Using 'Cinematic' LUTs in Colour Grading

Step 1 of getting the Dark Knight look.

Film the Dark Knight.

Not some idiot in his garden, trying to take a picture before his elderly neighbour, Mary, sees.

Then making it a bit blue / cyan.

Step 2 of getting the Dark Knight look.

Film the Dark Knight somewhere he might hang out.

Like a rooftop or cavernous cave.

Not near the bogroll in Sainsbury’s.

Then making it a bit blue / cyan.

Step 3 of getting the Dark Knight look…

See where I’m going with this?

Contrary to what some people trying to sell you LUTs might say,

The grade doesn’t dictate the look of a film.

Not by itself, anyway.

What you’re shooting, how you’re shooting it, and then the grade on top is what dictates the look of a film.

Production design. Lighting. Setting. Etc etc.

I’ve never seen a convincing ‘look’ on a film, that didn’t in some way resemble what was there before the grade.

Not without a whole lot of VFX, anyway.

For example:

It's hard to make a scene look like the 70s without filming the fashion, hairstyles and Stuff of the era. The cars, the wallpaper.

You don't slap a yellowy-brown filter on everyday footage and go to lunch.

The grade enhances or steers what’s already there.

You can’t take a Big Mac, mash it flat into a baking dish and tell someone it’s lasagna.

Well you can, I guess.

But to anyone who knows what they're doing, that's clownshoes behaviour.

When the LUT you’re adding is fighting the picture you’re putting it on, it won’t end well.

If you want a particular look, get it in camera first.  Or as close as possible.

The results are sooooooo much better, trust me.