ben3308 (22nd Mar 2006 03:44)
Tarn wrote:
While the high contrast look works really well in a techno-thriller like your Splinter Cell trailer, it would look very out of place on a fantasy movie like this. Some projects suit really over the top grading that calls attention to itself, while others need to go down a more subtle, restrained route.
I understand, I tihnk you're reading my quote the wrong way. Because I favor high contrast, I'm inclined towards it. I know that it certianly doesn't fit in every LOTR shot, I was just stating why it didn't appeal to me.
In regards to the grading within context, I felt it was well colorized, but some was too washed out to look professional. Many shots looked as if they had been tried to have been properly graded, they were just missing a little something, I can't quite place it. This could also be because compression is lowering the sharpness of the picture.
Like I said, I was just trying to reason my vote, I'm not saying this wasn't technically proficient, because, in most aspects, it was.
EDIT: After just finishing watching the grading comparison, I've surmised the problem: the camera. Simply, I feel the grading was too ambitious for the quality of the camera on which the footage was shot.
After about the 1:16 mark I really, really like the grading; but most before that bleeds too many colors together, not leaving enough contrast between the talent in the foreground and the background atmosphere. I think if you'll go through this one more time, you can hopefully see what I mean. Perhaps if shto on something better, like, say a camera of the Canon XL- series, the grading would fare better, however, IMO, it suffers due to poor image sharpness.
Like I said, the only real problems are before 1:16, everything after is golden. When watching details in the comparison, I'm wowed by the attempts at fixing bad video (the enhanced sun rays hitting the camera in the opening shot) or the color options (the almost completely desaturated wide shot of the orcs. Though it hints at being B&W, there are still subtle, brilliant hues of red, green, and blue upon the moving orcs. I dunno if you isolated the orcs with garbage mattes, desaturated them slightly, then desaturated the bg drastically, or if it's just an easy filter in VLab, but it works)
All-in-all, though I stand by my vote, I've reconsidered my opinion on the grading.
