In this blog we would discuss about the Colour Correction methods that are being used in films.

How the use of colours can change the scene or give that scene a new look altogether is what we will be discussing today.

With the help of colour the images look more realistic and natural.

Colour Correction techniques are more technical in nature as they are used to make the images look more clean, more real and as if we are seeing them in front of us.

Colour Correction is all about increasing or decreasing the colour saturation and hue where we see more or less of a particular colour based on the demand of the filmmaker and the scene.

In fact there is a certain type of psychology which is relate to Colour Correction which shows the scenes in a particular way.

Like if we want to show a house where the people who are staying are rich and powerful we can make use of bright colour with flowers in the garden and the garden green compared .

On the other hand to some house where people are not so rich can have a garden with light shades of green and brown showing that the house is not being taken care of properly as the people who are staying there do not have money to spend on their garden.

Let us look at the use of different colours and what they depict.

Green colour shows or talks about nature and has a strong psychological connection which makes it more close to nature and happiness.

Red on the other hand depicts anger and is often related to horror as well.

Blue on the other hand is always used to show things related to nature like oceans and skies as well as few negative states of mind too like a bad mood.

Yellow shows the colour of friendliness and joy as we see the character from the movie Inside Out.

The colour magenta or Purple show different things like royalty, love fear and valor so the colorist will decide on the emotion which he wants to show and correct the colour according to that demand.

There are few editors who make use of colours like orange and turquoise to give more dynamic look and it also makes them appear as if they are not from this world.

Being a colourist in movies is highly rewarding as its one of the major things in a movie which gives it the real feel and makes it more magical.

The picture from the movie Transformers where the colourist changes the colour of the Robot from black and grey to turquoise and orange to make it look like an alien looks great on screen.

In a shot we follow a person from outside location to inside location.

In this the camera person cannot readjust the white balance as he might miss the intimate moment.

In these kinds of shots it is best advised to capture the moment rather than get the best exposed shot.

In these types of shots colour correction helps to increase exposure and balance the colour casts thereby making it more even and consistent shot.

Primary and Secondary Colour Correction

In Primary colour correction it is done across the entire image utilizing controls over the intensities of red blue and green, shadows and highlights.

When we alter one image the entire look of the image changes.

In Secondary colour correction they isolate specific part of the image or object within the video frame and adjust only those objects and images to give it that perfect look.

Masks and Mattes

Apart from Primary and Secondary Colour Correction few geometric shapes like masks and mattes can be used to adjust colours of specific area or leave that area and colour the rest of the image.

Colour Correction Tools

There are three colour correction tools used in colour correction are Luma Controls, Colour Wheels and Colour Curves.

Luma Control helps adjust the brightness of the image and help to increase or decrease the contrast of an image.

Colour wheels control the hue or colour of the image like if an image is blue we select the colour on the opposite of the wheel to adjust it to look best.

Colour curves make targeted adjustments on one colour components at a time.

We can add points on the luma red blue and green curves to adjust the luma and chroma values of the image we want to adjust.

Colour balance helps to remove any unwanted colour casts from any black or white areas of the image.

Those vibrant tropical birds that we see in those nature documentaries actually don’t look the same in real life.

There is a colourist behind all these scenes who controls the hues in shot.

Some movies choose hues using monochromatic colour schemes to get that picture perfect look.

Hue, saturation and brightness are called HSB.

This is the basic colour combination used for any video image

Every scene has certain key elements which makes it more prominent.

In a narrative or documentary the people shown holds the importance whereas in commercials the products are the main things which should be portrayed or shown in such a way with the help of different colour schemes to make its packaging and look more sellable.

Audience preference is given due importance as it should match with what the viewer wants to see.

One of the most important factors in video creation is the final image quality which can be altered with the help of different colour schemes and patterns to make it look perfect on the screen.

When it comes to visual story telling colour plays a very important role.

Colour is used to describe emotions, feelings,different moods, fantasies ,and memories along with love and anger.

In Colour Correction each and every clip or video footage is changed to match it with the colour temperature of multiple shots to make it look more consistent.

It also helps to make the black more black and white more white so that it looks more natural and realistic in nature.

It is being done to make it look exactly how it should look from the human eye.

Even when the shooting is going on in some outside location during the course of the day the quality of sun is going to change which may hamper the exact look and the footages and clipping as it may not look as it should look so colour correction is being used to make it look flawless and more seamless.

It should look as if it was shot at the same time and same location.

With the help of different colour correction tools which are found in most video editing programs and anyone can access them.

While shooting a scene inside an office where there was fluorescent light giving it a greenish look to correct it with proper exposure is very important otherwise it won’t look nice and real in nature.

Colour Correction can define the time of the day, the mood or how intense the emotions of the characters are. Colour correction is done in post-production.

As most of the videos are filmed in flat format which makes it more convenient for the video editors as they can have greater control over the final product then they can alter the colour spectrum along with saturation, sharpness and brightness.

Colour Correction holds a very important role in films.

It is done basically to give a uniform look and and colour space to multiple video samples.

The final product will have a consistent colour palette.

For example a plain and depressing day on the beach can be altered with different colour collection to make it look like Bahamas with clear skies.

Even where the video is viewed colour editors ensure that no detailing’s are lost while viewing it on a different screen.

To make film where dark look is required saturation is lessened which also makes it look more dull and depressing.

Colour Correction also saves money on production.

Some scenes are filmed in broad daylight to save money on locations and lighting.

And where scenes need more dark light those shot scan be darkened to suit the movie’s needs.

In the famous movie Dangal use of colour has been done very nicely as the whole movie was shown a raw look and use of different lights to get the perfect look.

Most part of the movie was shot using natural light.

Few of the characters were shown wearing different shades of white colour and were shown having yellow skin tones.

The fight sequence of the movie was shown showing a contrast of white sky with a warm look of the mud.

During the night sequence a bulb warm tone was shown in the movie.

The training sequences shown in the movie where Phogat Sisters were shown starting their practices around 5 a.m. at times before sunrise.

So to get that look there were days when the shooting continued till late evening which resulted in changing colour temperature.

In the movie Grand Budapest Hotel the starting scene shows a girl walking through a cemetery.

It has a very grim look and has a very sad and melancholic look and response.

But the use of colours makes one cheerful in this case.

The entire film is shown using lush colours in a matte and darker tone which gives it an old feel.

The outside scenes have a low saturated green tone which were lit in the pinkish hue of the frame.

The interiors of the hotel are shown in matte and mid saturated orange.

This colour scheme shows warmth.

In zeros room we can see the low saturated colour scheme with matte shading which clearly shows that he is not happy with his life.

It’s one of the finest movies which has the best use of frames and colour.

The tragedy has been shown in the most authentic and aesthetic manner.

So now we know why proper Colour Correction is needed in movies and with the use of different shades of colours we can get the exact look which we desire.

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