Color grading can make or break footage, no matter how impressive the clip is. But did you know you can color grade in Photoshop? If you're not familiar with Premiere Pro or other video software, this could be very useful indeed.
There is an entire industry (or sub-industry if I'm being more precise) based on color grading. A Colorist for a production or film is somebody who works with the director and other seniors to help hone the overall look of the picture with color grading. It's one of my favorite roles and the one I find most interesting. It seems innocuous in many regards, but what they do is seldom correcting white balance and bringing up the warmth; they often dictate the whole look of the film, which can solidify its place as one of the greats, or just appear to be a poor and distracting decision.
If you've never thought about the colors in films before, you would still recognize many of the most famous; the green hue of the Matrix trilogy or the selection of oranges in Life of Pi. Not only do these decisions add identity to the films, but they can dictate the mood and the audience's reaction too. It's truly a crucial role, and if you are starting out in video, it's an area I implore you to read into.
In this video, Aaron Nace of PHLEARN takes you through how you can color grade footage in Photoshop, which if you don't have a video editing (or color grading software suite) might be handy. It'll also help if you are just a lot more comfortable in Photoshop, like so many of us are.
