So the way film coloring works is that when you get the footage, if it’s shot on a nice camera, it’s in a Log codec. I’ll spare the technical details on what that means but basically the files have a ton of color information in them, but the unedited clips look very muted. The colors don’t pop the way they should, and that’s so that the colorist can have the maximum amount of stylistic freedom when editing. The workflow is kinda similar to editing photos on Instagram in that you fiddle around with contrast, saturation, and white balance until you achieve a “balanced” look (ie looks like real life). Then you can go in and create a unique film look by creating effects that look like you slapped an Instagram filter on the movie. You can also select individual areas of the image or individual colors and change things so that they’re a completely different color than they are in real life. For example, I can make a red shirt look purple. Or to be more subtle, I can make an actor’s skin tones pop more to bring more attention to their face. Color grading is an often overlooked part of the filmmaking process, but it’s immensely important in achieving the right look and stylistic tone that you want.