Video color correction is a standard element of the video edit. It can also enhance a project in more ways than equalizing skin tones and fixing exposure issues. The coloration of a scene or shot can affect the piece's mood, its theme, or the story itself, enhancing or subduing subtextual elements as necessary. By emphasizing particular props, characters or specific visual elements, it can pull the audience's eyes to important story and plot elements. The proper use of color is as effective in evoking a psychological or emotional response as the skillful manipulation of motion, lighting and composition.
A good director of photography balances technical considerations, aesthetic conventions and shooting style with the thematic, symbolic and narrative aspects of the content. A good video editor does the same thing with pace, movement, continuity, sound and color so that every element comes together to reflect the vision of the director, script and production design and to enhance the project's priorities. Every choice should be motivated by content, the director's instructions and overall quality.
As the most basic function of color correcting, fixing image problems is still crucial. Variable or incorrect white balances, bad or inconsistent lighting and numerous other conditions, due to error or circumstance, contribute towards problematic footage. Documentary, news gathering and other live-event non-fiction projects are especially prone to these issues, as most footage is gathered in the field, with lighting, subject-movement, weather etc. Out of the cameraperson's control.
Low-budget productions also may need special attention due to constraints in camera- and lighting equipment rental. Whatever the reason for inconsistencies, 'clean' shots and the continuity of coloration are usually high priorities.
Once those basics are covered, the art of colorization comes into play. Color has meaning. In nature, it can indicate danger or toxicity, ripeness, fertility, seasonal shifts, etc. Human beings imbue it with the full gamut of our species' emotional range - jealousy is green, cowardice yellow, anger red, and so on.
Common elements of our daily life have created general psychological associations also, and these are almost always highly contextual - a red rose on a table for two communicates romance, a red exclamation point on a computer says 'error', a red light on the road means 'stop', and so on. When enhancing, adding or otherwise manipulating subtext with video color correction, paying heed to natural/primal reactions, psychological associations and socialized connotations is crucial.
When Neo is in the Matrix, green dominates, and we wait with bated breath for Agents to show up. That glistening red apple in Snow White's ivory hand is chilling in the anxiety it evokes. The Muggle world is so much less vibrant than Hogwarts that magic surrounds us. When the hero kisses the girl and everything takes on a golden glow, a 'happily ever after' is soon to follow. As a story-telling tool, video color correction is powerful.
A good director of photography balances technical considerations, aesthetic conventions and shooting style with the thematic, symbolic and narrative aspects of the content. A good video editor does the same thing with pace, movement, continuity, sound and color so that every element comes together to reflect the vision of the director, script and production design and to enhance the project's priorities. Every choice should be motivated by content, the director's instructions and overall quality.
As the most basic function of color correcting, fixing image problems is still crucial. Variable or incorrect white balances, bad or inconsistent lighting and numerous other conditions, due to error or circumstance, contribute towards problematic footage. Documentary, news gathering and other live-event non-fiction projects are especially prone to these issues, as most footage is gathered in the field, with lighting, subject-movement, weather etc. Out of the cameraperson's control.
Low-budget productions also may need special attention due to constraints in camera- and lighting equipment rental. Whatever the reason for inconsistencies, 'clean' shots and the continuity of coloration are usually high priorities.
Once those basics are covered, the art of colorization comes into play. Color has meaning. In nature, it can indicate danger or toxicity, ripeness, fertility, seasonal shifts, etc. Human beings imbue it with the full gamut of our species' emotional range - jealousy is green, cowardice yellow, anger red, and so on.
Common elements of our daily life have created general psychological associations also, and these are almost always highly contextual - a red rose on a table for two communicates romance, a red exclamation point on a computer says 'error', a red light on the road means 'stop', and so on. When enhancing, adding or otherwise manipulating subtext with video color correction, paying heed to natural/primal reactions, psychological associations and socialized connotations is crucial.
When Neo is in the Matrix, green dominates, and we wait with bated breath for Agents to show up. That glistening red apple in Snow White's ivory hand is chilling in the anxiety it evokes. The Muggle world is so much less vibrant than Hogwarts that magic surrounds us. When the hero kisses the girl and everything takes on a golden glow, a 'happily ever after' is soon to follow. As a story-telling tool, video color correction is powerful.
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