How to Grade colour and tone for a nocturnal look

1 Import assets

Go to File > Import Media to import a clip and, optionally, a Photoshop doc of the moon; we created ours in Photoshop by filling an elliptical marquee selection with the Render > Clouds filter, then used Filter > Distort > Spherize for a 3D shape.

2 Preview preset effect

Drag the video clip onto the timeline and click it there to select it. Above the Viewer (top right), click the icon of three overlapping circles, then click next to Clip Filter. Put the pointer over Day into Night. It looks dull and gloomy. Click Cancel.

3 Increase contrast

To manually grade the clip, click on the colour correction icon (an artist’s palette) above the Viewer. On the blue bar, drag the black control left to create a stronger contrast that simulates the harsh light of the moon.

4 Cool things down

Drag the middle control on the same slider to the left to drop the light levels. The slider to the right controls saturation; drag its control left for more washed-out colours. Next along is the temperature slider; drag it left to produce a blue hue.

5 Add the moon

Drag the Photoshop doc containing your moon graphic into the timeline as a cutaway layer. It will sit on top of and run in parallel with the video layer. By default, the moon will have a Ken Burns movement. It will be the wrong size, too.

6 Scale and position

Click the Crop tool (above Viewer). Change the style from Ken Burns to Fit to remove movement from the graphic. In the Video Overlay tool (two rectangles), switch from Cutaway to Picture in Picture. Scale and position the moon.

7 Remove transition

By default, the moon will fade in and then out due to a transition. Set the duration box to 0 seconds to keep the moon visible. Make sure that the ‘no border’ icon is ticked or the moon will have a frame around it.

8 Flatten the layers

To add a Vignette filter effect to our layered project we need to flatten it first. Choose File > Share > File. Name the file ‘Day to Night flattened’, for example, and set the file’s quality to ‘Best (ProRes)’. Click Next, then Save.

9 Darken the edges

Remove the items from the timeline, then choose File > Import Media. Import the file you just created and drag it to the timeline. In the Clip Filter tool, click Clip Filter, then double-click on Vignette to darken the edges of the flattened movie.