PRODUCTION TECHNIQUES
COLOUR GRADING"Colour grading is the process of altering and enhancing the colour of a motion picture, television image, or still image either electronically, photo-chemically or digitally. Modern color correction, whether for theatrical film, video distribution, or print is generally done digitally."
Okay, we nicked that technical explanation from Wikipedia...To us grading is using software to make our images match the mood of the piece of work we're editing. Sometime we use it, sometimes we don't. It takes time, skill and a true understanding of what you're trying to achieve to make grading work. It's not a way of rescuing your film because the shoot didn't go quite as planned... |
The examples in the video are of some heavily graded work we completed for Hull Truck. The first example, for their production of Loot, needed to be bright with 60s colours to match the music and era of the play. Additional image processing was required to make the video appear as old cine film.
The second example, for Pub Quiz Is Life, needed to be washed out to reflect the humdrum lives of the characters. As the play was very cinematic, we used a matte to crop the video and present the final film in a tight widescreen.
On both these projects it was important to capture great HD video first, allowing us to process the video and present final edits which matched our original vision.
The second example, for Pub Quiz Is Life, needed to be washed out to reflect the humdrum lives of the characters. As the play was very cinematic, we used a matte to crop the video and present the final film in a tight widescreen.
On both these projects it was important to capture great HD video first, allowing us to process the video and present final edits which matched our original vision.
DEPTH OF FIELDTraditionally, video cameras offer a very wide depth of field - that means that most of the image is sharply in focus. That's great for news, documentaries and kitchen sink style dramas - but what if you want an image that's a bit more dramatic, more stylised and well, let's be honest, a bit cooler? In that case you need greater control of your depth of field - creating beautiful filmic images.
It's not right for every production, but sometimes, when combined with skilful grading, the results are outstanding... |
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