How to achieve truly cinematic color | The Hollywood Method 

Aha, a video about this! Very nice, yeah this is basically the big secret; Hollywood exposures/color grades are much much "lower" than most people typically go for. Skin tones peaking at 50, 40 or even 30 IRE. The thing is, movies are meant to be watched in a theater... on a bright screen... in the dark. Keeping most of your image in the lower end of exposure looks very natural and pleasing in that setting. Additionally, it gives you room to expose things that "glow" (like lamps, skies, fire, etc.) much higher around 70, 80, 90 IRE in the same frame, which again looks very natural and realistic. It makes perfect sense that sources of light in-frame should appear much brighter on screen than your actor's skin. I think we learn at first to avoid exposing things too dark because you can ruin footage that way, which is where things like eye lights and fill lights have to be carefully dialed in to preserve crucial details, and things like practical lights, windows etc. come in to add pleasing "pools of light" to the frame. It's very hard to get Hollywood exposures with run & gun shooting, because lighting and composition often have to be carefully dialed in to get this look without things feeling off. Contrast ratios are too high in real life a lot of the time too, and exposing skin dark can cause total detail loss in a lot of the frame without lighting. Practicing with lighting and grading shots privately can help you understand how to find good, natural spots that fulfill a lot of lighting needs already in real locations. This can really help you early on when you don’t have a lot of lighting equipment or even a way to set it up at your locations. Great video!

I can see some confusion in the comment section over some slips of the tounge so I thought I'd try clarify. Let me start by saying this is not a criticism of Spencer, quite the opposite as I'm a fan of his work and what he's adding to the community. It is so easy as a RU-vidr to accidently sligtly mis-speak and cause confusion by accident, espeially when talking about filmmaking where there are so many abbreviations, acronymes and short hand lingo etc. @02:00 there is a mix up between standard definition/high definition (meaning resolution) and standard dynamic range and high dynamic range (meaning...dynamic range i.e. peak brightness) in other words SD/HD was mixed up with SDR/HDR. Note: When looking at the BT.709 and BT.2020 reccomendations there are specs for resolution so resolution does indeed tie into it. The next thing that I've seen causing confusion is Spenser saying 400 and 500 IRE and so on. He means 40 and 50 and so on. In resolve by default the histogram and waveform has markers of 0-1023. This is based on a bit depth of 10 bits per channel. 2^10=1024. 0-1023 is 1024 increments. 0 = 0 IRE and 1023 = 100 IRE and for all intensive purposes it scales to IRE at a ratio of 1:10 so its very easy to convert in your head. That said with resolve 17 you can change the scale to read IRE if you like. Note those numbers are based on SDR, standard dynamic range with peak brightness of 100NITS or IRE Hope that clear things up for some of you and thank you again to Spencer for the continued great work! Happy creating everyone!

That fourthwall break at the beginning really surprised me! So fun. Thanks for stressing the importance of "exposing to the right." Such a valuable thing to know before hitting that record button.. especially when going for that moody "cinematic" look.

In Blade Runner 2049 the color yellow appears whenever K makes a discovery or some new information is revealed. So when he meets Dekkard the whole scene is bathed in yellow cause hes given massive revelations that makes him rethink his existence. "Cinematic Colour" tells the story and informs the scene/characters. Its not just a genetic look... the word "cinematic" gets twisted so much...

Instead of releasing/selling LUT's it would be greatly appreciated if you would do a video on HOW you make your own luts. Per camera, per INT/EXT and what not :)

Whoa. That colour transition at 9:20 is mind blowing. Really conveys how powerful this approach can be.

As an aspiring cinematographer, I really love you educational videos, Spenser! Great work, always!

What really helped me to nail the contrast while color grading was using a false color lut on both my footage and reference. By analyzing dozens of movies, I realized pretty much nothing except light emitters themselves is going above 80 IRE ever.

More of this kind of content please! These practical breakdowns of concepts and techniques that most people have to learn on the job are super useful. This helped a ton. Thanks!

This is one of the best videos I ever watched on RU-vid. On my course I explain this to my students all the time. And you used exactly the same method that I use. Glad to see that we have people like you my friend.

11 minutes to say bring the offset down and buy my Lut? Wooh

The backlight that went off made this episode 200% more cinematic and it's really creepy it did that specifically in this episode hahaha

Excited on that LUT 💁‍♂️

I would love to see how the Sony S Cinetone on the A1 will compare to Fuji Eterna for straight out of camera look!

I bought your "Roger That" LUT awhile back. Yes, interested in your LUT's. Using GH5 and original BMPCC BMMCC.

Honestly, a PowerGrade would be much more useful, interesting and educational than a LUT

Q:Do I want Spenser's take on a Deakins LUT? A: ummmmm.... is that a trick question? So, um... f*&@g YES I DO (please)! ... .... PS: I shoot with Sony FS7, Panasonic GH5s, Blackmagic cameras - but most LUTS don't work for more than one of those at a time... Mr Sakurai - could you please make variants for Sony, Panasonic, and BMD?... lastly... your work is amazing... I'm a multi-award-winning 20 year veteran cinematographer, and I still audibly 'yipee' when you drop a new vid... so keep 'em coming.

Best . cinematography . color grading . tutorial . around here !

I'm confused, is your "B Roll" supposed to be an example of what you are talking about, because it looks like a beginner tried to make something "cinematic" for the first time.

Pretty cool. Learned a lot. Thank you!

Thank you! You explained this so well!!! I've watched dozens of explanations on rec and luts color grading. This by far is the best out there.

I've watched many of your videos and love your contribution to the community with the videos you create. This video was definitely something I found very beneficial. Thank you again for this.

Also... yeah, very interested in THAT LUT!

More than a color grade tutorial, this is like some advices to get a better dinamic range on digital cameras, wich is not what I expected, but honestly it really find it helpful

someone needed to make this video. thanks dude

your video instruction here was incredibly handy to take in. i also use a pocket cinema camera and you're opening comments were hella spot on.

Finally, someone who knows what he's talking about in Davinci Resolve.

Once I was part of an on set Film color workshop by Stu Mashwitz. He showed us how to choose the correct color tones on set. I tried that on my next project and instantly it looked more like a movie than just go out and shoot doesn't matter which shirt the main actors wears for example. A good preparation is so important. Thx for your video and keep on

Thanks man! Would be interested for sure to see some Deakins LUT v2 examples on the P6K.

I really liked Bladerunner 2049... and I mostly do not like newer movies. I watch classics from the 90s, 80s, 70s, and earlier.

I vote YES for LUT! Thanks for the awesome content!

Very helpful! Thank you

This is incredibly helpful! I'll be using these tips on my shoot today! Thank you Spenser!!

Definitely interested in that LUT!

Always loved how your approach on those topics !! I've used your ROGER+THAT lut in the past. Depending on the subject of the "film", it can give pretty awesome results on a "creative standpoint". Keep it up ! Cheers !

Fellow Oklahoman great advise sir. Definitely good to get it right on set instead of in post. Thanks

You should discuss and talk about subtractive color. I feel like it's important to achieve the film/cinematic look.

Great video. Everyday I learn something new, think of something different, find something intriguing to try out. I was in film school 16 years ago, and we used all film cameras for our projects. So, after school Ive had to adapt and learn on the fly as the boom to digital started. Over the past few years with all the log, ettr, heavy emphasis on home color grading-- man what wild world. Also, kinda blows my mind how even in American Cinematographer there is a wide range of opinion on HDR and how to go about best practices. It's really an incredible emergent time for cinematography-- the door is wide open for people who can master this craft. Anyway, long comment, appreciate your vids dude. For me that ultra cinematic interior look is shooting daylight WB with tungsten bulbs the way you have your interview setup!

Appreciate the hustle man, keep on crankin'!

Great video. Very interested on that lut!

That's a really helpful video, Spenser! Thank you, awesome work. I would definitely be interested in that LUT :)

Nice method !

Would definitely be interested in your LUT(s)... worth purchasing for sure!

This is a good simple way to explain an LUT build. Without a true reference monitor its still a shot in the dark. Okay for youtube or cheap DSLR music videos. Matching multi cams, color sensitive products like a can of Coke (coke can come after you if its not correct), color matching between makeup, wardrobe and the scene would be a nightmare without a reference display like an FSI or even an Eizo. Without true reference monitoring you never know if the viewer sees what you do.

Hey Spencer a lut pack would be great bro

Great tips and well explained

soooooooo much knowledge here man. thanks for making this video - you earnt my sub here alone!

Thanks for this Spenser, very informative 😉

Super valuable. Thank you, Spenser.

Good stuff, man! Just learned something new. Thanks.

great video, subscribed already by the openings shot!

Great content as always brother! Much love from Tennessee🙏🏼

DEF interested in that LUT!🙌🏼

I am half way through the video and i just had the same question. I actually took a clip of a music video and found the luma scope to lying under 60 70 ire which was shocking. I guess now i can see what to do to get similar results. Also finally someone who has made a video on what i wanted to know for long time

Really, really interested in the LUT. Waiting for the update when you release it (hopefully it would be sometime this month, or early Feb, because we start filming soon).

Yes! I want the lut!

Very interested in a newer cinematic Deakins LUT ;)

Completely changes how I view grading going forward. Also I would love to have your luts

Lut, yes! Pockets. Are you saying that in general digital cameras are not capable of capturing the needed low low light detail without noise., hence the need to ETTR and compress later?

The Resolve scopes have nothing to do with IRE though

I can tell you color correct on a corrected monitor. Bc I use that + an old HDTV to see final output on low-end consumer products. Your image was looking hot but when I moved over to the corrected monitor you were dialed in. I use the cheap TV so I can bounce between the corrected and the TV and get a universally dialed in image.

that intro though of you grabbing the beer! i see you!

really good advice! I love it. What's your advice if you're going for a brighter look? Something like that shot from HER? It looks so bright but also it somehow still looks cinematic. I shoot weddings, where people really like that brighter look, but every videographer I see who does that, it's like blown out highlights and stuff

ok im understanding you build a out but first u need the image to compliment that out for this look that were looking for so how do you expose are you exposing more light or are you exposing less in camera

Love your Shiba dude

Any LUT or Powergrade I'm here for it! I would love a Roger That interior and exterior like you described :)

Thumb up immediately at 0:02 when Shiba entered the frame. :D

This was gold 💪🏾🤘🏾

Bring on those LUTS 🙌

Super

I colour grade with EDIUS but thanks for this important infos 👍🏻😉

Great video!

It's those damn creamy Deakins highlights I love and can't seem to reproduce myself!

You guys are funny, learning how to color a movie from a guy who has never colored a movie lol

I always wonder how the white captions on platforms like Netflix are so visible, even on “bright” scenes. Whenever I add similar captions to my videos, they just compete with the whites in my image. Maybe this explains that lol

Nailed it. (mic was a bit hot, but we've all been there)

Yes to LUTs.

Subscribed. Interested in LUTs for shure. I got blackmagicCamera my self.

Sorry, I'm a stills photo guy just starting to play with motion. Exposing to the right is just shooting half or full stop over? Your technique here is pulling your levels from the highlights towards the left to compress and make them midtones?

Do you know who doesn’t ETTR? Steve Yedlin and Roger Deakins.

Hi! I don't know if this is relevant or helpful but maybe sometimes you could upload 12 bit version of some of your work? I think sometimes RU-vid compression messes up your final outputs. thanks

Great work as always. Always wanted to create my own LUTs but a little daunted by where to start. Any words of advice on how to dive in?

I always just go for what I feel is an "arty" look rather than trying to copy anything specific. I shoot on BMPCC4k in RAW or Prores with the flat color and I just tweak things until they look decent in Premiere. I honestly do not know much about the ins and outs of grading beyond just being intuitive about it and working on it until it looks nice.

Seems to be a mix up with rec709 dynamic range and cameras dynamic range. Even if rec709 dr is limited it doesn't mean camera's 13 or more dr cannot fit into it. It's about getting the details within 13 or more dr and bringing them back into the color space you are working in.

You are on the perfect track for making something big and controlling all that contrast the right way. But maybe you should spend some more time with a decent ACES Worflow in DR to save yourself some time. I know that there is always a big discussion as soon as someone is talking about ACES but especially with the modern Cameras you just Expose +2/3 and pull down the exposure in ACES after the IDT 1 stop and lift the shadows again. Feels pretty similar and you end up having much much less work in DR.

Curious as to why you kept showing a Histogram and not a Waveform monitor to talk about the IRE of the images you were talking about?

would love to grab your lut bro ❤⚡🔥😊

How about if you are shooting in just BRAW though? You can change your iso and exposure in davinci resolve so is building in LUTS completely necessary from your perspective?

Can you make an episode about Cloverfield by Matt Reeves and Knightmare sequence in Zack Snyder's Justice League color grading?

awesome explanation. maybe you know how to achieve x-files mood?

How do you "expose to the right"? More light? Lower framerate? Or am i misunderstanding? I just dot gifted an old d3200 and im still trying to research "stops" haha

What are your render settings in resolve? Your video's always looks so darn good crisp quality!

cool

Crazy that this is free

The ETTR exposing technique has its merits but I have talked on this subject with a colorist that has worked with Roger Deakins and I asked him about exposure on set and the use of LUTS and he told me they were based at 18% grey and not ETTR. Seems to me that the lighting then specifies the look - i.e. highlights and shadows. But your observations may be more for getting that look with a lower end camera and device capture. That is just a hunch. We also have to consider that movies are usually graded for projection and sometimes the blu-rays or digital offerings are different than how the movie was shot. I have even some that the colorists have said that that process ruined the grade. ( rare occasion ). I think that one or two stops even would be clean and for a lot of people won't push their limit into a knee or clip highlights. Might be worth testing to see if the results match. Interesting.

So when you say 'push it down' like.. what dial are you using? Gamma? I'm a davinci novice

I think this film, THe Social Network, is akin to the retelling of Citizen Kane--both good, great films. I am not keen on getting LUTS. Prefer to create one so one knows exactly what it is for and how it functions.

You can actually shoot for this result in-camera on RED by shooting at a lower ISO, which changes the mid-point of the exposure range. If 800 ISO gives you equal latitude above and below middle grey, 400 gives you relatively less highlight latitude and more shadow latitude. Not sure about other cameras.

Hey you know how in a lot of action movies they like cyan/blue tint in the white part of the eyes? I have always wondered what's the purpose of that even when other whites are almost white in the image.

I'm not a fan of a lot of Hollywood color grading, particularly when they make everything too blue/green or over-desaturate the color.