Deciding on the color grading before or after a shoot?

Hi everybody,
I've done a couple of short films and I would love to get some thoughts when it comes the actual planning of the color grading before a shoot. Sometimes I hear filmmakers say that they shoot in flat/log, and in post-production decides how the final color look will be like.

Does anybody here do it differently? Meaning that you decide the color-look before the shoot?
If so, what's your process? Do you go to location and shoot/grade some test-shots? Adjust the lighting depending on the look? Adjust camera-settings?

I usually shoot with RED, DSLRs and smartphones.

Any input is appreciated!

Best regards,
Sergio
 
Look is more than the grade.
It is the light, the styling, the colors on set plus the grade.

So yeah, when you are aiming for a certain look you need to plan ahead or guess it can all be done in post.

I do a lot of corporate work: most clients want a clean natural image.
This means I hardly ever do art direction, but I do light the sets.

If the codec is good enough and there is time/money for grading it never hurts to shoot 'flat' or raw, whether you already know what look you want or not.
 
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Most productions decide on a particular look in pre-pro. That’s how the DP knows what to capture & how to capture it.

Part of your pre would be developing a LUT to approximate what a grade would look like later on that is then applied on set to give everyone a rough idea of the final look. You would be able to use footage from camera tests to help you develop the LUT.

You can then also shoot with a LUT ‘baked-in’ if you so desired.

The overall look and vision of a film should always be decided in pre-pro. Shooting in log is merely a way to get more latitude into a certain number of bits. The look will refine and may even change in the grade, but the major decisions should be decided beforehand. Otherwise how else will you know how to light and shoot it?
 
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