How to Improve Your Films with Color Grading

Thoughtful color grading can turn average footage into something truly organic that enhances the tone and mood of a film. 

Digital cameras are excellent tools, but their footage does require some processing before it’s ready to share online or display onto the big screen.  

In this 30-minute step-by-step class, you’ll learn how to color grade footage from any camera for a professional and stylized look. 

Whether you’re making narrative films, YouTube videos or working as a filmmaker-for-hire, getting the colors right is a crucial step towards making the best impression.

The key lessons in this class include: 

• How to color grade typical shots using fundamental and advanced techniques.
• Best practices for color grading footage from mobile phones and other inexpensive cameras.
• Unpacking and creating stylized looks, including the pristine commercial look and the blockbuster look (without any LUTs). 
• Analyzing the qualities of Super 8 and Super 16 footage before emulating these retro aesthetics. No fancy plugins required!

Simon Cade has been honing his grading technique for over a decade while working on short films and non-fiction content. He has studied the qualities of celluloid film and painstakingly matched digital shots to those from classic movies as well as his own Super 8 and 16mm footage.

By the end of this course, you’ll have the creative and practical tools to bring different moods and styles out of your footage. Let's employ the beauty of film aesthetic with the flexibility of the digital process!

• Introduction
• The Fundamentals of Color
• Working with Nodes
• Contrast, Temperature and Saturation
• Simple Filmic Effects
• Advanced Filmic Effects
• Solving Common Problems
• Tips for Grading Cheap Footage
• Creative Look: Commercial
• Creative Look: Blockbuster
• Wrapping Up