Color correction in these music videos - THAT UNSATURATED LOOK

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rahul mehra

New member
So i've been trying to figure it out for soo long with no luck. there are certain music videos i watch where its completely different than the usual color correction. instead of high saturation it seems the videos have low saturation. but whatever it is they've done, i would like to achieve that look for a video and i cant seem to get it no matter what. any help from anyone would be greatly appreciated.

these are some of the music videos which have this type of look..

NERD - she wants to move
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GC7q0xftCmE
(not the whole video ofcourse, but the parts where they are in that weird isle and she's running down, and some other parts but i think you'll get the idea)

kid cudi - pursuit of happiness
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7xzU9Qqdqww

usher - trading places
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lWMLbEj0_wI
when its more grey than colorful - its that part

http://www.seriouswheels.com/pics-2008/2008-Aston-Martin-DBS-Side-City-1280x960.jpg
(this is just an image but its also "unsaturated" or whatever so it kinda has that specific color look)

there's plenty more and i'm sure you get the idea, so if anyone has any idea how to achieve that effect and could give me some advice, that would be greatly appreciated.
 
you probably are running into trouble mimicking this look because you're trying to do it all in post. but there are two other essential ingredients you'd need before color grading it. the examples you cited achieved it through set design, cinematography AND color grading.
 
I use Sony Vegas. If you do the first two steps Zak recommended then you can add a "Cool" sepia tone over the image. It would help desaturated while adding a blueish cast over the footage. Don't overdo it though.
 
thanks zac and ian, the reason i was trying to achieve this effect in post was because i was watching the making of a video a while back (cant remember the name and cant seem to find the video either), and the footage they shot seemed like any other scene shot well lit. however when they showed the shot footage, side by side with the finished product, the 'cool sepia unsaturated' look was there and it just looked so much better. so i'm guessing its alot of post work just not sure what effects exactly are being applied. i'll try something with the 'cool sepia' and see if i can get it to work.

thanks again for the prompt replies.
 
it can be strikingly different to be sure, but imagine what the source footage looked like. the colors are very contained. looking at the bar footage in the first video, there is not a lot of variation in the palette and all the colors are complimentary, rich earth tones. imagine how having a person in bright yellow and another in hot pink in part of the frame. it would kill the look.
 
I think that it looks like a "Bleach Bypass" effect. An old film developing trick to add that unsaturated look. Do a web search on "Bleach Bypass" I remember seeing a tutorial online on how to do it in After Effects. Might give some insight to doing it in other proggies as well.

Good luck.
 
Chris Ficek said:
I think that it looks like a "Bleach Bypass" effect.
Click to expand...

Here's the recipe for the Bleach Bypass effect,
taken from Apple's "Encyclopedia of Visual Effects".
I've done this in Shake, and it looks great.
I'm sure you can do it in other software.

1. Create a monochrome version of the footage,
using RGB weights of .33, .33, .33.

2. Multiply the monochrome version by the original version.
(i.e. composite using multiply composite mode)

3. Boost the gamma by about 1.2.

4. Boost brightness by about 2.

5. Reduce overall saturation by 0.75.

6. Reduce red saturation by about .85.

Voilà! Cool effect.
 
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