Graphics Reference
In-Depth Information
primary color correc-
tion:
Generally, any cor-
rection to the entire image.
The other phase of color
correction—secondary
color correction—is
applied only to specific
color vectors or geographic
areas within the frame.
So primary corrections
are global in nature and
secondary corrections
are more specific. Not all
images require secondary
color correction. And, as
the tools have changed in
the industry, the concept
of separating second-
ary color correction from
primary color correction
has become passé. Today's
software tools are blending
these two concepts into a
single process.
Regional Color Differences
Neal Kassner
colorist of CBS's 48 Hours
One of the things I find helpful to do is to look at life as objectively as you can. What
color blue is the sky? Because that can be a very regional thing, I've found. If you're
working in the Miami market, I think they want more punchy colors than, for instance,
in New York. We (CBS) did something where some material that was shot in Manhattan
was color corrected by an LA colorist, and although the colors were technically correct,
it didn't have what I felt was a New York feel. So I had the opportunity to go back and
regrade it and make it a little more of what I think New York looks like. In a recent epi-
sode of Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip—it's set in Los Angeles, but they had a scene in a
corporate board room that took place in New York, which they set up with the standard
stock shot of the East River from under the Brooklyn Bridge. But the color difference
really struck me. Not that I was so aware of the LA look, but the New York look was
cleaner. It was more contrasty, and it was bluer. And that right away (that said to me)—
“Oh, this is Manhattan.” Even the fact that the Brooklyn Bridge was right there in the
middle of the shot—that was secondary to the fact that this was just a much cleaner,
sharper, crisper-looking image than the LA stuff.
But getting back to what I was originally going to say: What color blue is the sky?
Grass isn't really green in television. There's a lot of yellow in grass. So if you try to make
it look green, it's going to look phony. It's going to look like Astroturf™. You need to look
around. You have a white barn in the middle of a field. At noon, it's going to be white.
Late afternoon, it's still going to be a white barn, but it's not going to look white to your
eye. Your brain is going to filter what your eye sees.
To best understand what these displays are showing you, let's check
out some standard test images with color casts.
Using Your Eyes
For some images, it will be very easy for even an untrained eye to spot
the color cast, but on subtle color casts, it definitely takes some training.
You should really spend some time looking at almost any kind of image—
but especially film and video images—and try to understand what makes
them look the way they do.
Is the image very contrasty? Does it have a color cast? Does just one
of the tonal ranges really show the color cast? Where are the blacks,
or shadows? Are they crushed? Is there a colored or graded filter on
the sky? Watch TV commercials. Other than print advertisements, TV
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