Ultimate color correction

[DavidBeier]

David, it did not win awards on film, I won awards on video using this technique.

I have tried and tested this technique. It results in a particular type of dirty grainy video, which is vastly different in look compared to adding grain in post. There is a major difference in the way the footage looks when intentionally underexposed and corrected to some degree in post. The overall look and gamma curve differs due to the manipulation, and increased grain is only part of the look.

It's all about the manipulation, push it one way, push it another, it will look different than if you left it alone. If you want to get interesting and unique results, you need to be willing to consider using the tools in unusual and sometimes counterintuitive ways, and ways contrary to the intended or recommended use.

Josh, I'd love to see some stills but if we wants the Se7en look I'm convinced this just isn't right. I've shot with the DVX100A and tried underexposing only to find that the image produces a lot of video noise. This noise didn't look anything like the film grain of Se7en in my book. More akin to the look of 28 Days later. It strikes me that if he wanted the Se7en look he should get as clean as image as possible first (by overlighting since that works for the DVX100 and HVX200) and then add FILM GRAIN (not video noise since Se7en was shot on 35mm film) in post.

That depends on your approach, how much you want to get in-camera vs. in post. Some looks are more authentic or unique when done in-camera.

I'm all for getting it as close in camera as possible but in my experience with the panasonics underlighting is the worst thing you can do and won't produce anything that looks like Se7en to me (you may like such a look but it's not the same to my eyes).