Color Grading
The process of altering and enhancing the color of motion picture footage.
Definition
Color grading is the process of adjusting and enhancing color in video footage to achieve a desired aesthetic. It goes beyond basic correction to establish mood, continuity, and visual style. Colorists use specialized software like DaVinci Resolve to manipulate shadows, highlights, saturation, and color balance. Grading is crucial for creating cinematic looks.
Why It Matters
Color grading transforms raw footage into the visual tone that supports storytelling. It creates mood, ensures consistency, and gives films their distinctive look—from the desaturated aesthetic of war films to the warm glow of romantic comedies.
In digital filmmaking, color grading is where the final image is crafted. It's both technical (correcting exposure, matching shots) and creative (establishing visual identity).
Examples in Practice
A colorist's work gives a low-budget film a cinematic look that elevates it to festival-worthy quality.
A distinctive color grade becomes part of a franchise's visual identity, immediately recognizable to audiences.
Grading corrects challenging shooting conditions, saving footage that would otherwise be unusable.