03.03.01
Correct Before You Grade
Separate a consistent baseline from a chosen look.
- Color
What the Instructor can readThe Instructor reads your frames in the order you give them. It cannot assess movement, performance timing or sound from stills. This lesson's feedback rubric is new and has not been reviewed by an instructor yet.
The Idea
Separate a consistent baseline from a chosen look.
Correction prepares images to work together; grading shapes their expressive relationship. The boundary is practical rather than absolute. Start by asking whether a mismatch is distracting from the scene or carrying useful information. A change in location or time may justify a visible difference. Matching does not mean making every image identical.
Keep originals and compare at consistent display settings. Automatic phone exposure and white balance can create changes you did not intend. Adjust cautiously: lifting a dark image may reveal noise, and strong color changes may remove distinctions you wanted to preserve. No display shows a perfectly universal truth. Your aim here is a reasoned, reversible improvement, not a claim of professional calibration or a rule about what skin must look like.
Watch
Watching is optional. The worked example below is a complete route through the lesson on its own. These links identify the films — they are not a promise of free streaming, and the questions are FILMCRAFT's own.
In the Mood for Love
Wong Kar-wai · 2000
Observe a recurring color relationship and how it organizes attention.
The Red Balloon
Albert Lamorisse · 1956
Observe how an object remains identifiable across different surroundings. Describe the visible pattern without trying to reverse-engineer the grade.
Break It Down
Original pair: the same white mug appears in two shots under similar intended conditions. One image looks noticeably warmer and brighter. First compare the mug, surrounding neutral surfaces and shadows. Make a modest baseline adjustment to reduce the unwanted jump. Only then test a warmer overall treatment on both. If the second shot intentionally represents a different light source, neutralizing it may erase useful context.
- 01
Worked example
Original pair: the same white mug appears in two shots under similar intended conditions. One image looks noticeably warmer and brighter. First compare the mug, surrounding neutral surfaces and shadows. Make a modest baseline adjustment to reduce the unwanted jump. Only then test a warmer overall treatment on both. If the second shot intentionally represents a different light source, neutralizing it may erase useful context.
Frame Lab
Visual mission
Create labeled versions: original, baseline, look. Write the purpose beneath each. Never allow an unlabeled adjustment to overwrite the source image.
FILMCRAFT stores your observations and source links — never other people's images.
Try It
Try It
Submit exactly two images: your original photograph and a corrected version of it. Add 100–150 words identifying a specific issue, the adjustment and a tradeoff. Use an object or location; no face is required.
Exactly 2 frames.
Frame 1: Original · Frame 2: Correction
Constraints
- Frame 2 is your own corrected version of frame 1
Deliverable
exactly 2 original frames, in order · the baseline problem you identified (100–150 words)
Make It
Make It
Submit exactly six images grouped as two originals, two baseline corrections and two creative grades. Use your own two-shot setup. Add 180–250 words explaining consistency, the intended look and anything lost. Preserve group labels so comparisons are unambiguous.
Exactly 6 frames.
Frames 1–2: Original 1–2 · Frames 3–4: Baseline 1–2 · Frames 5–6: Look 1–2
Constraints
- Match first, style second
- No calibrated-colour claim is possible here
Deliverable
exactly 6 original frames, in order · your look and its tradeoffs (180–250 words)
AI Lab
Ask AI to compare visible differences, not to certify color accuracy or infer settings. Its viewing pipeline and your screen may differ. Test a smaller adjustment than suggested and compare locally. Do not let an AI impose one aesthetic or make sensitive judgments about people from skin appearance.
Sign in to sketch reference frames for this lesson.
Reflect
Go Deeper
Review the color training in [Blackmagic Design's official resources](https://www.blackmagicdesign.com/products/davinciresolve/training). Revisit your comparison on another available display and record differences rather than chasing an impossible universal match.