How To Analyse Your Footage For Color Correction: Beach Sunset

How To Analyse Your Footage For Color Correction: Beach Sunset

January 13, 2014

Learn how a professional colorist analyses an image. Learn what they focus on and how they grade using contrast, color and secondaries.


Analyzing Your Footage: Beach Sunset

We’ve had a huge amount of requests for more look breakdowns so in this Insight, I’m trying to take it one step further. We’re going to take a scene shot on the Blackmagic 4k camera by Grant Petty himself and take it from initial thoughts right up to the final grade.

It’s important to know how to use your software inside out but the most important and most difficult part of grading is knowing what to do with your image. 

In this Insight, I focus on trusting your gut instinct and taking the shot to where it naturally wants to go. This can be valuable to do and save in your still store before clients arrive in as once they have briefed you on their thoughts your impression will change.

In this case its a sunset scene with great long shadows and all the makings of a beautiful sunset scene. I take you step by step through what my gut instinct told me to do on this shot and also offer up some tips on getting started on a project before your clients brief you.

It would be great to get some feedback on this insight to see if it helped you and if you have any suggestions I’d love to hear them.

Enjoy!

– Dan 

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Comments

Homepage Forums How To Analyse Your Footage For Color Correction: Beach Sunset


  • Remco Hekker
    Member

    Hé Dan,

    Great insight! I really learn a lot from watching you at work. + It makes me wanna buy a ticket to a place where it’s summer.
    I’m looking forward to the next one.


  • Sergi Lladó
    Member

    Great! Really interested in you doing more shot breakdowns. Thanks!


  • Margus Voll
    Member

    Loving this “look inside my brain” idea. Keep them coming!


  • Patrick Inhofer
    Guest

    Dan does love his Contrast / Pivot moves! It’s a technique I’ve started using more often (or at least exploring) since working with him.

    Hey Dan – Great tutorial! Lots of neat tips in here.

  • Great insight! Thanks Dan!


  • Casey Faris
    Guest

    Excellent insight! More like this please!

  • This was so helpful! Thanks Dan!

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