Good color grading techniques, five color grading techniques can transform your film works

The creation of a cinematic feel is inseparable from composition, depth of field, resolution, and lens movement. This issue will focus solely on post-production color grading, how to give your own films an instant "cinematic feel."

Color grading is nothing more than importing materials, batching, grading, and output. They are just a few simple steps, but there are hidden secrets behind them. The meaning of color correction is nothing more than two. One is to improve the quality of the picture, and the other is to increase the atmosphere.

Good color grading can completely transform the entire movie, so how should the color grading be used to achieve this effect? First, let me introduce you to a concept:

The Color Wheel

The color wheel is composed of twelve colors on RYB, also known as subtractive color (Subtractive Color).

The RYB color model is mainly red, yellow, and blue, which also refers to the three primary colors. The three secondary colors are green, orange, and purple, which can be made by mixing the three primary colors. The remaining six secondary colors are composed of the primary color and the three adjacent secondary colors.

Generally speaking, we use the warm color series on the right half to represent joy and vitality, while the cold color series on the left half represents tranquility and calmness.

Having said all that, how should you color grade your own movie? Are there any general tips?

Don’t worry, start now! ! (High energy warning: There are a lot of classic color correction cases at the end of the article)

Five basic film color correction techniques

1. Complementary Color Scheme

Complementary color It refers to the contrast effect formed by two corresponding colors. Warm and cold colors are used to emphasize the contrast and enhance the bright and prominent effect.

The most common examples are orange, blue, and teal (Teal), which is why most Hollywood blockbusters use these two colors as movie color effects. However, when using complementary color mode, you need to adjust its saturation appropriately so that the contrast is pleasing to the eye rather than harsh.

The above two pictures are the corresponding color cards in the movie "Amélie". This is a typical corresponding effect of red and green. Usually two contrasting colors symbolize conflicting behaviors, and the appearance of complementary colors on the outside indicates that the character is in a state of inner conflict or physical and mental exhaustion.

The movie "Fight Club" is a perfect interpretation of the corresponding combination of orange and blue-green. The dark parts are shown in blue-green, and the bright parts are shown in orange, just like the human heart is full of various positive and negative thoughts to attack a complete individual.

The effect of the movie "Drive" is similar to that shown in the previous picture. However, complementary colors are not always so obvious and have a little to do with the degree of contrast used. Take another scene from the movie "Fight Club" as an example. The appearance seems to be all blue-green as the color effect. After careful observation, you will find that the orange skin color is opposite to its blue-green background.

2. Analogous Color Scheme

Analogous color refers to the composition of adjacent colors on the hue circle to present the overall color coordination in the movie. The combination of colors is relatively flexible, and similar colors are usually used as the scenery tones in movies to present a natural and soft feeling.

The most common pattern is to choose a main color system, then choose colors that are similar to it, and finally use black, white and gray as background. (Also commonly used in Japanese dramas)

A scene in the movie "American Hustle" uses red, orange, brown and yellow colors to connect each other, making the overall tone of the movie tend to be warm, and there is almost no trace of tension in the picture. atmosphere.

3. Triadic Color Scheme

Triadic color scheme refers to three colors separated by 120 degrees on the hue circle, although the overall color saturation will not It's too high, but it still gives people a sense of vitality. However, third-order color distribution is the most unpopular color scheme in movies, but it can still show stunning effects when used appropriately.

Jean-Luc Godard used the third-order color scheme to present the overall tone of his 1964 film Pierrot le Fou.

4. Split-Complementary Color Scheme

Complementary color splitting is similar to the corresponding relationship between complementary colors, but the difference between the two is that complementary color splitting is based on the main color and its Match the corresponding colors on both sides. It also has strong contrast, but the tension effect is less obvious.

A scene in the Coen brothers' movie "Burn After Reading" is rendered in red and its corresponding green and teal colors.

5. Rectangular Color Scheme Tetradic Color Scheme

Rectangular color scheme is composed of two sets of complementary colors. It usually has a colorful feel, but there is at least one main color to highlight its effect. .

The movie "Mamma Mia" used a rectangular color pattern to present its party scene, which showed a good sense of coordination for the scene instead of becoming a disco-like look. .

In addition, most recent movies use complementary colors such as orange and blue-green. Orange is mostly used for bright areas and skin, while blue-green is used for dark areas. A scene from the movie "Magnolia" shows Hollywood's preference for this model. Orange is used as the center color to emphasize the skin on the face, while blue recedes to the shadows behind it as a foil.

Classic Movie Color Card

"Alice in Wonderland 2" (2016) Director: James Bobin

"Aladdin" (1992) ) Director: Ron Clements, John Musker

"Birdman" (2014) Director: Alejandro Gonzalez I?árritu

"Corpse Bride" (2005) Director: Tim Burton Mike Johnson

"Deadpool" (2016) Director: Tim Miller

"Django Unchained" (2012) Director: Quentin Tarantino

"Edward Scissorhands" (1990) Director: Tim Burton

"Forrest Gump" (1994) Director: Robert Zemeckis

"Frozen" (2013) Director: Chris Buck Jennifer Lee

"Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2" (2011) Director: David Yates

"Inception" (2010) Director: Christopher Nolan

"Kung Fu Panda" (2008) Director: John Stephenson Mark Osborne

"Life of Pi" (2012) Director: Ang Lee

" "Mad Max: Fury Road" (2015) Director: George Miller

"Peter Pan" (1953) Director: Clyde Ginonimi, Wilfrey De Jackson, Hamilton Lusco

"Romeo and Juliet" (1996) Director: Baz Luhrmann

"Spirited Away" (2001) Director: Hayao Miyazaki

"Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens" (2015) Director: J.J. Abrams

"Avengers" (2012) Director: Joss Whedon

"The Dark Knight" (2008) Director: Christopher Nolan

"The Godfather" (1972) Director: Francis Ford ·Coppola

"The Hunger Games: Mockingjay 2" (2015) Director: Francis Lawrence

"The Lion King" (1994) Director: Roger Ayler Slobo Minkoff

"The Martian" (2015) Director: Ridley Scott

"The Revenant" (2015) Director: Ari Sandro González I?árritu

"The Silence of the Lambs" (1991) Director: Jonathan Demme

"The Theory of Everything" (2014) Director: James Marsh

"The Truman Show" (1998) Director: Peter Weir

"Titanic" (1997) Director: James Card Mellon

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