Colour Correction & Grading

Colour has the power to completely change how a video feels. In this unit, you’ll learn how to correct footage so it looks natural and consistent, then explore colour grading techniques that add style and emotion to your story. From balancing exposure and white balance to creating cinematic moods, you’ll gain the tools to make your edits look polished and professional.

By the end of this unit, you’ll know how to:

Fix colour issues for clarity and accuracy.
Match colours across different clips and cameras.
Highlight, isolate, or replace specific colours.
Apply cinematic looks that enhance the mood and storytelling of your video.

This unit builds directly on your editing skills and challenges you to think like both a technician and an artist—balancing precision with creativity.

Here's another quick overview of nondestructive adjustment layers - https://www.adobe.com/ca/learn/premiere-pro/web/adjust-apply-color-effects-clips?learnIn=1

Notes: Colour Correction & Grading

Learn to control mood, tone, and scene consistency by correcting and grading footage.

Foundation of Colour Correction

Start with exposure, contrast, and white balance.
Check skin tones – they should look natural.
Use scopes (Waveform, Vectorscope, Parade) to guide adjustments.
Fix technical problems before applying creative looks.

Basic Adjustments

Adjust shadows, midtones, and highlights for balance.
Control saturation to avoid washed-out or overly intense colours.
Subtle changes make footage look more professional.

Automatically Match Colours

Use Premiere’s Auto Match to quickly balance shots.
Great for multi-camera shoots or clips from different lighting.
Always refine manually after auto-match for accuracy.

Match Clip Colour in a Scene

Ensure all clips in a scene feel consistent.
Match by using a reference shot (usually the best exposed).
Pay attention to skin tones and background colours.

Isolate a Colour

Use masking and HSL tools to target one colour.
Useful for highlighting an object (ex: making a shirt pop).
Be careful with edges and colour spill – refine selections.

Replace a Colour

Swap one colour for another (ex: changing a blue car to red).
Maintain realism by matching shading and highlights.
Works best when the original colour is distinct from surroundings.

Cinematic Look

Add contrast, lift shadows, or cool/warm tones for mood.
Popular film looks: orange & teal, muted highlights, or desaturated colour palettes.
Keep consistent across the whole project – don’t overdo.

Make It Look Like a Film

Apply film-style grading for drama and atmosphere.
Add slight grain or faded blacks for authenticity.
Think about how the look supports the story/emotion.

Key Takeaways

Fix technical issues first (exposure, WB, consistency).
Then apply creative colour grading for mood and storytelling.
Use scopes to stay accurate.
Keep before and after comparisons to track your improvements

Task: Before & After Colour Correction & Grading Demo

Show your ability to use colour correction and grading techniques to improve mood, tone, and consistency in your footage.

Instructions

1. Choose Your Footage

Select 3–6 clips that can benefit from color correction or grading.
Try to include different lighting situations (e.g., underexposed, overly warm, mismatched clips).

2. Create a Side-by-Side Comparison

On the left: place the original (uncorrected) clip.
On the right: place the corrected/graded version.
Ensure both play at the same time for easy comparison.

3. Demonstrate Different Skills

Across your examples, show at least three of the following:

Foundation correction (exposure, contrast, white balance)
Matching color between clips
Isolating or replacing a color
Creating a cinematic or film-style grade

4. Add Titles

Before each example, add a title card naming the skill (e.g., “Match Clip Colors” or “Cinematic Look”).

5. Spacing Between Examples

Insert 1 second of black screen between each example.

6. Final Export

Video must include 3–6 examples.
Export as H.264 .mp4 for submission.

Deliverable

Final “Before & After Color Demo” video with:

Side-by-side comparisons
3–6 examples
1-second black between examples
Titles naming the technique

Evaluation Criteria

Effective use of color correction tools to improve or stylize clips.
Clear side-by-side comparison showing the difference.
Variety of techniques demonstrated.
Proper pacing and formatting (titles + black spacing)