Why Color Theory Matters & How It Transforms Your Footage

Color theory is an exciting and profoundly interpersonal element of creative filmmaking, particularly for cinematographers and art directors. A specific color palette evokes a variety of emotions in the viewer while propelling a narrative forward. It's a dancing interaction of two colors or how a tone can drastically affect a scene's mood or atmosphere.

Applying color theory in filmmaking is not just a theoretical concept but a practical tool that can liven your creative visions with a balance between subject matter, lighting, and color grading that reinforces your vision and guides the viewer's agitation to specific focus areas.

While there are infinite ways to color your footage, understanding the fundamentals of color theory is the key to proper editing and LUT usage. In this article, we'll break down the various moods set per color and provide filmmakers with practical tips when applying them to their scenes, equipping you with the necessary knowledge to make informed creative decisions.

What Is Color Theory?

Color theory is precisely what you might think it is — it's about how color affects the emotional response in the audience. The colors of the subject matter can do this well in movies, as they're digitally misapplied in post-production. Various couplets of colors instantly create a specific mood for the scene, and later, are placed on top of one another for the viewer. It's an enjoyable, engaging way to tell your story better and holds significant power when used effectively, making it a fundamental aspect of filmmaking.

To understand why a particular color makes us feel like we do, look at the color wheel. Color wheels organize colors into primary, secondary, and tertiary groups, showing how they relate to creating flashy or complementary designs. It highlights opposing complementary colors for bold contrasts and groups neighboring analogous colors for a soothing effect, guiding effective color use in visual storytelling.

Naturally, Hollywood films haven't always used color as a sole means of creating visual impact. Black-and-white movies in the early days used contrast and dynamic range to heighten emotion and set the tone. Still, these standards of hue have always served an important role; see the following cheat sheet from Interaction Design:

1. Primary (red, blue, yellow).
2. Secondary (mixes of primary colors).
3. Tertiary (or intermediate — mixes of primary and secondary colors).

Examples of Various Color Uses

A monochromatic color scheme shows one color or hue washing over the screen. The scene is dominated by an overwhelming feeling of one stark emotion with little variability. It's a nearly inescapable feeling the viewer is guaranteed to notice. A classic example is Wes Anderson's "Grand Budapest Hotel," where the entire screen is filled with pinks to show off that soft, delicate, and playful feel.

The effects of an analogous color system are less overwhelming than those of a monochromatic color wash, as there are other periodic hues mixed in. These look slightly more 'realistic' and are pleasing, creating a balanced feeling.

Complementary color schemes consist of two colors on opposite ends of the spectrum — for instance, red and green or blue and orange. These palettes make both colors pop in the frame. The direct contrast almost feels startling to the eye, but the shock is what draws curiosity in the audience. Because complementary colors are completely contrasting, they create a sense of drama and conflict. This color scheme can be a great way to make a character's inner turmoil more visual or to bring some life to theatrical moments.

For instance, my favorite film, Amelie, is world-renowned for its unusual red and green color scheme. Many famous blockbuster action or superhero films utilize that classic orange and blue color scheme, creating a more lively, almost nostalgic appearance. I see a ton of travel YouTubers use this coloring style for their cinematic cuts, too.

Color Grading vs. Color Correction

If you've ever shot footage from a smartphone or big rig, you might notice that the colors and white balance look slightly different than when you shot it. While there are many reasons, any explanation of this phenomenon will cover a great deal of color editing theory — mainly how color grading and color correction go into digitally recreating the colors we see in real life.

Understanding the difference between color grading and color correcting is essential because the two are mutually exclusive but are often, if always, done together. Correction typically happens first because footage tends to feel oversaturated and must be balanced. It's key to clarify that the end goal of color correcting is to make the tones true-to-life and precisely the way the human eye sees them.

So, before you begin to color grade, do these quick four tricks to make sure the footage is neutralized if it isn't already:

1. Fix your saturation first.
   1. Double check that the colors aren't too bright. Look at the greens of your landscapes or the warmer orange tones, especially.
2. Then, fix your brightness and contrast.
   1. Bring down the highlights if they're getting blown out and crush the shadows slightly to make sure they're not too punchy and distracting.
3. Set your new white balance.
   1. Correct the white balance so that the whites of your scenes are a true "white."
4. Double-check your skin tones.
   1. Always ensure your skin tones are true to life; this is typically done by correcting saturation and white balance, but double-check before moving on.

What Are LUTs In Color Grading?

If the color is corrected, how do you achieve that filmic vibe after your footage? LUTs are your answer.

A LUT is an abbreviation for "look-up table," which acts as a quick cheat sheet that filmmakers can use on camera or, more importantly, editors can use in their edit cave to give their footage a specific grade and look.

While LUTs are easy to plug and play and are perfect for filmmakers who aren't skilled at manual color grading, there are some rules and must-knows before you haphazardly slap them on the footage; the rules follow similar to color correcting:

1. Normalize your folate as much as possible.
2. Choose your desired look and style.
3. Make your color adjustments in your editing program of choice.
4. Double-check skin tones and vectorscope.

Color grading should only be done after your video has been normalized and corrected so that you're working from footage representing how it is meant to be seen. From there, the game's name is painting (or grading) your footage to look as you want it to be seen.

Grading can be as extreme or nuanced as the editor wants. When applying the rules of color theory, the same scene with various applications of color editing can profoundly alter the feel of your footage.

Trying to decipher what level of grade your scene needs is where the fun begins, and ultimately, up to the director's artistic discretion. While these kinds of tasks were typically done by professionals with hyper-specific applications in the past, nowadays, with modern digital technology and programming timelines being more accessible, anyone willing to master the basics can color grade their footage beautifully.

Some well-known professional tools are often provided in your video editing software of choice:

• Adobe Premiere Pro
• Final Cut Pro
• Blackmagic DaVinci Resolve
• Magic Bullet Colorista
• Fylm.ai

Best-Selling LUTs for Filmmakers

We sell a handful of our favorite creators' personally crafted color-graded LUTs they use for their footage. Our top-selling creator, Serr, has the best film emulations for mobile and mirrorless camera footage. Dusty pastels, vintage hues, and otherwordly-like colors that don't seem too overdone or overwhelming. His LUTs are among our team's favorites and constantly deliver superior quality grading made for various scenes, video clips, or creative projects.

The famous LUT Co provides another popular series of color grading LUTS — a catalog of various themes or colors combined with plug-and-play settings. Their selections are slightly more neutral than Serr's, providing a more flexible baseline to work from if you want a more streamlined, natural-looking scene.

And, if you need a super one-and-done versatile LUT that offers a streamlined look every time, Nile's Warm LUT is another crowd favorite. Developed for Rec.709 footage, you can use this LUT for any scene to craft a neutral, beautiful image that's both punchy and tastefully saturated.

Don't stop there, though — our entire LUT catalog serves a little something spicy for everyone.