Technical Instruction | Colour Grading and Correction

Colour grading is the process in which you improve the look of a shot/scene. There are various attributes of a shot such as contrast, colour balance, saturation, detail, black level, and white point that may be enhanced for motion pictures, videos or still images. Colour grading and correction tend to be used synonymously. Colour grading is now generally performed in a digital process through the use of editing software, some of which are specifically engineered for the colour grading process.

Colour correction is the process used in stage lighting, photography, cinematography and even television which uses colour gels to adapt the colour of the light. Typically the light colour is measured on a scale known as 'colour temperature'. Without these correction gels, a shot/scene may have a mic of colours. Applying these gels in front of the light source can change the colour of it in the hopes of making all light sources match. Having a mixed lighting setup can create an undesirable aesthetic on screen. However, sometimes you may want to use this to your advantage. Colour correction can also be altered in post production software.

Colour grading/correction is a very important process, much like lighting, as it is able to affect the mood and overall feel of the shot/scene, and therefore how we interpret the final piece. This is just as applicable to still images. Often, the 'flat' LOG profile image that comes out of the camera looks lifeless or as if it was shot through fog.

However, we tend to want to begin with this lifeless image. You want to spend time being able to create a specific style/look in post production. A good analogy is editing a RAW file in comparison to simply accepting what the JPEG image looks like, straight out of the camera).