I guess now would be a good time to talk about the color grading. I’m juggling between not one, not two, but THREE different grades right now. Yeah, my apologies if this post is long due to a bunch of jpeg’s, but it’s understandable.
I’m just gonna get to the point and explain all three grades. Grade #1 uses the same techniques I used in grading Episode III, in that I used the HDR color wheels to adjust it to whatever looked best. I’m calling this one the Episode III Grade, and in the three examples, it’s the one on top. Here’s the first still for the Episode III grade:
Grade #2 takes on a different approach. I’ve been stubbornly trying to make the prequels as film-like as I possibly can because of how overly clean and digitized the prequels are. I’m going to call it the theatrical grade for this reason alone, and in the three examples, it’s the one in the middle. Here’s the first still for the theatrical grade:
Grade #3 takes a similar approach to the theatrical grade. However, the theatrical grade was done using the standard color wheels, while grade #3 uses the HDR color wheels instead. HDR theatrical grade is a mouthful, so I’m going to shorten the name and call it the HDR cinema grade. In the examples, it’s the one on the bottom. Here’s the first still for the HDR cinema grade:
So, to recap, Episode III grade is the top example, theatrical grade is the middle one, and the HDR cinema grade is the bottom. To see all three comparisons, click on the expand button below. Which one looks best to you?
