More Production Prep

I still have to gather some of the props and get my costumes together. I'm not shooting anything with my characters this weekend, so I have decided to move on to the prepping my actual editing software and playing around with the different color schemes and LUTs so that I can already start adding my own personal filmmaker touches to the film (color scheme can be very important, just ask the Coen brothers or Wes Anderson). I want to add a little stylistic flair, as my film opening is going to be a little more simplistic. Now, I am keeping in mind that I might not go with any of the things I like right now. I'm using some test footage, as I haven't shot any of the actual film opening yet, to see which color scheme I most want to have for my opening. This is just going to be a little more prep before the actual filming, and maybe a part of me wants to get reacquainted with my editing software so I don't have to spend time later remembering how to do stuff. In any case, let's move on to the actual details.

I'm using DaVinci Resolve (https://www.blackmagicdesign.com/products/davinciresolve/) as my editing software. I have already used it for previous projects, and I already have a LUT pack downloaded onto it. These are Western LUTs (what I'm mostly going to toy around with for the color scheme) and they're the color schemes taken from a lot of famous Westerns (such as 3:10 to Yuma, The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, etc.), but I think that some can translate to other genres really well. Some have that more gritty color, while others seem to accent some brighter colors. I don't know which would be better yet, which is why I'm doing this.

I found this random video (shot in portrait mode, unfortunately). It's not the same setting, but it has most of the same colors as there would be at the beach. There's a lot of green vegetation at my setting, and the sandy browns and blues are what you'd expect at the beach. Now for the fun part, playing around with the LUTs.

Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid LUT:

There's not a lot of difference in the overall color, but the hues of the sandy brown and blues are sharpened a little bit more. I actually really like it. It's not too much of a difference, but it provides some more style and emphasis on the blue hues (something I want for my opening).

No Country For Old Men:

This LUT sharpens the colors even more, with the green and the blue gaining more of a neon. I don't like this one as much, mostly because it's a little more dramatic of a change.

The Assassination of Jesse James:

This color scheme keeps the sharper blues, but mutes some of the surrounding greens and tans. This resembles some of the color schemes of other dramedies that like to mute some colors to make others stand out. I don't know what this particular LUT will do to orange, but if it sharpens it and emphasizes it I will seriously consider this one.

The Hateful Eight:

This one refines the colors a little more. It brings out the blues as well as the surrounding colors. I like the style, it stills seems more of a color palette for dramedies, but one that brings good contrast between colors, muting some of the green while keeping the blue.

The two that ended up being my favorites are the Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid LUT and The Assassination of Jesse James. I'll still keep all in consideration, but these two are the ones that have more of the style I'm looking for, keeping some of the dramedy aesthetic while adding the necessary emphasis on the blue hues.