Reflection
Throughout this process, I have learned a lot about myself and my interests regarding cinematography. I had always admired watching movies and youtube videos with super cinematic shots, specifically the use of LUTs and color grading from apps like Premiere Pro. Because I am taking film next year at Freestyle, I thought it would be smart to practice using Premiere in order to gain a comfortability that would be useful for my endeavors next year.
By using techniques such as color grading and converting my work to 24 fps, I realized how easy it was to take an okay shot and make it look incredible. Everyone I showed told me that the edited clip looked so much more professional and that they wanted to learn how to do it as well. As cinematography is something that I am very interested in and just beginning to explore, I felt that this project taught me that anything is possible to achieve when you set your mind to it. I probably watched over a few hours of youtube videos looking for tutorials about how to make film more cinematic.
Once I started playing around in Premiere, I noticed that it was easy to manipulate colors using Lumetri color in order to completely change the mood of the clip. For example, in my one edited clip of the fog blowing over the trees in the Santa Cruz mountains, I used temperature sliders to make the mood more mysterious with a blue hue. I personally did not know the capabilities I had when it came to color grading, but now I know for sure I will use my skills in the future to achieve my satisfaction in cinematography.