Colour and film look

Nineteen colour looks, and the wording that gets each one.

Colour is the fastest way to set a mood and the easiest thing to overdo. Name the grade and a model applies it to the whole frame. Leave it out and you get whatever the scene was lit with.

Warm or cold

6

The first decision in a grade. Which way the whole frame leans, and what that does to skin.

Warm Amber: The whole frame leans warm, and the light feels late and low.

The whole frame leans warm, and the light feels late and low.

Cool Blue: The whole frame leans blue, and the warmth drops out.

The whole frame leans blue, and the warmth drops out.

Teal and Orange: Skin holds warm and the shadows go cold blue-green.

Teal and Orange

Skin holds warm and the shadows go cold blue-green.

Moonlight Gel: A blue gel stands in for moonlight and keeps the night readable.

A blue gel stands in for moonlight and keeps the night readable.

Tungsten Balance: The camera is set for tungsten, so any daylight in frame turns blue.

Tungsten Balance

The camera is set for tungsten, so any daylight in frame turns blue.

Day for Night: Daylight is graded to read as night without ever being dark.

Daylight is graded to read as night without ever being dark.

How much colour

5

From no colour at all to more than life. Saturation is a volume knob, and most looks sit at one end of it.

Hyper-Saturation: Colour is pushed far past life until it becomes the subject.

Hyper-Saturation

Colour is pushed far past life until it becomes the subject.

Desaturation: Colour is pulled down toward grey without going fully monochrome.

Colour is pulled down toward grey without going fully monochrome.

Monochrome: All colour is gone, and tone alone does the work.

All colour is gone, and tone alone does the work.

Sepia: A single brown tone carries the whole image.

A single brown tone carries the whole image.

Palette: The frame is restricted to a small set of colours that repeat.

The frame is restricted to a small set of colours that repeat.

Film and print looks

5

Grades that copy what film stock and print chemistry did, on purpose or by accident.

Bleach Bypass: Silver stays in the print, so colour drains and contrast climbs.

Silver stays in the print, so colour drains and contrast climbs.

Cross Process: The wrong chemistry crosses the colour curves and skews the tones apart.

The wrong chemistry crosses the colour curves and skews the tones apart.

Filmic Faded: Blacks lift and contrast drops, like a print that has aged.

Blacks lift and contrast drops, like a print that has aged.

Vintage: The colour behaves like film stock that has aged on the shelf.

The colour behaves like film stock that has aged on the shelf.

Split Toning: The shadows take one hue and the highlights take another.

The shadows take one hue and the highlights take another.

Exposure and restraint

3

Two ends of a scale, and the grade in the middle that stays out of the way.

Natural Grade: The grade stays out of the way and the scene looks as it was lit.

The grade stays out of the way and the scene looks as it was lit.

Overexposed: The highlights blow out and detail falls off the top end.

The highlights blow out and detail falls off the top end.

Color Shift: The colour changes through the shot rather than sitting still.

The colour changes through the shot rather than sitting still.

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Other techniques

Shot typesTwenty-five ways to frame a shot, and the wording that gets each one.25 shot types Camera anglesNineteen places to put the camera, and the wording that gets each one.19 camera angles Camera movementEighty-six ways to move the camera, and the wording that gets each one.86 camera moves CompositionThirty-two ways to arrange a frame, and the wording that gets each one.32 composition rules LightingForty-one lighting setups, and the wording that gets each one.41 lighting setups Lenses and opticsSeventeen lenses, and the wording that gets the look of each one.17 lenses Time and motionTwenty-one ways to bend time in a shot, and the wording for each one.21 time effects Cuts and transitionsTwenty-three ways to get from one shot to the next.23 transitions In-camera and optical effectsFifty-seven effects a camera can make on its own, and how to ask.57 effects Atmosphere and weatherThirteen ways to fill the air, and the wording that gets each one.13 atmosphere effects Genre looksTwenty-seven genres, and the wording that gets the look of each one.27 genre looks Viral looksForty-four looks that travel on short-form video, and how to ask.44 viral looks

Skin is pushed warm and everything else is pushed cold, so faces separate from the background. It became the default blockbuster grade because it works on almost any footage.