Fixing makeup in grading session.

[Adéyẹmi]

I quite often get hired to colour low budget music videos, and I also quite often come across footage that has amateurish make up done on the talent(s), where I discover patches of face powder on both the talent's hands and face, but mostly the face. What I would like to know is - is there a correct way to fix this? Is there something I need to learn or it's something that has to be accepted for what is.

Thanks.

 

[Nicolas Hanson]

Why would you need make-up artists or gaffers on set if you could fix makeup and relight the set in post? If the scene is lit poorly and the make-up is bad you should tell them to put some more money into production next time. I hate the word budget, and especially when problems are routed to post. To be nice, I would probably not give them the speach but let them know that skin replacement is a job for the VFX department and that colorists mainly handle colors. You could reduce some midtone details, draw the attention elsewhere in the shot or try to use color smart ways, but nothing can beat bad make-up. The OFX beauty mask could be worth a try as well. 

 

[Adéyẹmi]

1 hour ago, Nicolas Hanson said:

Why would you need make-up artists or gaffers on set if you could fix makeup and relight the set in post? If the scene is lit poorly and the make-up is bad you should tell them to put some more money into production next time. I hate the word budget, and especially when problems are routed to post. To be nice, I would probably not give them the speach but let them know that skin replacement is a job for the VFX department and that colorists mainly handle colors. You could reduce some midtone details, draw the attention elsewhere in the shot or try to use color smart ways, but nothing can beat bad make-up. The OFX beauty mask could be worth a try as well. 

 

Toxic clients eh. And the reference I was given is as golden as Mad max, but she also complains at how orangy she looks, compared to real life where she is super pale. How do I keep natural skin tones with a mad max look, and still fix bad makeup to blend in. I tell her that she has to compromise but that gets her upset. And then she says she wants the colours to pop! Lighting was extremely bad, makeup was bad, footage was shot on H.264. Cancelling her contract!

And when we even do get credits, it comes after catering. 

Edited August 15, 2018 by Adéyẹmi

[Thomas Singh]

12 minutes ago, Adéyẹmi said:

And when we even do get credits, it comes after catering. 

In this case I don't think you would want a credit. Colorists get blamed for bad footage. If the skin looks bad, you haven't done a good enough job. Stay away.

[Adéyẹmi]

2 minutes ago, Thomas Singh said:

In this case I don't think you would want a credit. Colorists get blamed for bad footage. If the skin looks bad, you haven't done a good enough job. Stay away.

Lol, very true. I have worked with some very empathic individuals who don't get fussy at all, because they clearly understand how bad their footage is. The point for some is, okay.. just make it look better, and add some style to it. But for many... Yea my footage is crap, fix it!

[Luca Di Gioacchino]

Track the face so you can limit the correction just to that area.

[Anton Meleshkevich]

@Adéyẹmi Oh, I know what you talking about. Half reddish and half yellowish face. A powder which has a different color from the concealer. I met this on a couple of projects. As far as I remember, I exported stills to 3D LUT Creator, then made AB grid correction to fix this. Then I applied the LUT using power window tracked to the face with smooth edges or with additional subtractive power windows to preserve lips and ears natural redness.
But that was not even close to fixing yellowish teeth on singer's CU shots. A LOT of roto.

[Adéyẹmi]

On 10/15/2018 at 1:24 AM, Anton Meleshkevich said:

@Adéyẹmi Oh, I know what you talking about. Half reddish and half yellowish face. A powder which has a different color from the concealer. I met this on a couple of projects. As far as I remember, I exported stills to 3D LUT Creator, then made AB grid correction to fix this. Then I applied the LUT using power window tracked to the face with smooth edges or with additional subtractive power windows to preserve lips and ears natural redness.
But that was not even close to fixing yellowish teeth on singer's CU shots. A LOT of roto.

Better still, call it a day. 

[Igor Riđanović]

It's certainly possible. But if they had no budget or inclination to do a decent make job in production, they will certainly not be able to afford it in post production.