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A lesson in color grading

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If Shakespeare were a photographer today, he’d have lost so many jobs to his “To tone or not to tone” predicament that in comparison you’d probably be able to catch more snowflakes in your mouth during a 20 second freak blizzard than he would have landed paid work.

Today I’m here with a video for you on that age old subject of “Colour Toning” and with a method I think most of you may find not only easy, but incredibly powerful. No, it doesn’t use curves, or levels, though it does include a lot of awesome.

Let’s crack on!

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How To Create Cinematic Film Look On A DSLR

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It’s true that movie makers are using big gear which helps them get great results. But it is also true that a big portion of those results are not only attributed to gear, but also to matriculates planning and careful attention to details.

Filmmaker and youtuber Simon Cade made it a point to shoot with a Canon T3i and is still getting fantastic results? Why? Probably because he is shooting very cinematic footage and applying some very basic rules.

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How color grading your photos can manipulate viewers’ emotions

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Photographers often understand color theory and seek to incorporate objects of complementary colors in their images.

We understand and appreciate the harmonious effect of green and red or orange and blue items framed within our composition, so why do so many of us focus only on the color of the content of the image and not on the overall color of the image itself?

Have a look how color grading can affect the viewers’ emotions, provide information about the imagery at hand and see why you might be missing out on a super-useful editing tool.

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The Man Of Steel Would Actually Look Better If It Was Graded To Color

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If you ever wondered about how grading deeply impact a film, take at a look at this interesting experiment or re-grading the Man of Steel –  Zack Snyder’s 2013 superman remake.

VideoLab took the film for a ride and re-colored the released, desaturated film, to bring some of the natural color back.

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How To Do Cinematic Color Grading Like A Pro

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Ever noticed how movies have a very distinct look that gives off a cinematic look. The process of taking the footage and giving it a specific look is called Grading. There are a few ways to achieve that look and the team at the Photoshop Training Channel provides one of the best color grading primers I’ve seen to date.

Now, Grading can be as complex as you want to take it, but if you want to get a general understanding of the process this video is a great 30 minutes crash course.

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What Christmas Morning Would Look Like If M. Night Shyamalan, Tarantino, & Charlie Chaplin Directed It

The holidays are the time of year we all like to relax and spend time with our friends, family, our favorite filmmakers. Well, sorta anyways…Last year, when Foreground Films released the first version of “The Auteurs of Christmas”, it saw widespread popularity, quickly going viral. The team brought back the theme this year with “The Auteurs of Christmas 2” in what we are all hoping has officially begun a new holiday tradition.

The short film features the creators interpretation of a scene as though some very well known filmmakers were directing it. It’s impressive how on point they were able to get. The real film buffs out there will marvel in the attention to detail that went into making the shots truly match their individual directors style and quirk. For example, you can look for appropriate screen ratios, foley arts and sound effects, color grading, cinematography, even Godard’s take on color theory was so accurately executed you can’t help but to grin at the perfect silliness of it all.

In part two of The Auteurs we’re treated to the likes of Quentin Tarantino, Charlie Chaplin, Terrence Malick, Christopher Nolan, Alfred Hitchcock, Morgan Spurlock, David Lynch, M. Night Shyamalan, Michael Bay, & Jean-Luc Godard.[Read More…]

$7 DIY Diffusion Hack And Bonus Color Grading Tutorial All In Less Than 10 Minutes

Film Riot is awesome. Where else can you go to learn how to make the world’s easiest DIY diffusion and get a free bonus lesson in color grading? We have them to thank for putting out this video clip that shows us how to save money by using a cheap shower curtain to diffuse lights for perfect lighting. And if that weren’t enough, they also let us join them for a walk through of their color grading workflow.
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