How we recreated Joker’s cinematic look with our free LUTs

If you’re wondering how to get the Joker look in premiere pro, we’ve got you covered with our Joker LUT ( Bellart LUT & Blakehope LUT actually)

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Todd Phillip’s Joker not only depicts amazing character development, but the cinematography and color grading is on the point in conveying the tone of the film. If you’re wondering how to get the “Joker” look in premiere pro, we’ve got you covered with our Joker LUT ( Bellart LUT & Blakehope LUT actually).

Here’s our attempt to bring the gritty Joker look to your average consumer camera footage. We created two separate LUTs ( Free to download) for 2 types of shots. For shots involving sunlight or sunlight reflections we use “Blakehope LUT”. The second category includes morning shots, indoor fluorescent shots, for which we use “Bellart LUT”. Both of these LUTs work with footage from literally any camera: BMPCC, Canon, Sony, Nikon, DJI, and Red and Arri (Forgive us if we are missed any).

Both of these are a part of our Bundle pack. (check it out hereIt’s amazing to see how our bundle pack easily holds up to recreate any grade out there. From blockbusters like Blade Runner to Art house films like Call Me by Your Name, also including series like Peaky Blinders and Euphoria. We’ve recreated almost every aesthetic, you can check it out on our Instagram page. Okay back to our grade, let’s get into it.

Step 1

So first things first, in case you like to shoot in a flat/log profile, let’s color correct our footage. We can do that by adding contrast and saturation and finally fixing white balance. In case you don’t know how to color correct a flat footage, check out our YouTube tutorials on how to color correct footage in Premiere Pro. Post color correction this is what we get:

Step 2

LUT time!! First, we are going to open our reference screenshot alongside Premiere’s window. We’re gonna start by adding another Lumetri Panel. Since this shot involves sunlight reflections, we’re gonna go ahead and apply Blakhope LUT in the creative section. So right off the bat, we have something that already looks like the opening shot from Joker’s trailer. Now we’re gonna fix skin tones, once that is sorted, you’ve got the Joker look.

Another example

A perfect second example would be an indoor shot. In this case, we’re gonna apply “Bellart LUT”. After applying the LUT in case your background still looks a bit blue, you can use shift the tint slider towards the left to tint it towards neon green. This might affect the skin-tones and tint them towards green too. To counter this, add another Lumetri Panel and fix skin-tones in that panel. If you have trouble understanding this, scroll down for a step by step video guide on Joker look.

Video tutorial

Here’s the step-by-step video tutorial for Joker LUT. Make sure to subscribe to our YouTube Channel for more tips and tricks on color grading.

Play Video

Verdict

Joker has given the moodiest color palette of this year. We’re glad that we were easily able to reproduce the cinematic look of Joker with our Premium Bundle. As we always recommend investing in LUTS that gives you a comprehensive variety ( without compromising on quality and sophistication ), we’re pleased that our own LUTS live up to this motto especially in today’s market where terms like “CINEMATIC LUTS” are loosely thrown around. If you want to check out Premium Bundle, it’s on our LUTs page.

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Important!

Likewise, if you’re looking for some serious color grading inspiration, check out our Instagram. It’s a treasure trove of cinematic images. A diverse selection of visually appealing photos is made available to you courtesy of our team. Think of this as an increase in the number of mood boards to use as inspiration for your own work. Follow us on Instagram at “colorist.factory.”

 

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