Color temperature is one of the most important fundamentals in cinematography.
A firm understanding of color temperature
can help you create a compelling color palette
that accentuates the mood of your film.
This is "What is Color Temperature".
Today, we're going to look at all aspects of color temperature.
What it is?
Where it comes from?
And how to use it?
And, at the end of the video,
we'll provide a link to download a free color temperature reference chart.
Before we get going, be sure to subscribe
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Now, let's begin.
First things first. What is color temperature?
In short, color temperature is used to describe the color of a light source.
In the early 1900s, German physicist Max Planck
defies the formula known as Planck's law.
This formula describes the electromagnetic radiation
emitted by a theoretical black body,
at a given temperature.
Yes, that's a mouthful.
But here's a more simplified version.
It indicates the type of radiation or light color
that is emitted by a black body or light source
when it's heated to a certain temperature.
Instead of Fahrenheit or Celsius,
these temperatures are measured in kelvin.
The base unit of thermodynamic temperature.
We usually associate orange with warm.
And blue with cool.
But with color temperature the opposite is true.
The hotter the temperature the more blue the light appears.
The cooler the temperature -- light appears more orange.
Now that we have the basics,
let's talk about working with color temperature.
In film and photography,
knowing the color temperature of various light sources
will allow you to master whatever look you're going for.
Here are a few key color temperatures you'll often run into.
Candlelight is around 1900 Kelvin.
Incandescent light and golden hour is around 3200K.
White fluorescent lights are usually set at 4200K.
Clear daylight is around 5500K.
If it's overcast, it's more like 6500K.
But knowing color temperature is only the first step.
You also need to understand white balance.
White balance is a digital camera setting
used to determine how these color temperatures are registered.
For example, once you set your white balance to a particular temperature
any light source with the same color temperature will appear as white.
Then any light source with a higher color temperature will appear cooler.
And anything lower will appear warmer.
Correctly white balancing your camera
will ensure that your footage accurately represents the color of the scene
including skin tones.
But many filmmakers will adjust color temperature
to emulate at different time of day.
Such as shooting at a lower kelvin value
to create a nighttime effect.
Many modern cameras have an auto-white balance setting.
But for accurate control,
there are more specific options you can use.
Many cameras have white balance presets.
Or you can enter a custom Kelvin value.
And for accurate measurement of a light's color temperature,
you can use a color temperature meter or a grey card.
Filters can also be used on the camera lens to adjust color temperature.
You can also modify a light source's temperature using gels.
A gel is a transparent material used to modify the color of a light source.
You can use CTB's color temperature blue
to add more blue.
CTO's color temperature orange
to add more orange.
CTS color temperature straw
which is very similar to CTO
but adds more of a golden yellow tint.
These gels also come in a variety of strengths
to help you dial in your look.
Alternatively, many of these colored decisions can also be saved for post-production.
If you shoot in s-log, c-log, or log-c formats,
this will preserve the wide-color gamut
and dynamic range recorded by the camera sensor
creating a flat profile which gives colorists
more flexibility when grading.
It's important to note that color temperature
is not the same as color correction
or color grading.
Those processes occur in post-production
and we'll cover those topics in a future video.
This is a lot of information.
So for an even deeper dive on the technicals
such as using look up tables aka LUTs
white balancing in post and more
head over to the StudioBinder blog.
For now, let's take a look at color temperature decisions in movies.
Before we discuss these examples,
it's important to remember that the color decisions
we see in the final product of these films
are a combination of color temperature, correction, and grading.
"- Excuse me.
May I have a blanket and pillow pack please?
- Sure. $125."
- So, what are some creative ways cinematographers use color temperature?
In "A Ghost Story",
the main location is a house
that sees many occupants over many years.
To help mark these jumps in time,
DP Andrew Palermo
explains how they adjusted the color temperature
of the kitchen light
depending on who is living in the house.
In this shot, it has a half-pink party gel on it.
With the Latino family, it had a little bit of CTB.
Color Temperature Blue.
And then when it's Casey and Rooney's house,
it's CTO -- Color Temperature Orange.
Orange was an important color in "Palm Springs".
Here's DP Quyen Tran to explain.
The color orange plays a very prominent role in their love story.
We use it for the cave light.
The color of the tent.
The orange firelight from the campfire scene.
When Niles is at the bar
and he finally recognizes that Sarah
is the reason for his existence,
I have an in-camera light gag
where all the lights go dim in the bar
and the color on her face goes from a neutral white to a deep reddish-orange.
"- Oh, my god. I'm an idiot."
- This is an example of how color temperature doesn't just create mood
but can alter that mood for significant moments.
In "No Time To Die",
cinematographer Linus Sandgren
explains his approach.
I love to light with color temperature to create depth in the imagery.
We figured out color temperature shifts for different environments.
Here for the opening in Norway,
the sequence was very cold and lit with a lot of contrast in colors.
Then contrasting that colorful sky with lab interiors.
Let's add a little cyan so it contrasts in a more beautiful way.
Then add yellow colors to contrast with a cyan.
We tried to make the movie a little more romantic like romantic action.
Heat can also be emphasized when you're using a variety of light sources.
Like in this scene, from "The Hangover Part II".
"- So the first image as they wake up is
going to be them waking up in a grimy room
in the middle of Bangkok.
It's daylight but the lights are all on.
There's a tungsten bulb in there to show contrast.
There's uncorrected cyan fluorescence.
The warm light that's coming in there now
is representing heat, right? Because they're sweaty and hot.
One of the things that we talked about when we talked about color temperature
is the way it shows up in the form of like cool white or warm white.
But the other thing that really plays into
lighting that we see in our natural world
is the green spike.
Often with fluorescence, they have a very high green spike
so it means in relation to the 3200 film stock
when it shoots an uncorrected fluorescent as I say
it's also showing up with all that green
so you mix that cool color temperature
with the green and you get cyan.
"- Where the f*ck are we?
- Well, I'm scared."
- For "Ozark", director of photography Pepe Avila del Pino
explains the decision to use only one white balance setting throughout.
We shot everything at 4400 Kelvin temperature
interiors and exteriors,
day and night likewise.
We saw that using that setup
would give us the most ability
to keep that consistent cooler grayish/bluish palette.
Not only does this decision give the entire series a consistent look,
it helps accent the darker subject matter of the show.
You can't avoid color temperature.
Every scene needs to be lit.
And every light source has a color temperature.
In the description, you'll find a link to download a free color temperature
reference chart to use in your projects.
Now, as you watch any movie
just think to yourself how they might have achieved
that look using color temperature.
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So long for now.
Good luck memorizing your kelvins.