THE COLOUR GAME

How important is colour grading and correction in production?

- ANISHA GAKHAR

We’ve all seen films and shows with an eerie green or dramatic warm tint/ theme—something that drives home the tone, look and feel of the story.

These different atmospheres, and many more, stand as monuments to the film and video colouring process. In the postproduction process, colour is done through colour correction or colour grading, but colour correction and colour grading are, in fact, different.

The basic science of colouring, though, lies in effectively colouring your footage keeping in mind three main interconnected tasks: establish picture profile, colour correct footage, and colour grade footage. These steps come with their own sets of microtasks, and with their own specific orders.

The result of a finished video or film comes from a combination of both colour grading and colour correction, in tandem with one another. It’s all about the way they are concocted to generate the required vibe. It’s the difference between ‘add sugar’ and “add 50 grams of sugar in the pan, heat it till golden brown, add water and let it chill.” Getting the drift?

COLOUR CORRECTION

Colour correction refers to the process where each clip of footage is altered to match a consistent standard of appearance. Basically, correcting problems of the underlying image by balancing out the colours, making the whites appear white, the blacks appear black, and making sure that everything is even. The goal is to match the video footage to a standard that would be an accurate portrayal of how the human eye would view it.

An example of this is when you’re shooting outside over the course of the day. During the day, the quality of the sun is going to change, and certain shots of your video will not match up. That’s why colour correction is important, as it will make your video look like it was all shot at the same time.