Our immersive sound mix stage doubles as a picture finishing/color grading stage. The cinema is fitted with a calibrated Barco DP2K-P Post Production Projector and we use the latest version of Hollywood standard grading software Da Vinci Resolve to ensure that our films look and feel rich and cinematic. Through the use of scopes, nodes and curves, we have the ability to manipulate an images colours to generate a mood and quite literally set the tone..
When asked to describe colour grading, I compare it to icing on top of a cake. The base of the ‘cake’ is the film itself, made up from a blend of ingredients; perfect camera angles, top notch script, engaging narrative, emotive acting, audio design etc. Whilst the cake may be truly tasty as it is, to really make it the showstopper it needs to be for it to be a TopTier production, the icing (grade) on top is essential. ..
So what is colour grading?
Colour grading is where an editor or specialist colourist will manipulate the colours to match shots or stylise footage. When films are shot, it’s extremely rare that all of the footage is filmed in exactly the same location, on the same day, at the same time of day, with the same lighting conditions, so the job of the editor/colourist is to ensure that the colour of the shots, given all these variables remains consistent and then is embellished as the production design dictates.
Why do we need to colour grade?
Some people wonder, “Why do you even need to do a color grade? Why doesn’t the camera just look perfect when you shoot it?”
Well, there are two big reasons for this. The first is technical. You want a camera that is exposing for the widest range of information possible. To make it look good, you’ll need to give up some of that information to focus the eye where you want it to look. You want to wait as long as possible in the process to throw that information away, so cameras focus on exposing the widest latitude possible.
The second reason you have to grade is artistic. It turns out that not everyone agrees on what “looking good” even means, and it’s not going to be the same for every project.
Your thriller film might want less color and a cooler look, while your romantic comedy might want more saturation and a warmer look.
The camera doesn’t know what type of film it’s shooting; there is no “genre” setting in the menu with options for rom-com and horror. So we color grade to craft the images to be appropriate for the story we are telling in each case.