Why the so called “Blockbuster” look? (color grading explained)

By: Denver Riddle

It seems that artists are beginning to notice the trend of the so called “Blockbuster” look that’s becoming more and more popular in feature films and in personal projects with the advent of plugins like Red Giants Magic Bullet Looks & Mojo. For those who are just discovering the look, are plastering it all over their creative projects and those discovering the trend in feature films are beginning to bemoan its overuse. But nobody (to my knowledge) has explained yet why the look is popular.

I’ve decided to address this topic of why this look is so popular after reading this blogyesterday with the blogger expressing his disgust with the look. Be sure to read it to know the specifics. And just as Stu Maschwitz explains the why of 24p? I’m going to justify why this look is at least popular and where it’s place is, in cinematography.

Foundation:

This is quite an endeavor for me to explain so just bear with me. Let’s first establish the foundation that in storytelling/filmmaking that you emphasize the important aspects or parts of the story and eliminate distractions or things that are less important. In other word you focus the audiences attention on what you want them to see. One of the best ways of doing this is to create contrast, to emphasize something by contrasting or comparing it to its opposite, this way it stands out. Obviously the actors and their performance are the most important and so focusing the audiences attention on this through the use of contrast in color achieves this.

How the look is achieved:

Basically blue is pushed into the shadows and yellow into the highlights. For detailed instruction watch Stu Maschwitz’s tutorial on creating the “blockbuster” look.

To read more go to the original source:

Source: Digital Cinema Foundry

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