Color Correction Loses Actor's Performance?

It can absolutely change the mood of the scene. But "take away the raw performance"? As a blanket statement? Not if the performance was any good.
 
The performance is always going to be the performance, it doesn't matter if you shot it on a cell phone or 65mm.

I think the proper question would be can overt choices in the look of a film or scene distract from a good or bad performance?

I think that the answer is yes, it can to the degree which you are changing the look from the natural one that the film or scene would have occurred in. If your color correction work or even your on set lighting choices are extreme, then they can create a distraction and make it difficult for the viewer to accept what they are seeing. It is my opinion that good cinematography should serve the story not distract from it.

Be careful about applying things like Magic Bullet to a project. This tends to be a very over used "fix" applied by inexperienced filmmakers.
 
Does color correcting a film take away from an actor's performance?
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this would certainly explain what the HELL happened in sin city

but seriously, no. Whether you're warm with milky blacks or cold with MPED at -1000, the lines are what they are, and 300 hours sitting on Da Vinci isn't going to hurt em or make em better, just distract (if anything)
 
yeah it dpends on what you're doing. if you make something distracting CC then you might make it hard for people too watch a movie. IE THE CROW CITY OF ANGELS if you watch it the whole movie is super saturated with Yellow lighting it made it so hard to watch. it like one of the things i teach about.
 
Just wanted to say thanks for spelling "loses" correctly. 70-80% of the time it's spelled "looses" on this board. :beer:
 
Color grading should enhance the feel of a story... The problem with color grading filters/plug-ins, such as magic bullet, is that it's easy to go too far with extreme looks that may look cool, or pro, but doesn't suit the film at all. Being a good colorist take years of experience, it is one of the most difficult field in post production... The unfortunate thing with tools such as magic bullet, is that they fool you into thinking that anyone can do it, and often the result is: A film that looks like it went threw a plug-in... Magic Bullet is a wonderful tool, but use presets as a starting point, not as you final CC. And try to understand the science behind it so that you can create your own unique feel. Read books on color theory, color symbolism even color psychology...

cheers
 
i imagine what they were referring to is not color correction in general, but extreme color grading that calls attention to itself, which *could* distract a viewer enough that some nuances of the performance were missed. which is plausible, i think. but relatively minor in its overall effect. in short, don't sweat it.
 
allhorrormovies said:
...I was told that I'm thinking like a DP instead of a Director. ...
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I hope no DP's I work with think like that, it should all be about story. Sometimes that's seeing the actors eyes, sometimes that's barely seeing their silhouette.

You're extreme or mild color grading should all support story, just as lighting, camera movent, editing scoring should etc.

DP's and Editors have to understand and support story just as much as directors do.

And director is responsible for ensuring all those elements work together to tell a cohesive story. That the DP and Editor aren't trying to tell two different stories and that the actors fit within the aesthetic you've created.

You get a certain amount of aesthetic play, but beyond that shouldn't through Color Grading on it just because it's cool. It should serve a purpose.

And it is a director's job to prioritize all of the elements as listed above. So thinking about color grading is absolutely the job of a director.

And thinking about bringing out an actors performance, or having an idea about who to rack focus to in a pivotal moment - the listener or the talker is absolutely the job of a DP.

I just think Editing and DPing are so closely related to directing. The editor and DP are like the director's right and left hands, and there better be A LOT of crossover in the way they think about what to emphasize or not.

And you can tell your film instructors some random A-hole on an internet forum said so :grin:
 
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