Week 4 — Color: Mood and Palette

To Do This Week

Bring Clips to Class

Come to class with 3–6 short clips (5–15 seconds each) from your own footage. We’ll use these for correction, grading, and stylization experiments.

• Twilight exterior (just after sun goes down)
• Indoor lamp light (tungsten / warm practical lighting)
• Window-lit face (natural daylight)
• Overexposed or high-contrast clip (strong lamp or harsh sun)
• Flat / low-contrast clip (cloudy day or low-contrast indoor)
• Mixed lighting (window + lamp, or two different color temperatures)

Upcoming Assignments

Sculpting Space - Feb 23rd (no class next week)

Loops - March 2nd

Group Project? Discuss...

Color in Cinema: Palettes & Effects

Film Scenes to Analyze (3–4)

1) Teal / Orange Contrast

Notice how warm highlights and cool shadows create separation, intensity, and energy. Look for skin tone readability and the way contrast shapes texture.

2) Psychological Tint (World-Building Color)

Watch how a consistent tint across midtones can signal a “world” or psychological layer. What does the tint do to realism, emotion, and meaning?

3) Day-for-Night (Illusion of Night)

Focus on exposure reduction, cool temperature shift, and shadow control. The trick: avoid pure black while still feeling like “night.”

4) Warm Interior Naturalism (Motivated Lamp Light)

Look for warmth, low-key contrast, and “motivated” practical light sources. How does warm color shape intimacy, nostalgia, or tension?

5) Pastel Color Palette

5) Desaturated, Gray-Green Industrial Palette

Color Correction → Color Grading

Download Clips if you do not have your own.

Core Principle: Correct First, Then Stylize

Color work happens in two stages: 1) Correction — Make footage natural and readable. 2) Grading — Create mood, palette, and expressive tone.

Professional Workflow: Clip Correction → Adjustment Layer Look

Color work happens on two levels:

1) Clip-Level Correction: Fix exposure, white balance, and contrast on each individual clip.

2) Adjustment Layer Grading: Apply the overall stylistic “look” on an Adjustment Layer above all clips.

• Correction fixes problems.
• Adjustment Layer creates consistency.
• If one clip looks off, fix it at the clip level — not by changing the whole look.

This keeps your workflow organized, flexible, and professional.

Premiere Pro Color Workflow (Simple Order)

1. Set Sequence Working Color Space to Rec.709.
2. Select a clip in the timeline.
3. Open the Color workspace.
4. Use Lumetri Color panel.
5. Correct first → Then create a look with adjustment layer.

First Principles

Brightness before Color: Fix exposure and contrast before adjusting color.

Neutral before Stylized: White balance and remove color casts first.

Subtlety wins: Most strong looks are built from small adjustments.

Protect detail: Avoid clipping highlights or crushing shadows.

Essential Terms

Color Correction: Fixing exposure, white balance, contrast, and skin tones for realism.

Color Grading: Shaping mood, tone, and atmosphere after correction.

Color Space: A defined system that controls how brightness and color are represented.

Rec.709: The standard SDR color space used for most HD and classroom workflows.

SDR: Standard Dynamic Range (normal brightness range).

HDR: High Dynamic Range (expanded brightness range).

HLG: A broadcast HDR format using hybrid gamma.

Dynamic Range: The distance between darkest shadow and brightest highlight.

Clipping: Loss of detail in extreme highlights or shadows.

Lumetri Color Work Areas

1. Basic Correction

Use for exposure, contrast, white balance, and tonal balance. This is where correction happens.

2. Curves

Precise tonal and color control. Use for contrast shaping (S-curve) and targeted color adjustments.

3. Color Wheels & Match

Adjust shadows, midtones, and highlights separately. Useful for cinematic contrast (cool shadows / warm highlights).

4. HSL Secondary

Isolate and adjust specific colors (like skin tones or sky) without affecting the whole image.

Adjustment Layers

Why Use Adjustment Layers?

They allow you to apply a consistent grade across multiple clips without altering each clip individually.

Workflow

1. Create Adjustment Layer.
2. Place above clips in timeline.
3. Apply Lumetri adjustments to the layer.
4. Use clip-level correction for individual fixes.

Two-Layer Strategy

Clip Level: Correction
Adjustment Layer: Stylized look

Bonus: If you’re using Day-for-Night, create a separate adjustment layer just for that section.

Exercises: From Neutral to Expressive

Exercise 1: Neutral Correction

Goal: Make footage clean, balanced, and natural before stylizing.

• Set Sequence Working Color Space to Rec.709.
• Open Lumetri Color → Basic Correction.
• Adjust Exposure so midtones sit comfortably between 40–60 IRE on waveform.
• Lower Highlights if waveform is pressed against 100.
• Raise Shadows slightly if crushed at 0.
• Use Temperature and Tint to remove color casts.
• Avoid heavy contrast at this stage — focus on balance.
• Toggle Lumetri on/off to confirm improvement.

Exercise 2: Contrast Sculpting

Goal: Use contrast to shape depth, mood, and viewer attention.

• Start with a corrected clip (Exercise 1).
• Open Curves → RGB Curves.
• Add a gentle S-curve (pull shadows slightly down, push highlights slightly up).
• Watch waveform: avoid flattening at 0 or 100.
• Experiment with lifting shadows slightly for a softer look.
• Reduce contrast for a faded or nostalgic feel.
• Ask: does contrast increase tension or soften the mood?

Exercise 3: Day-for-Night

Goal: Turn a daylight shot into a believable nighttime scene.

• Lower Exposure until the scene feels darker but still readable.
• Reduce Highlights (night rarely has bright whites).
• Use Temperature to cool the image toward blue.
• In Color Wheels, push Shadows slightly toward blue or cyan.
• Use Curves to darken midtones while protecting highlights.
• Reduce Saturation slightly for realism.
• Check waveform: keep darkest areas slightly above 0 (avoid pure black).
• Optional: add subtle Vignette for focus.
• Ask: does it feel like night, or just dark?

Exercise 4: Warm Interior

Goal: Emphasize warmth and motivated practical light.

• Start with neutral correction.
• Push Temperature slightly warmer.
• In Color Wheels, warm the Highlights toward yellow/orange.
• Keep Shadows neutral or slightly cool for contrast.
• Lower overall Exposure slightly for a cozy mood.
• Use Curves to soften contrast if needed.
• Protect skin tones — avoid over-saturating faces.
• Ask: does the warmth feel motivated by a light source?

Exercise 5: Tint as Concept

Goal: Create a unified color world that expresses an emotional state.

• Begin with neutral correction.
• Choose one dominant tint (green, magenta, teal, etc.).
• Use Color Wheels to push midtones toward your chosen color.
• Use Curves → RGB for subtle channel adjustments.
• Lower overall Saturation if tint becomes overpowering.
• Keep skin tones readable unless distortion is intentional.
• Compare before/after and ask: what does this color world suggest emotionally?