The grade is where good footage becomes a film — and where vague feedback goes to die. "Make it pop" has sunk more sessions than bad lighting. Here's how our producers brief color so the first pass lands close.
Bring three references, not thirty
One reference for overall palette, one for skin tones, one for contrast and density. Timestamp the exact frames you mean. A colorist can triangulate three precise references; thirty screenshots just say "we like cinema."
Describe the feeling, then the facts
Start with the emotion — "lonely but warm," "clinical morning," "last night of summer" — then give the technical facts: delivery specs, mixed lighting scenes to watch, brand colors that must survive. Feeling sets direction; facts set boundaries.
The three sentences that save a grade: what it should feel like, what must stay accurate, and what you're willing to sacrifice.
Grade the story, not the stills
Judge the grade in motion, on the delivery screen, at real brightness. Stills lie. And protect one thing above all: skin. Audiences forgive a crushed shadow; they never forgive waxy faces.
Our finishing pipeline pairs every grade with a calibrated review — see how commercials move through post here.
