Putting a blue tint on it

"Putting a blue tint on it" and henceforth "calling it a day" is a term coined in Production Lab by editor Michael Weinstein, when asked what should be done to perfect footage, especially when one has to shoot at night (or for the appearance of night), when lighting is difficult and bothersome.

In Theory
Weinstein refers to the program Final Cut Pro, where one can, using 'color correction', effectively tint digital footage blue to give the appearance of twilight. Night naturally has a blue tint; daylight, yellow. In theory, putting a blue tint on it ("it" being the footage) should assist in the lighting difficulties that come when one is shooting in daylight but needs a nighttime look, or shooting at night but needing the footage to be well lit so everything can be seen.

In Practice
This theory has been used in practice to varying results. It can be used successfully, in such cases as the film Hansel &amp; Gretel. The directors of the films End of Days and Shadowplay, however, admit that the technique has been utilized without great achievement by themselves, with the former film containing a scene that just looks like it is shot in a bizarrely aquatic warehouse with brightly lit windows plainly visible, and the latter shot with a pre-added blue tint, confusing the audience as to the time of day since the sun is plainly visible within the scene. All in all, it can be advised that one should only "put a blue tint on it" when they are totally sure of their color correction prowess (i.e. not in freshman year, and only in post production). And even then, they probably shouldn't anyway.