Color Correction Comparison

[chrismagic]

A short clip of my friend, looking for his target, but is too late and he gets shot first. comments would be great!!!
I used Sony Vegas for the editing and color correction.
the last one was a Magic bullet preset (berlin)

SETTINGS:
24p, tv mode, -1 color depth, -1 contrast, shutter at 1/48, exposure -2.

http://vimeo.com/1613665

[lukeness]

i like the last one best.

[Jwymon]

I need more feedback.

And more patience!!

I would have to say that out of those I prefer the magic bullet preset. All of them are a little bit overdone for my personal taste though. It just feels a bit tedious to watch something with such exaggerated color for narrative work unless it truly adds to the mood. The original was a close second for me, and I would probably prefer it in many cases.

The question was not about my preference though. As far as film look goes, I'm sure you know there's a lot more than color that goes into the creation of that elusive look. It isn't as if once something is shot on film there is a specific color scheme that it is bound to: it has to be graded to taste as well. I wouldn't try to nail a color theme that will give you something that looks like film, just go for what you think will enhance the mood of your narrative.

[chrismagic]

Thank you for your feedback, its just what i needed.

[Randy CA]

I kind of like the first film look one and the Magic Bullet one. But the scene was so monchromatic anyway. It would be interesting to see the results with a more colorful scene. I wonder if it would be as moody.

[mattias]

the magic bullet one looks best because it's technically better, the other clips have both levels and chroma all over the place, but i also think it's a bit extreme. maybe you can use secondary correction to bring some proper skintones in there? something i would definitely do to this clip is adding some kind of grad exposure to the wall, as it is now it looks both flat and too bright.

/matt

[Braceface]

I like the first film look correction the best.

[Sagefox]

Great work here Chris.
The least appealing to me is the raw.
The film looks are good, but Berlin seems to have a slight fineness to it.
Here's what I think you should try. First drop contrast to around -.7 and then raise exposure by 1 in MB (slightly adjust the exposure as you go along). Start out with empty curves, and then use the midtone slider in MB on the luma curve to bring down the midtones until you get the right richness of film. Then use the bottom two shadow nodes, and drag them way down to get the deep blacks of film. From there, tweak things and get experimental with the color curves. You might also want to try diffusion, which is in MB.

[chrismagic]

thanks sagefox! Sadly i dont have magic bullet (the program) i just have mb presets, so i cant adjust them magic bullet is a definate buy, once i get the dough.

[Sagefox]

thanks sagefox! Sadly i dont have magic bullet (the program) i just have mb presets, so i cant adjust them magic bullet is a definate buy, once i get the dough.

No prob. Just use the curves in your editor, plus contrast and brightness. Be sure to apply contrast first, brightness second (exposure), and curves third. When I say use the midtone slider, I mean pull down the center of the luma curve. And then pull down the left end (shadow).

MB is a nice interface. But you won't need it.

[chrismagic]

cool, thanks!