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Hi all, I'm new to the forum and am looking for some advice. I'm not from Film; In fact, I am a video game Art Director at one of the largest game makers in the world (Not bragging, just hoping to show that I'm legit in my queries.) The game I'm presently working on - I'd like to take it in an artistic direction that mimics the forethought and planning given to a film, from photography, to production design to color grading in post. I'm reading everything I can find about it but some things I cannot seem to find answers for. Which brings me to this site. :) I'm hoping someone can help guide me through some of these murky waters. 1. In film, who decides what color treatment the film will have and when do they do it? Does Michael Bay say " I want it all Teal and Orange" from day one? Did Ridley Scott know up front that he wanted night time to be greenish in Black Hawk Down? These seem like important decisions and I don't understand who makes them, where it comes from, or how it finds its way to the myriad people who will be affected by such decisions (prod designers, costumers, etc.) 2. Along the same lines, do films have color scripts? Color is important for emphasizing emotional beats, etc but how and when is it determined? And who does it? Does storyboarding factor into this as well? 3. Another reason films look different, I imagine, is as a result of the film stock and lenses chosen. What goes into this decision making? To put it all another way, it seems like there are dozens of variables that contribute to the overall look of a film. What things do I need to consider in order to develop such a cohesive package of direction? What I want is to give my game a cinematic lens, I want it to feel carefully directed from the outset with thought given to the colors, the grain, the lens effects, everything. This is relatively untread water for video game developers however and I really feel overwhelmed by everything I'm reading. I've got kind of an idea of what I want to do but not the vocabulary to explain it. I want to learn more about this aspect of film making so that I can develop a really solid plan for the art direction. Any and all help is greatly appreciated! Thank you kindly. Rob PS- Any book recommendations would be highly appreciated too as I've got a list of about 30 going in Amazon right now and no way of knowing what is good and what is hot air. I dont want technical manuals, I want to understand the thought process that goes into designing the look of a film.