What does Color Grading mean?
Color grading refers to the process of adjusting the colors, contrast, brightness, and saturation in a video or film to achieve a specific visual style or mood. This process takes place during post-production and is used to create consistency across scenes, correct any color imbalances, or apply an artistic look that enhances the story’s emotional impact. Through color grading, filmmakers can evoke specific feelings, create atmosphere, or help convey the time of day, location, or thematic tone of a scene. Related terms include Color Correction, which involves fixing technical color issues, and LUT (Look-Up Table), a tool used to apply color grading presets to footage.
Example: The director chose a warm color grading for the flashback scenes to give them a nostalgic, dream-like quality.
Example: Color grading was essential in making the scenes in the desert appear more intense, with deeper oranges and stronger shadows.
Did You Know?
Color grading is not just about fixing colors—it’s an artistic choice. Many iconic films use distinctive color palettes to define their visual style, like the teal and orange hues in action films or the muted tones in dramas.
