In the fall of 2023, I took Color Theory and Introduction to Digital Colour Grading with DaVinci Resolve courses at LIFT (Liaison of Independent Filmmakers of Toronto).
The Intro to Digital Color Grading class took place over two evenings. The last hour of that first class was spent applying what we’d learned and seeing the results as we attempted our first color grade of scenes from a web series that was shot in Toronto.
When the instructor asked how things were going as I worked away at my adjustments, I believe my reply was,
“I could do this all day”. I was loving every minute of working on the footage and software.
The video below shows my first attempt at colour grading — a first pass at adjusting the levels of footage — after only 4 hours into the course. Now, I look at this and see issues I’d like to fix it, but it’s a good record of when I started and I’m able to see how much I’ve improved.
If you’re curious about where this footage came from, check out the series on YouTube. Here’s a link to the first episode: Miss Misery | Episode 1 | “The Pilot”