Color Grading 101: How to make your footage look cinematic in Premiere Pro

You know that feeling when you watch a video and think, “Why doesn’t my footage ever look this good?” Yeah, same here. But here’s the secret: it’s not just the camera, the lens, or the director. It’s also the colorist’s touch.

Color grading is the unsung hero that turns decent footage into a cinematic masterpiece. It’s an art and like any art, you don’t need to be a Hollywood pro to master the basics (and not ruin your shots with neon skin tones).

Grab a coffee, and let’s break down color grading from beginner steps to advanced tweaks plus some tools you can use right now.

Color Grading 101: Understanding the basics

So, what is color grading anyway?

In simple terms, color grading is the process of adjusting colors, contrast, and tones to give your video a mood, look, or style. It’s different from color correction which fixes technical issues like exposure and white balance. Grading is where the magic happens.

A basic color grading workflow often includes:

Color Correction: Fix exposure, white balance, and contrast first.
Primary Grading: Adjust global colors to set the overall tone.
Secondary Grading: Tweak specific colors or parts of the frame.
Look Creation: Apply a LUT or create your custom ‘look’.
Final Polish: Add finishing touches for consistency.

Film color grading examples

Think of The Matrix, green tint everywhere. Or Mad Max: Fury Road, blazing orange deserts and deep blues. These aren’t accidents. They’re carefully crafted palettes that make you feel something.

Need inspiration? Check out:

ShotDeck: a huge library of iconic film frames.
FilmGrab: beautiful stills organized by director and film.

Types of Color Grading in Film

Not all grading is equal here are a few classic styles:

High Contrast & Saturation: Think superhero blockbusters — bold and vibrant.
Teal & Orange: The internet loves to hate this, but it works — warm skin tones pop against cool backgrounds.
Desaturated Grit: Gritty dramas often pull color back for a raw, realistic feel.
Monochrome Tones: Black & white or a single dominant hue for an artsy vibe.

Each type serves a purpose: to support the story, the mood, or the time period.

Cinematic Color Grading Tips

Here’s how to avoid turning your video into a cringe filter mess:

Use Reference Images: Load a still from a movie you love into your grading tool. Aim for similar tones and contrast.
Work With Scopes: Tools like Waveform, Vectorscope, and Histogram in DaVinci Resolve or Adobe Premiere Pro help you grade scientifically, not just by eye.
Use LUTs Wisely: LUTs are like Instagram filters for video. Great starting point, but always fine-tune try LUTs from Color Grading Central or FilmConvert.
Stay Subtle: Less is often more. Push colors too far and skin tones look radioactive. The goal is natural, yet stylized.

How about color grading in photography?

Same idea, different medium. In photography, grading is often done in Adobe Lightroom or Capture One. You adjust exposure, shadows, highlights, and colors to create your signature style. Think of moody wedding edits or vintage travel photos — that’s grading too.

Film Color Grading Presets

Presets speed up your workflow and help you maintain consistency across shots.

Check out:

Lutify.me: high-quality LUTs for filmic looks.
CinePacks: creative LUTs and effects packs.
FilmConvert: emulates classic film stock.

Load them up, apply, tweak, and you’re good to go.

Final takeaway

Color grading isn’t just about making your footage pretty, it’s about storytelling. Warm tones for nostalgia, cold blues for tension, high contrast for impact. Start with clean footage, understand the basics, and then experiment like crazy. Most importantly? Don’t go overboard. Subtlety is the difference between cinematic and cartoonish.

Happy grading, see you at the Oscars! 🎥✨