Teal and orange is the most copied look in film and video, and also the easiest to overdo. A light version separates a subject from the background; push it too far and faces go orange while every shadow turns blue.
Why does teal and orange work?
Because of skin. Human skin, whatever its tone, sits in a narrow band of warm orange hues. Teal is roughly opposite orange on the colour wheel, so pushing the rest of the frame toward teal makes skin read as warmer and brighter by contrast, without changing the skin itself much.
It also suits a lot of real scenes. Skies, water, shade and night already lean blue; sunlight, tungsten bulbs and faces lean warm. The grade exaggerates a split that is often there already. That is why it became a default in action films, and why a light version of it is under many looks that do not announce themselves. Making footage look cinematic covers where colour fits among the other things that create that feel.
What should you do before adding the look?
Correct the footage. A teal and orange grade on a clip that is too warm overall becomes orange and more orange; on a clip that is underexposed, the teal shadows turn murky.
- Convert log first. If you shot log, apply the conversion to Rec.709 before anything creative, because a look built for normal contrast falls apart on a flat log image.
- Balance white. Neutral greys and whites should look neutral before you tint anything.
- Set exposure and contrast. Get blacks and highlights where you want them.
That order, balance and then look, is the core of colour grading basics, and colour correction vs grading explains why the two are separate jobs.
How do you build the look in DaVinci Resolve?
On its own node, after the correction nodes:
- Shadows toward teal. Drag the Lift wheel slightly toward cyan and blue. A little goes a long way.
- Highlights toward warm. Drag the Gain wheel slightly toward orange and yellow. Leave the midtones close to neutral at first, because that is where faces sit.
- Shift the background hues. In the Hue vs Hue curve, nudge greens and blues toward teal. This keeps foliage and sky in the same family instead of fighting the look.
- Pull warm hues together. In the same curve, nudge yellows and reds slightly toward orange so warm objects agree with skin.
- Check saturation. Hue vs Sat can calm a teal that has become too strong in the shadows.
- Protect skin. On a parallel or later node, qualify the skin and keep it natural, or reduce the look's effect on faces if they have drifted.
The Resolve colour workflow shows how to lay out those nodes so each step can be switched off and compared.
How do you do it in other apps?
The same idea works anywhere with colour wheels or curves:
| Step | Resolve | Premiere Lumetri | Final Cut | Photoshop or Lightroom |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shadows toward teal | Lift wheel | Color Wheels, Shadows | Color Wheels, Shadows | Color Grading, Shadows |
| Highlights toward warm | Gain wheel | Color Wheels, Highlights | Color Wheels, Highlights | Color Grading, Highlights |
| Background hues to teal | Hue vs Hue | Hue vs Hue curve | Hue/Saturation Curves | HSL panel, Hue |
| Keep skin natural | Qualifier on a node | HSL Secondary | Color mask | Masking, or lower the effect |
The most common mistake is in the last row: the warm push lands on faces as well as highlights, and skin goes orange. Skin tones in a grade covers how to check them on a vectorscope and fix them.
What goes wrong most often?
- Orange skin. The highlight push is too strong, or skin is not protected. Reduce the gain shift and check faces first.
- Teal faces in shadow. The side of a face in shade picks up the teal. Protect skin across the whole face, not just its lit side.
- Muddy blacks. Too much teal in the lift tints the deepest blacks. Keep true black neutral.
- Every shot looks the same. The look overwhelms the scene. Lower its strength so the location still shows.
- It looks dated. A heavy version is strongly associated with one era of action films. A subtle one reads as polish.
Should you use a teal and orange LUT?
A LUT is the quickest way to apply the look consistently, and many free and paid packs include one. Two cautions. A LUT bakes in the whole transform, so the skin protection you would do with a qualifier is not part of it. And the LUT was built on someone else's footage, so it is usually too strong at full strength. Free LUTs covers judging a pack, and LUT intensity covers dialling one back.
The better option is often to build the look once on a representative clip, then export it as your own LUT. How to create a LUT shows that export in Resolve, Premiere and Photoshop. Build it on footage that includes skin.
Applying the look across a whole shoot
A look is only useful if it lands the same way on every file, and teal and orange is sensitive to exposure: the clip shot in shade takes much more teal than the one in sun. BatchTone applies one .cube across a folder of photos and clips together, with a strength slider on every file, so the shaded clips can sit lower than the sunlit ones without opening a timeline. A frame from each file is previewed with the look applied before export, and photos and clips at the same strength land on the same values. It does not stack a separate conversion LUT, so convert log footage first or use a look built for log. It runs on macOS 12 or later on Apple Silicon. Batch applying a LUT to video shows how it works, and the seven-day trial has everything unlocked.
Common questions
Why is teal and orange used in so many films?
Because it makes faces stand out and it is easy to apply across a whole film. Skin sits in orange, teal is roughly its opposite, and many locations already split into warm light and cool shade.
Does teal and orange work on photos?
Yes. Lightroom and Photoshop's Color Grading panel has Shadows and Highlights wheels that do the same job. Portraits and street photos at golden hour suit it, and a LUT carries the same look between photos and video.
How do you stop skin turning orange?
Push the warm tint into the highlights rather than the midtones, and protect skin with a qualifier or mask. Check faces on a vectorscope: skin should sit close to the skin tone line, not past it.
Is teal and orange the same as a film look?
No. It is one colour choice. A film look also involves contrast, highlight roll-off, grain and halation. DaVinci Resolve film look breaks down what creates it.