If you’re just interested in seeing a reel, you can find that here.
The final image is only part of the story. Color grading is a layered process that involves more than just correcting exposure, contrast, and color to look “realistic” – which is all relative to your eyesight, the display screen, and the environment. It typically requires changing specific color and brightness ranges, making certain parts of the image brighter or darker to draw more attention to the subject, reframing the image, reducing visual noise, adding film grain, and much more. The comparisons below highlight the stark differences between the original – or raw – footage and the final graded image. Plus, I’ve created videos for some of the films that clearly break down the many intermediate steps of the grading process. The genre of the film is an important consideration – for example, a bright and saturated image may work great for a comedy but look completely out of place in a drama. This is part of my discussion with the director at the beginning of a project to ensure that the color will enhance the story and the message rather than detract from it.
Crosswinds (Drama, Short Film)
Anything You Can Do (Drama/Comedy, Short Film)
Mitsubishi Power & Electric – The Power That Moves Us All
A Good Home (Drama/Sci-Fi, Short Film)
Pulling Strings (Dark Comedy, Short Film)
The director of this film provided some specific reference images from other films that he wanted me to match. Here are two comparisons between the graded still frames and the corresponding reference images.
Rookie Day (Comedy, Short Film)
