Edit & Color grading
CUT + COLOR
The Weekend Post-Production Lab — Bangkok Film School
Two days. One story. Zero boring lectures.
CUT + COLOR is Bangkok Film School’s weekend intensive for anyone who’s finished a shoot, opened the footage, and had no idea what to do next. Over two hands-on days you’ll take raw clips from timeline chaos to a finished, cinematic story — first cutting for pace and emotion, then grading for mood and consistency, entirely inside DaVinci Resolve, the same software used on professional sets worldwide. Small classes, a real project in your hands by Sunday evening, a couple of friendly competitions along the way (yes, there’s a trophy), and zero experience required. Runs every Saturday–Sunday, so there’s always a seat with your name on it.
Your Instructor
Md Iftakharul Hoque — Cinematographer & Creative Director with 10 years behind the camera on Tier-1 brand campaigns (Standard Chartered, Axiata, LG) and NGO work (UNDP, USAID, OXFAM). Currently building his own production company, Stache Films, and a personal content channel — so what you’re learning is what he’s using this week, not a decade ago.
Who It’s For / What They Leave With
- Audience: aspiring editors and DPs, content creators/YouTubers wanting a more cinematic look, marketing folks who commission video and want to understand post, complete beginners. No prior software experience needed.
- By Sunday evening, each student has: a finished, graded 60–90 second reel; working fluency in DaVinci Resolve’s Edit and Color pages; a real sense of pacing, story structure, and how to build a color “look”; a certificate.
- Tools: DaVinci Resolve (free version is enough) on lab machines or personal laptops; headphones. Own footage welcome — a curated sample pack (real travel, scuba, and wildlife B-roll, not generic stock) is provided for anyone who doesn’t have their own.
- Design rule: no talking-head block runs longer than ~45 minutes before hands-on work starts. Nobody sits and listens for an hour straight.
Day 1 — Saturday: THE EDIT
Theme: finding the story in the footage
| Time | Block | What Happens |
|---|---|---|
| 10:00–10:20 | Welcome + 60-Second Cut Battle | Teams get raw clips and 10 minutes to assemble the roughest possible cut. Play them back. Laugh. Now everyone’s warmed up and already inside Resolve. |
| 10:20–11:00 | The Language of Editing | Cuts, pacing, rhythm, the “invisible edit” — taught through a teardown of a real campaign spot from the instructor’s own work, not a textbook example. |
| 11:00–11:10 | Break | |
| 11:10–12:30 | Lab: Rough Cut | Edit Page fundamentals — timeline, trimming, J/L cuts, markers — applied straight to your own footage or the sample pack. |
| 12:30–1:15 | Lunch (provided) | |
| 1:15–2:15 | Sound, Sync & Structure | Music, SFX, dialogue sync, and why audio decides the emotional temperature of a cut. |
| 2:15–3:15 | Lab: Build the Story | Shape your footage into a 60–90 second narrative with a beginning, middle, and turn. |
| 3:15–3:25 | Break | |
| 3:25–4:00 | Peer Review Circle | Trade cuts with two classmates for fast, specific feedback before tomorrow’s grade. |
Day 2 — Sunday: THE GRADE
Theme: giving your story a look
| Time | Block | What Happens |
|---|---|---|
| 10:00–10:20 | Rough Cut Showcase + Grade Battle kickoff | Quick look at everyone’s Day 1 cuts. Then: same clip, handed to every student — by 4pm, no two will look alike. |
| 10:20–11:10 | Color Theory Crash Course | Mood, contrast, skin tones — illustrated with real reference frames from the instructor’s brand and NGO work. |
| 11:10–11:20 | Break | |
| 11:20–12:30 | Lab: Primary Correction | Color Page basics — exposure, contrast, white balance. |
| 12:30–1:15 | Lunch (provided) | |
| 1:15–2:15 | Lab: Secondary Grading & Looks | Power windows, qualifiers, building a signature look/LUT. |
| 2:15–3:00 | Matching Shots + Delivering | Making multiple clips feel like one film, then export settings for social, YouTube, and client delivery. |
| 3:00–3:10 | Break | |
| 3:10–3:40 | Grade Battle reveal + vote | |
| 3:40–4:00 | Mini Screening + Certificates | Every reel plays on the big screen. Certificates handed out. Group photo. |
Signature Moments (the “fun” layer)
- 60-Second Cut Battle — Day 1 icebreaker, gets hands on keyboard in the first 20 minutes.
- Real campaign teardown — students see an actual brand/NGO edit taken apart, not a stock tutorial clip.
- Grade Battle — one clip, one class, wildly different results — built-in Day 2 momentum.
- Screening Night finale — every student sees their work on the big screen with classmates watching, not just a private export.
- Adventure footage pack — sample clips drawn from real travel/scuba/wildlife shooting, chosen for dynamic light and color rather than flat stock footage.
