Week 4 — Color: Mood, Palette, Meaning
Color is never neutral. It carries emotion, shapes space, and quietly guides how we read images. This week focuses on color as an expressive system—how correction, matching, and stylization affect mood and meaning in digital cinema.
To Do This Week
- Learn basic color correction workflows
- Practice matching shots for continuity
- Explore color palettes as storytelling tools
- Create stylized looks intentionally, not accidentally
Blog Post: Post before/after stills or a short clip showing your color work and write 300–500 words reflecting on how color choices shape mood and interpretation.
Color as Storytelling
Color organizes emotional space.
It can suggest warmth or distance, realism or artifice, memory or immediacy. Color grading is not about “making it look good”— it is about making it feel right.
- Color as atmosphere
- Color as rhythm across cuts
- Color as psychological signal
Color Correction: Establishing a Baseline
Color correction comes before stylization. It establishes consistency and clarity so creative decisions are intentional.
- White balance correction
- Exposure and contrast balance
- Neutralizing color casts
- Preserving skin tones
Correction is about making shots belong to the same world.
Matching Shots
Color continuity helps the viewer stay oriented in space and time.
- Matching exposure across cuts
- Matching white balance and skin tones
- Using scopes as guides (waveform, vectorscope)
- Knowing when imperfect matching is expressive
Mismatch can be a mistake—or a meaning.
Color Palettes & Emotional Tone
A palette is a limited set of colors that defines the emotional register of a piece.
- Warm vs cool worlds
- High saturation vs muted color
- Monochrome and near-monochrome palettes
- Complementary and contrasting color schemes
Palette choices should remain consistent unless change is motivated.
Stylization & Color Looks
Stylization pushes color beyond realism.
- Bleach bypass / desaturation
- High-contrast graphic looks
- Pastel or dreamlike palettes
- Cold digital vs warm analog moods
Stylization should support the story—not overpower it.
Color Across Time & Space
Color can organize narrative structure.
- Different palettes for different locations
- Color shifts to indicate memory, fantasy, or time
- Gradual palette evolution across a film
Color becomes a silent narrator.
In-Class Exercises
Exercise 1: Correct & Match
Working with provided footage or your own:
- Correct one shot to a neutral baseline
- Match a second shot to the first
- Focus on exposure, white balance, and skin tones
Goal: Make cuts feel invisible.
Exercise 2: Palette Shift
Take the same clip and create two distinct looks:
- Naturalistic / realistic
- Stylized / expressive
Discuss how each version changes meaning and mood.
Exercise 3: Color as Narrative Signal
Apply color to suggest a change in state:
- Past → present
- Calm → tension
- External reality → internal feeling
Use color shifts rather than edits to signal change.
Mini Assignment (5%)
Create a 30–60 second video that uses color intentionally.
- Begin with corrected footage
- Apply a consistent color palette
- Use stylization to support mood or idea
Post the video and include a short written reflection describing your color decisions and their intended effect.