Colour grading seems to be one of those elements of cinema that flies under the radar most of the time. Filmmakers and film-goers alike can take colour for granted. Most film-goers don’t even know that colour grading is a think. But colour is everywhere and colour grading is right there with it. And it’s not just making shots consistent, or fixing overexposure, colourists can inject a whole new meaning into scenes. Generally speaking, almost every colour you see in a film has probably been touched by the magic hands of a colourist.
This video essay by Sareesh Sudhakaran offers some nifty insight into the world of colour grading and shows some tools of the trade. It argues pretty convincingly the invaluable nature of the colourists contribution to the world of filmmaking. It is pretty incredible that there are Oscar categories for technical aspects of filmmaking like Best Sound Editing and Best Sound Design yet colour grading hasn’t been widely recognised as the important art that it really is.
Don’t believe us? Believe Sudhakaran. Watch the video, soak up a bit of handy information and thank whichever deity you support for the fact that we live in a world in which video essays make learning about films easy and fun.