A few days ago I shared some still frames from an underwater pool shoot video that I color graded. In this post, I want to share some of the process and a few frame breakdowns so you can see how things go from the very first raw image to the final look.
The first image is the Log or Flat image. This is what's recorded right in camera and as you can see it doesn't look great.
The next step is to put it into a Rec 709 look also known as the Base grade. This is where the footage is made to look how it did on set when it was filmed and how a normal person would see the footage. This is also the step when in the color process the levels are adjusted. If the footage is either over or underexposed or there are any major issues this is where those changes and adjustments are made.
Lastly, this is the Grade. This is when the artist goes in and makes the footage look its best and gives the footage the "look" for the project. As you can see this is where I made the water a little darker and a bit more teal. This is also where I isolated the swimmer and brought back the reds and yellows in the skin tones to really make the swimmer pop and stand out. The viewer's eye is naturally drawn right to the main character and the footage just has a look and feel to it.
Here are a few other frame to showcase the color breakdown on another section of the video. The exact same process is done throught the footage.
All footage from Artgrid.io
Lovely directions for photoshoot... Looks awesome