As to the question, 'why grade so starkly?'
- There's not too much psychology behind it, except to say that if visuals [grading included] and music can engage people's emotions and stir them in the faith/to faith then we've done what we've called to do...
Part of the stark grading and scoring has to do with setting the scene for a mood of unrest/noise/unsettledness etc.
Standard workflow involves:
1. Import the edit from FCP into AE via a script called Popcorn Island.
2. Level all the clips to make sure tonally they all match [do this using the standard AE color grading tools: curves and exposure tools especially]
3. Create a blanket grade using an adjustment layer over all the edits [for a particular sequence - depending on the tone of the sequence]
4. Tweak each cut to fit the tone of the sequence but to stand on its own too
I will go into greater detail in upcoming pieces
