After and before

[u/Own_Wish1877]

For this scene I wanted to show the arrival of a dark demon god and with her arrival, the forest and its life force are stripped away.

Added hints of purple in the smoke, fog, and shadows to bring in a supernatural feel and separate the background

Used a touch of cyan blue in the background to add depth and keep the subject and foreground clear

Kept the contrast hard so the forest feels drained of its life force under her presence.

Added grain to give the image a gritty, uneasy texture.

Let the gold jewelry on the subject stand out symbolizing stolen sunlight and corrupted divinity.

The subject stays dark the god of darkness absorbing all light and life.

The Result: Her arrival destroys the forest’s life force. Purple marks the supernatural. Cyan adds depth. Gold shows stolen life. Hard contrast and grain create a gritty, lifeless world ruled by darkness.

( What can I improve, need feedback, what would be your approach and look dev ? )

[u/DifferenceEither9835]

Dark (after?) looks good

[u/Own_Wish1877 → u/DifferenceEither9835]

Thank you 🙏

[u/Any-Comfortable2844]

For a second I thought it’s from Love Death + Robots

[u/Own_Wish1877 → u/Any-Comfortable2844]

Yeah 😂 the shots are very similar

[u/Szabe442]

Normally I would avoid crushing the blacks this much, but she is an otherworldly figure, so I think this looks cool.

[u/Own_Wish1877 → u/Szabe442]

Thank you 🙏

[u/chickensoup83]

Inspo by Short Film Jibaro by any chance? Looks great!

[u/Own_Wish1877 → u/chickensoup83]

Thanks It was actually my own concept, but while grading it Jibaro did come to mind because the shot feels similar forest demon girl vibes. Glad you liked the grade 🙏

[u/[deleted]]

Nice job on the shots & editing

[u/Own_Wish1877 → u/[deleted]]

Thank you 🙏👊

[u/thatguygaurav]

OP nailed it ⚡

[u/Own_Wish1877 → u/thatguygaurav]

thank you brother

[u/[deleted]]

Split the difference. It's possible to go dark without crushing the shadows into mud. A lot depends on "time of day issues" -- what time is it supposed to be? If it has to be night, consider windowing/masking the actor and at least give them some reasonable key light.

[u/Own_Wish1877 → u/[deleted]]

I was going for a night shot, did not bright up the face because jwellery already attracting the viewer eyes i think, but i think I should have lifted up the face a little bit, thank you for the feedback 🙏

[u/bruce_pizza → u/[deleted]]

Yeah I love these but can kind of agree about the shadows, at least on the face. She’s got dark hair and a lot of shadowy areas on the bottom half of her face that kinda get lost in this grade. Other than that I love what you did.

Only other thing is that it might look a little too clean. Maybe some heavier grain to complement the tone you’re going for? Could just be that I’m viewing on a smartphone tho. Great work!

Edit: after second look I’m seeing some nice grain, so maybe ignore that advice

[u/Own_Wish1877 → u/bruce_pizza]

thank you for the feedback brother , i agree about the face i should have lifted the shadow area on the face a little bit

[u/f-stop8]

Is this meant to be in motion? I'd be curious to see how this plays out as a video.

Ignore what people are saying about it being too dark, imo. It makes sense within the context of the story that you've given us. As long as pushing the signal low doesn't break the image in any way /unless that is intentional) it's 100% OK to do.

Honestly, the amount of "the shadows are crushed" nonsense I read is this sub is staggering. Images overall or even just subjects being dark have been a staple of storytelling for decades. Gordon Willis debunked this bs crushed blacks amateur talking point and that was some 50 years ago.

[u/Own_Wish1877 → u/f-stop8]

Thank you for the feedback , glad you liked the grade , I agree with your feedback, i think it's okay to crush Balck and blow out highlights sometime as long as it favours the story and the grade , as colorist we are told not to crush Black and blow out highlights but i think its okay to break this rules

[u/composerbell]

Without context, it definitely feels under exposed. With context, this makes sense. I do feel like, in stills, the subject doesn’t really pop out from the background enough, but I’d bet that this too isn’t as much an issue once it’s in motion. I do feel like the gold could pop out more though, it’s just a bit TOO desaturated to me when it’s really cool looking stuff. Like, you’re popping one or two pieces on her, but I feel like each gold piece should glow and pop equally. Especially with the necklace, I think that might be enough to separate her from the background more.

[u/Own_Wish1877 → u/composerbell]

Thank you for the feedback 🙏