Washington, 34% of study participants associated the color blue with trust; 28% associated blue with security; 75% associated red with speed; 42% associated black with high-quality; and 26% associated orange with being cheap or inexpensive.

When it comes to favorite colors, research from the 1990s says males prefer bolder colors while females like softer colors.

Designers’ color theory challenges

But designers can face challenges when landing on a consistent color scheme.

“Everyone has their preferences in colors, whether it’s a specific color or a grouping of colors, like warmer or cooler colors.” Gonzalez says. Looping in branding experts, he says, will help remove preferences from the equation and help meet brand specifications. There’s also a chance that your color palette will be included in your team’s design system.

Readability is also important, Gonzalez says, and needs to be a first consideration. A color scheme can be beautiful and innovative, but if it causes users to strain their eyes while deciphering text, then head back to the drawing board. Also consider that 4 to 5 percent of the population is colorblind. With this in mind, you can use alternatives to color to help guide your user. For example, you can rely on an asterisk, not color, to signal required fields, says Soren Hamby, design advocate at InVision.

Just like fashion, color schemes can be trendy, with “it” colors popping up every season. Designers should consider trendier color’s staying power. Ask yourself: Will it date the brand in a year? Also, know that color can be interpreted differently across cultures. Depending where your clients are located, red could symbolize passion, love, luck, prosperity, aggression, or death.

In the end, though, if you aim to please everyone, you ultimately please no one, Gonzalez says. He suggests finding your target audience and testing your color schemes with your audience.

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To determine whether a photograph depicts a sunrise or a sunset, you can look for certain visual cues and characteristics. Here are some tips to help you differentiate between the two:

Position of the Sun: The most reliable way to distinguish between a sunrise and a sunset is by the position of the sun in the photograph. A sunrise occurs in the early morning when the sun rises from the horizon in the east, while a sunset occurs in the evening when the sun sets below the horizon in the west. If the sun is positioned low near the horizon, it is likely a sunrise or a sunset.

Direction of Light: Consider the direction of the light in the photograph. Sunrises generally illuminate objects from the east, casting a warm, golden light on the landscape. In contrast, sunsets produce a softer, redder light that bathes the scene from the west.

Colors in the Sky: The colors present in the sky can provide clues about whether it is a sunrise or a sunset. Sunrises often exhibit vibrant and warm colors, such as shades of orange, pink, and red. Sunsets, on the other hand, tend to feature richer hues of red, purple, and deep orange.

Shadows and Silhouettes: Analyze the presence and direction of shadows and silhouettes in the photograph. Sunrises usually cast longer and more distinct shadows towards the west, while sunsets cast longer shadows towards the east.

Contextual Information: Consider any contextual information that might be available in the photograph. Elements such as buildings, landmarks, or specific geographic features can sometimes provide additional clues. For example, if you know the photograph was taken at a location where the sun usually rises over the ocean, it is more likely to be a sunrise.

Remember that these tips can be helpful in most cases, but there might be exceptions due to factors like weather conditions, geographical location, and the photographer's style.

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Bleach Bypass Film Look

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The digital camera started gaining popularity in the movie industry during the late 1990s and early 2000s. The first notable use of digital cameras in filmmaking can be traced back to 1998 when George Lucas used them in "Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace" for selected scenes and visual effects. This marked a significant step forward in the industry's transition from traditional film cameras to digital technology.

Around the same time, independent filmmakers and low-budget productions began experimenting with digital cameras due to their lower cost compared to traditional film equipment. The ability to shoot and edit digitally offered advantages such as immediate playback, easier post-production workflows, and cost savings on film stock and processing.

As the technology improved and digital cameras became more accessible, major film studios and directors started embracing them for larger-scale productions. The widespread adoption of digital cameras in Hollywood gained significant momentum in the early to mid-2000s. Filmmakers like David Fincher with "Zodiac" (2007) and Danny Boyle with "Slumdog Millionaire" (2008) demonstrated the capabilities of digital cameras and their potential for achieving high-quality results.

Since then, digital cameras have become the dominant choice in the movie industry. They offer greater flexibility, faster turnaround times, and advanced features that allow filmmakers to experiment and push creative boundaries. The transition to digital technology has revolutionized the industry, influencing everything from production workflows to distribution methods.

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White Line: 1023
High Reference Line: 940
Low Reference Line: 64
Black Line: 0

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1 stop of light either doubles/halves the amount of light

+1 stop: 2 x more light
-1 stop: 1/2 less light

1, 1.4, 2, 2.8, 4, 5.6, 8, 11, 16, 22, 32


Brightness is expressed in factors of 2.

1 stop  brighter = 2x brighter
2 stops brighter = 4x brighter
3 stops brighter = 8x brighter

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EL Zone System

https://www.elzonesystem.com/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=opHhhZmA4Wo

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Walter Volpattto

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ymr4wyo7GcA&t=302s

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LAB Color Space: What is CIELAB + Practical Use Cases


https://rkcolor.com/blog/cie-lab-color-space/

The LAB color space, also known as CIELAB, attempts to recreate the full gamut of human vision and will be the focus of this article. It manages color data with a different approach than other spaces that use RGB or CMYK color models. Instead of representing color data as a combination of red, green, and blue values, LAB looks at Lightness, A, and B channels to make up color data.

What is the CIE LAB Color Space?
The CIELAB color space, also known as the LAB color space, specifies colors along three separate scales – Lightness (L), Red – Green (A), and Yellow – Blue (B). Designed to be an approximation of how the human eye sees, the CIELAB color space has a variety of uses for a colorist.

CIELAB is entirely device-independent and doesn’t relate to any display or hardware. It is a model for color measurement defined by the International Commission on Illumination (ICC), and was designed to be a “perceptually uniform space.” Based off the CIE Standard Observer function – CIELAB was derived from an array of experiments and data sets to capture the full gamut of human vision.

LAB Color Space vs RGB Color Space
To gain a better understanding of the LAB space, let’s first look at how your monitor works – which works with an RGB color model.

When you are looking at the below image on your screen – what are you seeing? And if you wanted to manipulate the blue backdrop, what would you do?


When you look at an image on your screen, you are looking at millions of pixels. These pixels are made up of tiny subpixels, each showing different levels of red, green, or blue. These subpixels and pixels come together to show what your eyes perceive as a color and a cohesive image.

So what if we want to manipulate a color on the screen? Let’s take the blue sky in the image, and shift it with a simple hue vs hue adjustment. What is actually happening here?

In the context of the usual RGB color space, you’re simply changing the levels of red, green, and blue the pixels in the backdrop are putting out.


Need that blue to be more cyan? Increase the output of the green diode, and bingo – the image you are looking at now looks more cyan.

The LAB color space on the other hand, instead of passing along Red, Green, and Blue values, represents colors in Luminance, A, and B values. Of course, to your computer screen expecting RGB values the image looks all sorts of wrong.

But with some simple math we are able to move in and out of this space with ease, making changes and manipulations during the time our image is passing through this space.

This means that instead of changing those R, G or B values, we can now change entirely different values to achieve a entirely different manipulations – all to better serve our final image.

What Does LAB Stand For
What is the L*A*B* color space, and what does LAB stand for? The CIE LAB color space represents it’s data as Lightness (L), Red to Green (A), and Yellow to Blue (B).

L: Lightness – The lightness channel represents lightness on a scale from 0 to 100 – with the white point at 100, and black point at 0. L* has perceptual uniformity across it’s scale, and moves in simple steps or increments that closely represent the human perception of brightness. Similar in fashion to L in HSL, or V in HSV

A: Red to Green – The A* channel represents an axis from red to green. While the model itself is unbounded, Davinci Resolve (and most other programs) cap these axes at 127 and -127. In the A* channel, positive numbers represent movement towards red, while negative numbers move towards green.

B: Yellow to Blue – Similar to the A* channel, the B* channel is an axis representing movements from yellow to blue. Again, the B* axis is unbounded in the CIELAB model, but Resolve and other programs cap B parameters at 127 and -127. In the B* channel, positive values move towards yellow, while negative values move towards blue colors.

Why Should You Use The LAB Color Space
Since your computer screen doesn’t show an image in a LAB context, what’s the point of the color space? Well – we can control our image with an entirely different set of data manipulations. And at the end of the day it’s as simple as that.


Just as there are instances where you may want to separate red, green, and blue channels, the LAB space has it’s own variety of tools for image manipulation hidden within each channel.

First and foremost, the LAB space gives you an axis as a specific representation of luminance. This is not something you can get in most other color spaces. In an RGB color model, an adjustment of luminance or chroma are inherently tied together, as the combination of R, G, and B combine to make up luminance.

In the context of a LAB space, manipulating only your L channel lets you adjust the Luminance data in an image independent of the chromaticity coordinates along the A channel (red axis) or B channel (yellow axis).

Having colors represented on unique A and B axes also comes with some interesting possibilities. While it ultimately is just a different way to manipulate colors in an image, it still comes with it’s unique feel. Similar to how the textures and tones of a guitar differ from a piano. Sure, you can play the same notes, but the texture, meaning, and feel can all vary.

Practical Use Cases
Below I’ve taken note of some ways I’m leveraging the LAB color space in my own color grading workflow.

Sharpening
The most simple example of use cases for the CIELAB space, is using the luminance channel to sharpen your image. This is probably one of the simplest applications, but comes with a unique benefit.

By transforming an image from RGB to a LAB color model, you now have access to an isolated luminance channel. Conveniently that’s the channel you want to sharpen. By sharpening only the luminance channel, you avoid sharpening any chroma data which results in a cleaner sharpening effect.


Check out more on LAB Sharpening on this article here: https://www.digitalfieldguide.com/faqs/selective-lab-sharpening

Look Development
While I’ve only been playing around with look development in the LAB space, I’m also not the first one to do so. So throughout this I’ll likely link off to those who have paved the way for my own learning.

When balancing or otherwise manipulating the overall scheme of an image, one may turn to the RGB mixer tool within Davinci Resolve. Using this same tool to mix the LAB color channels can result in a different feel and variety of changes for your image. I’ll use this from time to time – either on it’s own or in conjunction with the RGB mixer.

Another method for look development within this color space is with Benoit Cote’s Jacob’s Ladder Powergrade. (Provided for free I believe by Benoit through the link above, found on an article via Demysify-Color).
This node tree can be a bit intimidating at first, but once you know what’s going on it’s relatively simple to grasp. Ultimately – this node tree let’s you cross each of the three values in any given color space with each other. Plus, it helps understand the relationship between channels, and what adjustments are possible.

#### Jacobs Ladder Tree Breakdown
L vs L: effectively a lum vs lum curve. Just a different way to dial in contrast or make a gamma adjustment in this instance.
L vs A: Lightness vs A (Red to Green). Can be used to shift certain sections of the image along the A channel. You can think of this as adding red (or subtracting red IE adding green) to the shadows, highlights, etc.
L vs B: lightness vs B (yellow to blue). Similar to LvsA. But on yellow vs blue.
A vs L: adjusting Luminance values along the A axis. So increasing lightness in regions of the image with more red (or green) values.
A vs A: moving any regions along the A axis along the axis, in either direction. Pushing the “midtones” up, would result in pushing less saturated pixels towards the upper end of the A axis and add red to them.
A vs B: similar to a vs a but along the B axis. Meaning increasing the upper end of the axis would take the yellows in the image, and add more red to them.
B vs L: similar to A vs L but instead of red vs green, you’re looking at yellow v blue.
B vs A: moving a axis more towards yellow or blue. Low end moves green towards yellow, top end mores red towards yellow
B vs B: moving b axis along itself. Top end moves yellows more yellow.
### Isolating, Qualifying, and Manipulating Specific Colors
Caution: this is probably the least efficient of the use cases.

I don’t know if I’d recommend really using this as a regular tool, or even at all. That being said, I did use it in a music video recently to experiment with the LAB space so I figure I’ll mention it. But keep in mind that you could likely get a similar (or better) result with a qualifier.

In Phantom’s “Hands Inside” music video, I wanted to have the environment around Phantom drain away. Having all color fall away until only the blue backdrop was left. Since I was playing with the LAB color space around the time, I turned to it as a potential solution.

I started by creating a monochromatic look, and effectively layering a selective something or other of color on top of it. In order to select this specified color, I turned to the A channel in the LAB space.

Once in LAB, I used the A channel to create a mask on a solid color. This solid color acts almost like a gradient map in Photoshop, and is looking for the color difference along the A axis. Where colors that are “more blue” get more of the color, and colors that are “less blue” on the A axis get less of the solid color.

Once this was set up, I effectively adjusted my contrast to better aim at the color I was hoping to qualify. Once locked in, I could adjust the hue, saturation, and levels of the selected color. The more “blue” the color was along my selected axis, the more it was affected by my adjustments.

Was it worth it? I’m not totally sure. It does work though…


Conclusion: LAB Use Cases
I hope if you’re still here at this point in the blog, you’ve gotten some useful knowledge about the CIELAB Color space. Go experiment with it and see what you can make.

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LAB

The other reason LAB is so powerful is the separation of lightness from color. As a result of this separation, resetting the black point and the white point in the histogram of the A or B channels affects only color. You can stretch out the colors without making them lighter or darker.

my node tree is;
1 -base, defaults to log, luma mix0, there i usualy use only exposure.contrast/pivot/sat
2- Lab, channel 1 only
3- Lab channel 2 only
4- Lab channel 3 only
5- Lab channels 2 &3 only
6 - RGB for tweaks

LAB is good for controlling saturation, you can use the AB curves to fine tune the saturation of each color component, like a separate sat-sat curve for each color.
I use LAB within ACEScct a lot. Just handle the input colors with IDTs.
I like to have nodes for each A and B channels, set the pivot to 0.5 and adjust saturation on the CT and CC axes separately using contrast. Gives a nicer look to super neutral/video looking footage (i.e. Sony footage). A lot of camera manufacturers put something like this in their color science, so one could use it to get back some green/magenta from cams that already have a strong look (like BMD cams).

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The CIELAB lecture

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sk8NC740SFY

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Marco Olivotto

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bBh3DE2OIOw

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yGVP6p1f58w

1. Skin Tone: 384~512~640.

2. Problem frame, grab a still, save in FIXES folder, come back (Match Reference Wipe Frame) to fix it when available, delete it when fixed.

3. OFX Library, star your favourite ones.

4. When doing settings in OFX, use SHIFT+F to get into full screen mode.

5. Color - Active Playhead - Playhead A, B, C, D. (CTRL+ ALT/OPTION+1, 2, 3, 4)

6. Use different Versions (one of them is Playheads) to compare.

7. Save Power Windows Preset.

8. Still / Any Clip - Right Click - Display Node Graph (Middle Mouse to move around, Drag any node to drop for copy that node)

9. ALT/OPTION - Click V1~Vn to disable that track, still have those elements visible in the viewer.

10. View - Timeline Thumbnail Size - Auto/Small/Medium/Large

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IrM6CQZJcyY

Preferences - User Tab - UI Settings - Uncheck "2D timeline scrolling"

Now, the middle mouse wheel functions:

1. Middle Mouse Wheel = Scroll Timeline Horizontally.
2. Middle Mouse Wheel + Option = Zoom In/Out Timeline.
3. Middle Mouse Wheel + Shift = Adjust Height of Tracks.
4. Middle Mouse Wheel + Control + Command = Scroll Timeline Vertically.

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The client brief is asking you to do a grade on a footage. The scene should feel happy and romantic. It can be a very bright or darker ambiance, as long as it still conveys positive emotions to the viewer.  It must be an overall warm colour palette.


As a professional colorist, creating the right mood and atmosphere for a scene is crucial. Given the client's brief, here's a step-by-step approach I'd take to achieve a happy and romantic feel with a warm color palette:

1. Primary Correction:

• Exposure: Ensure the footage is well-exposed. If it's too dark, lift the shadows and mid-tones. If it's too bright, bring down the highlights but ensure it doesn't become too flat.
• White Balance: Adjust the white balance to lean towards the warmer side. This means adding a bit of yellow or orange to counteract any blue or cold tones.
  

2. Secondary Correction:

• Skin Tones: Ensure skin tones are natural and warm. This is crucial for a romantic feel. Skin should have a healthy glow without appearing overly saturated.
• Isolation: Use masks or power windows to isolate areas of the frame that might benefit from individual adjustments. For instance, if there's a background that's too distracting or cold, you can isolate and warm it up.
  

3. Color Grading:

• Warm Palette: Introduce warm colors like golds, oranges, and soft reds into the mid-tones and highlights. This will give the footage a sun-kissed, romantic feel.
• Atmosphere: If the scene is outdoors, consider adding a soft golden hour look. This can be achieved by introducing a soft orange or golden hue into the highlights and a gentle teal or blue in the shadows to provide a complementary contrast.
• Vignette: Add a subtle vignette to softly darken the edges of the frame. This draws the viewer's attention to the center and can add a dreamy quality to the scene.
  

4. Look and Feel:

• Brightness: Depending on the client's preference for a brighter or darker ambiance, adjust the overall brightness. For a brighter feel, lift the mid-tones and highlights. For a moodier, yet still positive ambiance, keep the mid-tones a bit lower but ensure highlights have a soft glow.
• Saturation: Boost the overall saturation slightly to make the colors pop, but be cautious not to overdo it, especially on skin tones.
  

5. Final Touches:

• Grain: Add a subtle film grain for a more cinematic and nostalgic feel.
• Glow: Introduce a gentle glow effect, especially in the highlights, to give the scene a dreamy and romantic atmosphere.
• Sharpening: Apply a slight sharpening to the footage to make it crisp, but ensure it doesn't introduce noise or artifacts.
  

6. Review and Feedback:

• Play the graded footage back, ideally on a calibrated monitor, to ensure the colors and mood are consistent throughout.
• Get feedback from the client or director and make any necessary adjustments.
  

Remember, color grading is as much an art as it is a technical process. It's essential to keep the story and emotions at the forefront of your decisions. The tools and techniques are just a means to help convey the desired mood and feeling.

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"Extraction" is a visually striking action film known for its distinctive color grading and cinematography. To achieve a similar look in your own work, here are some key points to consider:

Contrast and Dynamic Range: The film utilizes a high dynamic range (HDR) to create deep blacks and bright highlights. This enhances the overall cinematic feel and makes the visuals more intense. When color grading, pay attention to your image's contrast to ensure that shadows are rich and highlights are well-defined.

Color Palette:

Teal and Orange: This film heavily leans towards the teal and orange color grading, which is a popular cinematic color combination. The shadows and mid-tones tend to have a teal-blue tint, while the highlights are warmed with an orange hue. Experiment with the balance between these colors to achieve the desired look.
Cool vs. Warm: The action scenes and nighttime shots often feature cooler tones, creating a tense and moody atmosphere. Meanwhile, the warmer tones during daytime shots create a contrast and make the characters and actions stand out.
Tint and Temperature:

Cool Shadows: Apply a cool blue tint to shadows and mid-tones. This will enhance the cinematic feel and create a sense of depth.
Warm Highlights: Add warmth to highlights, especially in scenes with natural sunlight. This creates a pleasing contrast and draws attention to important elements.
Desaturation and Vibrance:

Selective Desaturation: Consider desaturating some colors, particularly the greens and yellows, to make the other colors stand out more.
Vibrance: Increase the vibrance of certain colors to add visual interest. For example, you might want to boost the intensity of reds and oranges in scenes with fire or explosions.
Film Grain:

Adding a subtle film grain can help achieve a more cinematic and gritty look, enhancing the overall atmosphere of your work.
Lighting and Composition:

While color grading is crucial, the lighting and composition play a significant role in creating the desired visual style. Pay attention to the use of natural light sources and dramatic lighting setups.
Consistency:

Maintain a consistent color grading throughout your project to ensure a coherent and unified look. This helps in enhancing the storytelling and emotional impact.
Software and Tools:

Utilize professional color grading software such as DaVinci Resolve, Adobe Premiere Pro, or Adobe After Effects. These tools offer various color correction and grading options.
Remember that achieving a specific look involves a balance of various factors, including color, lighting, composition, and post-production techniques. While emulating the "Extraction" look can be a great starting point, feel free to experiment and tailor the style to suit the narrative and emotions of your own work.

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Terrence Malick

As a professional colorist, analyzing Terrence Malick's films from a color grading perspective is an interesting task. Terrence Malick is known for his visually stunning and poetic filmmaking style, which often includes unique color grading choices to evoke emotions and enhance the narrative. While I can't provide real-time updates beyond September 2021, up to that point, here are three notable Terrence Malick films that share common color grading characteristics:

The Tree of Life (2011):
This film is a masterpiece when it comes to Terrence Malick's unique visual style. The color grading in "The Tree of Life" often emphasizes warm tones, giving a nostalgic and dreamlike quality to the imagery. Earthy and golden hues are prevalent, creating a sense of warmth and intimacy. The film's color grading contributes to its meditative and introspective tone, enhancing the portrayal of memory and emotion.

Days of Heaven (1978):
"Days of Heaven" is another example of Terrence Malick's signature visual style. The film is characterized by its naturalistic and ethereal look, often achieved through a soft, muted color palette. The color grading in this film leans towards pastel tones and desaturated colors, giving it a timeless and painterly quality. This contributes to the film's lyrical and almost otherworldly atmosphere.

The Thin Red Line (1998):
In "The Thin Red Line," the color grading is used to convey the harsh realities of war as well as moments of introspection. The film frequently uses contrasting color palettes – intense, desaturated blues and greens in battle scenes, and warm, earthy tones during quieter moments. This juxtaposition enhances the emotional impact of the film and adds depth to its themes of nature, humanity, and conflict.

While each of these films has its own unique color grading characteristics, common themes in Terrence Malick's color grading include a focus on naturalistic and poetic visuals, a balance between warm and cool tones, and an emphasis on using color to enhance emotional resonance. Please note that there may have been developments in Terrence Malick's filmmaking style or new films released after September 2021 that I'm not aware of.

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Terrence Malick is a renowned filmmaker known for his distinctive and contemplative style. As of my last knowledge update in September 2021, here are the top 10 movies directed by Terrence Malick, ranked based on their critical acclaim, impact, and influence:

The Tree of Life (2011)
Days of Heaven (1978)
Badlands (1973)
The Thin Red Line (1998)
Knight of Cups (2015)
Song to Song (2017)
To the Wonder (2012)
A Hidden Life (2019)
Voyage of Time: Life's Journey (2016) - This is a documentary film that explores the birth and death of the known universe.
Voyage of Time: The IMAX Experience (2016) - This is a different version of "Voyage of Time" specifically designed for IMAX theaters.
Please note that rankings and opinions about film quality can be subjective and may have evolved since my last update. Additionally, Terrence Malick may have released new films or projects beyond September 2021 that I am not aware of.

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[backcolor=rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7)]Terrence Malick’s last three movies are A Hidden Life (2019), Song to Song (2017), and Voyage of Time (2016).

Now, let's analyze the color grading of these films from a professional colorist's perspective:

A Hidden Life (2019)

Color & Visual Tone: This film has a rich, almost painterly look that is characteristic of many of Malick's films. Set in the beautiful landscapes of Austria, the colors are lush and vibrant. The green of the mountains and the blue of the sky are accentuated.
Mood & Atmosphere: The color grading creates an atmosphere that matches the emotional and spiritual journey of the film's protagonist. The bright and idyllic exteriors are sometimes contrasted with darker, more muted interiors, representing the inner conflict and moral dilemma of the lead character.

Song to Song (2017)


Color & Visual Tone: "Song to Song" is a modern love story set against the backdrop of the music scene in Austin, Texas. The film showcases a mix of vibrant, energetic colors and more muted, introspective tones. The festival scenes are full of life, with a saturated and vivid color palette.
Mood & Atmosphere: Scenes between characters, particularly intimate moments, tend to lean on natural lighting, and this results in a softer, more organic feel. A colorist might notice the deliberate choices in balancing the warm and cool tones to match the emotional tenor of a scene.

Voyage of Time (2016)

Color & Visual Tone: "Voyage of Time" is a documentary-style film that explores the origins and eventual end of the universe. Given the scope and ambition of the narrative, the color palette spans a vast spectrum. From the fiery reds and oranges of the Big Bang to the deep blues and blacks of space, the film offers a visual feast. It's clear that careful color grading was undertaken to ensure the authenticity of each era and location.
Mood & Atmosphere: As the film journeys through time, the colors used evoke various emotions in the viewer. The birth of stars, for instance, bursts forth in vibrant, warm tones, while the vastness of space might be depicted in cooler, desolate colors. Earth's evolutionary stages, from volcanic eruptions to lush green forests, are represented with a rich and varied palette, reflecting the ever-changing and dynamic nature of our planet.
Highlights: The sequences showing deep-sea creatures glow with bioluminescence, providing a brilliant contrast to the darker, deeper shades of the ocean. The golden hues of early Earth, representing a young, volatile world, gradually transition to the blues and greens we're more familiar with, as the planet evolves and matures.

From a colorist's perspective, "Voyage of Time" is a masterclass in how color can be used to narrate the grand story of the universe, and Terrence Malick’s vision, combined with the skills of the film's color grading team, create a visually stunning experience.

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In DaVinci Resolve, the normal setting for low and high reference levels when setting up your waveform scope typically follows the video standards used in your project. The most common video standards are Rec. 709 for high-definition (HD) content and Rec. 2020 for ultra-high-definition (UHD) or 4K content. Here are the reference levels for these standards:

Rec. 709 (HD):

Low Reference Level (IRE): 16 IRE
High Reference Level (IRE): 235 IRE
Rec. 2020 (UHD/4K):

Low Reference Level (IRE): 64 IRE
High Reference Level (IRE): 940 IRE
These reference levels are used to ensure consistent and accurate video levels throughout your project, conforming to industry standards. However, it's important to note that these settings can be adjusted based on your specific creative and technical needs. If you're working on content for web distribution, you may also consider using the full range (0-255) for web video.

Always check the delivery specifications for your project, as some platforms or broadcasters may have specific requirements for reference levels. Additionally, you can make creative choices to deviate from these standards for artistic or stylistic reasons, but it's important to understand the technical implications when doing so.

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How to Utilise Middle Grey in Colour Grading

Middle grey serves as an essential anchor point for exposure and color balance in color grading. Utilizing it correctly can set the foundation for accurate skin tones, balanced contrast, and harmonious color schemes. Here are some ways to harness middle grey effectively:

Exposure Calibration: Use a middle grey card during shooting or a middle grey element in post-production to calibrate your exposure. This ensures that your blacks aren't crushed and your highlights aren't blown out.

White Balance: Using middle grey helps in setting an accurate white balance. By making sure that grey is truly neutral, you'll find it easier to maintain color consistency across different shots.

LUTs and Film Emulation: Many Look-Up Tables (LUTs) and film emulations are designed with middle grey as a reference point. Accurate mapping of middle grey ensures that these presets work as intended, avoiding color shifts.

Dynamic Range Optimization: Aligning middle grey correctly can maximize your footage's dynamic range, allowing you to exploit the latitude of your camera sensor fully.

Skin Tones: Middle grey aids in skin tone correction. If you align middle grey properly, you're essentially creating a neutral backdrop against which you can balance skin tones.

Color Harmonies: Once middle grey is set, building complementary or analogous color schemes becomes more straightforward. You have a reliable point of reference for balancing other hues.

Simplifying Complex Scenes: In shots with complex lighting or multiple color temperatures, identifying middle grey can simplify your grading workflow. It provides a single, consistent point to which you can match other elements.

Mastering Grading Tools: Software like DaVinci Resolve uses scopes that often have middle grey markers. Understanding how your footage relates to these markers can make you more proficient in using these advanced tools.

Facilitating Collaboration: Consistency in color grading is crucial when multiple people are working on the same project. A common understanding of where middle grey should sit ensures that everyone is on the same page.

In summary, middle grey is not just a tool but a guiding principle in color grading that paves the way for both technical accuracy and creative flexibility.

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Contrast Ratio

Contrast ratio is a measure of the difference between the lightest and darkest elements in an image. It's typically expressed as a ratio, like 1000:1, where the first number represents the brightness of the whitest white, and the second number signifies the darkest black. In the context of color grading, understanding and manipulating contrast ratio can profoundly affect the mood, depth, and visual impact of your footage.

How to Use Contrast Ratio in Color Grading:
Set the Foundation: Use a waveform monitor to understand the initial contrast ratio of your footage. This serves as a starting point to know how much latitude you have for adjustments.

Emphasize or De-emphasize Elements: Increasing contrast can make subjects pop, drawing attention to them. A lower contrast ratio, on the other hand, can lend a more subdued, cinematic, or period-specific look to your footage.

Mood Creation: High contrast ratios are often used in genres like action or horror to create a sense of tension or urgency. Lower contrast may be suitable for romance or drama to evoke softer, more emotional feelings.

Scene-to-Scene Consistency: Keep an eye on the contrast ratios when grading multiple scenes to ensure visual cohesion throughout the film. Consistent contrast ratios contribute to a uniform look and feel.

Managing Dynamic Range: Utilize the full dynamic range of your camera sensor by adjusting contrast. Be careful not to clip highlights or crush blacks, thereby losing detail.

Balancing Highlights and Shadows: Use tools like lift, gamma, and gain to fine-tune the contrast ratio. Lift affects the dark areas, gamma affects the mid-tones, and gain affects the highlights.

Selective Contrast: Use masking or power windows to apply different contrast ratios to different parts of the frame. This can guide the viewer's eye and create a sense of depth.

HDR Grading: When grading for High Dynamic Range (HDR) displays, you have the opportunity to work with a broader contrast ratio. Understanding how to scale your grading to leverage this can result in stunning visuals.

Log Footage: If you're working with log footage, you'll typically start with a flat, desaturated image. Understanding how to apply the right contrast ratio is essential to bring the image to life.

Style Matching: Look at the contrast ratios used in similar projects or genres to give you a starting point or inspiration for your grading.

By mastering the concept and application of contrast ratio, you can elevate your color grading skills, bringing a new dimension of professionalism to your projects.

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Contrast Level

Inspecting the contrast level of a clip involves the use of scopes and visual analysis within your color grading software. Below are the steps and tools often employed:

Waveform Monitor:
Load Clip: Import the clip into your color grading software (e.g., DaVinci Resolve, Adobe Premiere Pro).
Activate Waveform: Open the waveform monitor scope.
Read Values: Look at how the trace spans vertically. If it reaches close to 0 and 100 IRE, your clip has high contrast. A more centralized trace suggests low contrast.

Histogram:
Open Histogram: Enable the histogram scope in your color grading software.
Inspect Spread: A histogram stretched from far left (shadows) to far right (highlights) indicates high contrast. A compact histogram suggests lower contrast.

Vectorscope:
Activate Vectorscope: Although primarily for color, the vectorscope can offer contrast clues.
Check Saturation: High contrast often correlates with higher saturation levels, although this isn't a strict rule.

Zebras or False Color:
Enable Feature: Turn on zebras or false color to view exposure levels.
Analyze: High contrast clips will show both ends of the exposure spectrum clearly—bright highlights and dark shadows.

Manual Inspection:
Zoom In: Magnify the image to closely inspect details in shadows and highlights.
Check Clipping: Look for areas where detail might be lost due to extreme brightness or darkness.

Software Tools:
Lift/Gamma/Gain: Manipulate these controls slightly to see how much latitude you have for altering the contrast. A significant amount of play suggests a moderate contrast level.
Using Markers or Reference Points:
Set Points: Use a feature to mark key points in the shadows, mid-tones, and highlights.
Compare: If there's a significant disparity between these points, your clip likely has high contrast.

By using a combination of these methods, you can thoroughly inspect the contrast level of your clip, equipping you with the knowledge to either maintain or adjust it effectively during color grading.

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Split Tone

Split toning is a technique in color grading where you apply different colors to the shadows and the highlights of an image. This can infuse your footage with a specific mood, evoke emotion, or stylistically unify disparate shots. Here's how to use split toning effectively:

Basic Workflow:
Color Balance: Before applying split toning, make sure your clip is balanced in terms of exposure and white balance.

Isolate Tones: Use your grading software to separately target the highlights and shadows. Software like DaVinci Resolve allows you to do this using qualifier tools or layer nodes.

Choose Your Colors: Decide on the colors you want to apply. Complementary colors often work well; for example, teal in the shadows and orange in the highlights (commonly abbreviated as "Teal and Orange").

Advanced Techniques:
Selective Saturation: Control the saturation levels for each tone to avoid overdoing the effect. Sometimes, a hint of color can be more effective than a strong hue.

Luminance Control: Be aware of how your color choices affect perceived brightness. Adjust luminance levels to maintain a balanced image.

Mid-tone Management: While traditional split toning focuses on highlights and shadows, consider adding a third color to the mid-tones for a more nuanced effect.

Skin Tones: If your scene includes people, be careful that your color choices don't negatively affect skin tones. Masking or keying can help you avoid this.

Color Harmonies: Utilize color theory to choose harmonious color combinations. This could be analogous colors, triadic colors, etc.

Dynamic Changes: For added complexity, consider gradually changing the split tones over the duration of the clip to evoke changing emotions or underscore narrative shifts.

Practical Uses:
Genre-Specific Styles: Use split toning to quickly set a genre. For example, a blue/cyan split tone might evoke a futuristic or cold atmosphere, while a yellow/red tone might create a warm, nostalgic feel.

Time of Day: Simulate different lighting conditions by adjusting your split tones. Cooler tones for night, warmer tones for day.

Unifying Mixed Footage: If you're working with clips from different sources or lighting conditions, split toning can help unify them into a cohesive look.

Textural Depth: Utilize split toning to accentuate or diminish textural elements in the footage, such as skin, fabric, or environmental features.

By understanding and creatively applying these aspects of split toning, you can achieve a wide range of aesthetic and emotional effects in your color grading projects.

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Desired Contrast Ratio

Achieving a suitable contrast ratio for a clip is a mix of technical and creative decision-making. The steps usually involve initial analysis, baseline adjustments, and then fine-tuning for aesthetic and narrative coherence.

Initial Analysis:
Waveform Monitor: Start by observing the waveform of the clip. Note the range between the darkest and the brightest elements. The greater the distance, the higher the contrast ratio.

Scopes and Histogram: Use scopes and histograms to provide an additional viewpoint. They can show you the distribution of your tonal range, helping you decide how much you might want to stretch or compress it.

Baseline Adjustments:
Black and White Points: Set your black and white points first. This will frame the entire tonal range of the clip.

Mid-tones: Once your extremes are set, adjust the gamma or mid-tone levels to position your middle grey. This will often shift your black and white points slightly, so you may need to revisit them.

Log or Raw Footage: If dealing with log or raw footage, consider applying a Rec. 709 LUT or similar to get a starting point that's closer to the final output.

Fine-Tuning:
Creative Intent: The "right" contrast ratio may differ depending on genre, mood, or story point. For example, a moody, dramatic scene might benefit from a high contrast, while a bright comedy might go for less contrast to keep things light.

Scene Matching: Make sure the contrast ratio complements adjacent clips to maintain a consistent look and feel throughout the project.

Highlight and Shadow Detail: Always check to make sure that important details aren't lost in the blacks or whites. Use scopes to verify.

Color Grading: Understand that boosting contrast might affect colors. You may need to tweak saturation or even go back to color balancing after establishing your desired contrast ratio.

Test Viewings: Evaluate the clip on different screens and in different viewing environments if possible. What looks good in a color-graded suite may not translate well to a home TV, laptop, or mobile device.

Special Cases:
HDR Content: High Dynamic Range allows for a broader contrast ratio. Your approach should be more nuanced to utilize this expanded range effectively.

Archival or Matching: If matching to other footage or conforming to a specific look (e.g., recreating a vintage look), use reference clips to help guide your contrast settings.

Skin Tones: Pay attention to how your contrast settings affect skin tones. You might need to make adjustments or use masks to keep them natural.

By following these steps and adjusting based on your specific needs and creative intent, you'll arrive at a contrast ratio that serves both the technical and aesthetic requirements of your clip.

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Desired Exposure Level

Determining the "best" exposure level for your clip is a blend of technical guidelines and artistic intent. Here's a systematic approach to figure it out:

Technical Evaluation:
Waveform Monitor: Use a waveform monitor to initially gauge the exposure of your clip. The trace should be well-distributed between 0 and 100 IRE for most types of content.

Histogram: Consult the histogram for a secondary perspective. A well-exposed clip will usually show a broad, even distribution across the tonal range, without peaks crammed against either end.

Zebras and False Color: Turn on these features to identify any areas that may be underexposed (too dark) or overexposed (too bright).

Artistic Consideration:
Scene Context: Consider the mood, time of day, and setting. A night scene might be generally darker, while a sunlit scene would be brighter.

Narrative Intent: Your exposure level can directly influence the emotional impact of a scene. For example, a darker exposure can create a mood of suspense or drama.

Visual Style: Think about the overall look you're aiming for. Do you want a high-key look with bright, open shadows, or a low-key look with lots of dark areas?

Fine-Tuning:
Highlights and Shadows: Make sure important details are visible. If highlights are too bright, you may lose texture. If shadows are too dark, you might lose detail.

Middle Grey: Adjust your mid-tones after setting your highlights and shadows. This often provides the 'look' of the exposure level and serves as a reference point for further adjustments.

Skin Tones: Pay special attention to skin tones; they should appear natural and consistent. Use your vectorscope to help with this.

Consistency and Cohesion:
Shot-to-Shot Matching: Make sure your exposure level is consistent with adjacent clips for a cohesive look.

Test Screens: If possible, check your clip on multiple displays to ensure that the exposure level looks appropriate across different viewing conditions.

Audience Feedback: Sometimes a second set of eyes can provide a fresh perspective on whether your chosen exposure level is effective or not.

By combining these technical and artistic approaches, you can determine an exposure level that is technically sound while also fulfilling your creative vision for the clip.

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Shot Matching

Shot matching in color grading ensures a seamless visual experience by making different shots within a scene look consistent in terms of color, exposure, and contrast. Here's how to achieve effective shot matching:

Initial Assessment:
Identify Key Shots: Select a "hero" shot that best represents the look you're aiming for. All other shots in the scene will be matched to this reference.

Initial Grade: Apply your creative grade to the hero shot first, taking care of the balance, contrast, and desired look.

Matching Workflow:
Parallel Viewing: Use a two-up or side-by-side view to see the hero shot and the shot you're matching simultaneously.

Match Luminance: Start by matching the black levels, white levels, and gamma to get a similar luminance between shots. Use the waveform scope to aid in this.

Match Color: Use the vectorscope to help match the overall color balance. Pay special attention to skin tones, ensuring they match between shots.

Saturation Matching: Adjust the saturation so that both shots have a similar intensity of colors. This can be confirmed visually and with scopes like the vectorscope.

Local Adjustments: Use masks, power windows, or qualifiers to match specific areas of the frame like faces, skies, or important objects.

Fine-tuning:
Secondary Corrections: Once the major elements are matched, perform secondary color corrections to fine-tune the image. This can include hue adjustments, mid-tone tweaks, and so on.

Check for Artifacts: Make sure your corrections haven’t introduced noise, banding, or other artifacts.

Global Adjustments: If the scene itself has an overarching look or color treatment, apply that last. This ensures the individual adjustments don’t clash with the scene-wide grade.

Quality Control:
Temporal Consistency: Scrub through the timeline to see how well the shots match in motion, not just in still frames.

Multiple Checks: View the matched shots in different monitors and lighting conditions to ensure consistency across various viewing platforms.

Feedback Loop: Get a second opinion if possible. Sometimes, fresh eyes can spot inconsistencies you might have missed.

By following this structured approach, you can achieve a level of consistency that elevates the professionalism and quality of your work, making the narrative more engaging and visually pleasing.