7/16/2011

Video Color Correction For The Subtext-Conscious Editor

By Velma Joseph


As a standard process within most edits, video color correction is far more than a means to fix exposure issues or even up tones between shots, although that is, of course, its most obvious application. It is important to remember that coloration can and does affect mood, theme and other subtextual elements of the storyline. It is also a means of attracting the eye to important props, characters and other visual elements. Most people realize that the artful handling of composition, light and motion can elicit emotive and psychological reactions from the viewer, what most people miss, however, is that the clever manipulation of color can do the same.

Good directors of photography must maintain a careful balance of aesthetic convention, shooting style and technical considerations with the piece's symbolism, theme and narrative. Every element must harmonize with the next in order to support the director's vision, the production design and the script. Good video editors must do the same with the elements of their craft: pace, continuity, movement, audio and color. Content, director-instruction and overall quality are the just a few important factors to consider in the decision-making process.

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.

Image problems also tend to occur more frequently in low-budget productions, where camera gear and lighting equipment rental may be constrained. However they happen, image problems need to be fixed and coloration continuity errors solved before moving into advanced colorization.

Once these basic fixes have been applied, colorization as an art form becomes the order of the day. Color has several layers of meaning. Throughout nature, it can represent fertility, toxicity, danger, seasonal changes, and so on. Human interpretations tend to link it with emotion (cowardice is yellow, envy green, rage red, etc.), as varied as the spectrum itself.

We also create contextual associations with certain hues, the same shade can mean very different things in the context of our day to day lives. Red, for example, can mean 'stop' if you are driving, or 'error' on a computer screen - or 'romance' if a red rose adorns a table for two - and the list goes on. When attempting to manipulate subtext with video color correction, the wise colorist minds these primal, social and psychological connotations.

When Neo is in the Matrix, green dominates, and we wait with bated breath for Agents to show up. That glistening red apple in Snow White's ivory hand is chilling in the anxiety it evokes. The Muggle world is so much less vibrant than Hogwarts that magic surrounds us. When the hero kisses the girl and everything takes on a golden glow, a 'happily ever after' is soon to follow. As a story-telling tool, video color correction is powerful.




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1 comment:

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