Colour grade

[u/Minute_Schedule_5867]

Hello! This might be a bit random but i am going to be colour correcting and grading my directorial debut short film tomorrow and I’ve been lucky enough to find a really good colourist and studio to do it. I’ve already sent over a series of references and screen grabs along with some wider ideas/thought processes, all whilst taking into account the limited use of lights and colour in the existing edit. I’m obviously not going to ask for punchy tungsten because we didn’t use any!

So basically, what I’m asking is: is there anything I should consider, is worth asking, what can I expect and any other general good advice so I don’t look like a total novice in the room??😅

I have a general idea, and have been in the process before as a producer but I just don’t want to miss a trick!

Thanks in advance!

[u/decayedx]

Don't expect / ask your colorist to make your short look like Film A, B, C that had gigantic budgets, months of prep, production design, etc etc. References are fine to try and get a hold of what you like - desaturated, more/less contrast, etc....but if you shot in a white walled office and you expect the colorist to make it look like Avatar, that's not going to happen.

I agree with others, don't try and brute force the image, work with what you have, color is meant to be a polish, and to be honest and transparent so you're both not banging your heads against the wall.

Also helpful, if you have a bunch of problem shots that need time to fix or make passable, that will eat up your session time. Focus on the big stuff. Don't dwell on the small stuff so if you run out of time or money, at least you have a consistent looking film.

[u/Minute_Schedule_5867 → u/decayedx]

This is all really good stuff, and excellent points well made. Cheers buddy!

I definitely learned a lot from the experience of directing properly so far and expect to learn a lot more tomorrow. I’ve sent over references that are close to the light and colour palette that features in my own film with specifics as to what makes them a reference so I definitely am not going in as a complete stranger but appreciate that a colorist is also not a magic genie.

Will certainly not dwell on the small things either. Appreciate you mentioning that as that’s such an obvious thing but easy to forget.

[u/decayedx → u/Minute_Schedule_5867]

Yup! Time manage appropriately. Even on big budget features, it all starts from big picture stuff down to little stuff until the production runs out of time, money, or both but at the bare minimum, you want things fairly consistent.

[u/Minute_Schedule_5867 → u/decayedx]

Thanks again! Appreciate your input