After redrafting the film and locking the picture and sound cut, I've been working on colour correction and final tweaks before exporting the film. With limited time available to work on the film's colour I have left most scenes at colour correction rather than grading, although I have also put thought into the effects of the colour schemes I have been applying.
I have been grading the film using Sony Vegas's in-built colour correction effects; specifically the three-way colour wheels, brightness and contrast, saturation and colour curves - using the RGB parade waveform as a guideline for each shot. As I moved through each scene, the biggest challenges I faced was keeping the colour consistent across the scenes and also correcting shots which were greatly underexposed and where the white balance was off.
For the interrogation scene we decided on using a desaturated, high-contrast look to exaggerate the harsh lighting and provide a visual contrast with the colour in the following scene, where the mood is more comedic and relaxed. The high contrast, which I applied using the standard 'S' colour curves, was also needed to hide the background and the villain's mask, by bringing the shadows down.
Due to the rim light not providing much of an outline for the interrogator, I also boosted the highlights in these shots. Also in this scene I corrected the yellow glow from the desk lamp to be colder and more consistent with the other lights, as this was causing an orange hue on some of the insert shots.
Before correction - orange hue and colourful
After correction - desaturated and colder
The house scenes were the most difficult to correct as the lighting provided a strong orange glow throughout the environment. Using white objects and clothing as reference, I added blue to the highlights to cancel out the glow. I also added saturation and contrast to the scenes to bring out the colour in the set elements, and balanced shots which were underexposed using colour curves.
Before correction - orange and underexposed
After correction - boosting highlights and correcting hue
When moving to the Grindleford scenes we had agreed that we wanted to bring out as much colour as possible in the environment, To do this consistently across the scene, I used the colour wheels to add a red and green hue to the lows and mids, bringing out the colours in the trees, grass and leaves.
Before correction - desaturated browns
After correction - adding greens
To create the look of an older camcorder footage I desaturated the image, reduced the contrast and added noise, as well as experimenting with TV damage effects. The sequence shot in the reporter scene was quite challenging to balance due to the first part of the scene being brighter than the second, and also there being a very warm colour temperature which I could not fully correct, despite increasing colour on the opposite side of the wheel.
Before correction
After applying contrast, curves and colour correction, the scene had a more accurate but greenish tint, but I felt this was appropriate to the TV look if we were also filtering the audio. I had considered also adding interlacing lines and other TV effects to the screen, but felt this would be too distracting and unnecessary.
In the consequent villain scene I returned to the de-saturated, high-contrast look of the first scene, which also helped to hide the interrogator's face and make him appear more intimidating under the low-key lighting.
Adding contrast
In the second Grindleford scene I once again added the green and red colouring to the images, which was necessitated by the lack of light we were receiving at that time of the day, making the area look washed out and brown. As this changed greatly between shots, I tried to keep the look as consistent as possible. I also used the video scopes to help manage blacks and highlights, keeping an even spread across the spectrum.
Before
After
For the part of the scene where Ed discovers Laurence is missing, I had used a low rumble to create tension and suggest that something is wrong. Whilst correcting the scene, I had the idea of creating a subtle visual contrast here also, moving to a colder, darker colour scheme of blues and greens.
I started this from the shot of the camera lying on the ground and continued it up until the end of the scene, which I feel worked well to break the light-hearted, idyllic atmosphere created by the natural colours of the forest.
Before
After
Similarly, I used a colour change at the end of the interrogation scene. As the light changes in the room, I also used a quick cross-fade to change the colour, contrast and saturation of the scene - bringing out the colourful elements of the set design and emphasising the break in the tense atmosphere.
Upon my final review of the film, I made some slight tweaks to the sound and colour grade, and then exported. Due to time constraints and the amount of correction required, some of the colour work is slightly inconsistent across some scenes - but overall the images are balanced.
In addition the grades I've applied in some scenes have been thought out to reflect the needs and emotions of the scene, and I feel I have succeeded in creating clear visual contrast between scenes of tension and comedy, as was our intention with the story from the beginning.
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