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.
Regardless of the type of project you may be working on, correcting shooting errors is important. Live event shoots like those for documentary projects and news-gathering must often take place in circumstances where lighting, subject movement and other factors are out of the control of the camera operator, so they are especially prone to lighting problems, shifting col temperatures etc.
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.
After basic cleanup and balancing has been performed, the art of colorization is applied. Remember: color has meaning. In the natural world, it can be a sign of danger or venom, fertility, ripeness, that the seasons are shifting, that a storm is coming, etc. For our part, our species imbues it with the whole gamut of human emotion - angry red, cowardly yellow, envious green, 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.
A golden light over two lovers kissing tells us they will live happily ever after. The apple in Snow White's pale hand is sinister in its gleaming redness. Neo should beware, and we tense too, whenever we see that sickly, digital green tint - Agents are coming. We can feel the magic of Hogwarts in the vibrancy of its coloring - contrasted with the drabness of the Muggle world. As a story telling tool, video color correction is very 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.
Regardless of the type of project you may be working on, correcting shooting errors is important. Live event shoots like those for documentary projects and news-gathering must often take place in circumstances where lighting, subject movement and other factors are out of the control of the camera operator, so they are especially prone to lighting problems, shifting col temperatures etc.
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.
After basic cleanup and balancing has been performed, the art of colorization is applied. Remember: color has meaning. In the natural world, it can be a sign of danger or venom, fertility, ripeness, that the seasons are shifting, that a storm is coming, etc. For our part, our species imbues it with the whole gamut of human emotion - angry red, cowardly yellow, envious green, 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.
A golden light over two lovers kissing tells us they will live happily ever after. The apple in Snow White's pale hand is sinister in its gleaming redness. Neo should beware, and we tense too, whenever we see that sickly, digital green tint - Agents are coming. We can feel the magic of Hogwarts in the vibrancy of its coloring - contrasted with the drabness of the Muggle world. As a story telling tool, video color correction is very powerful.
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