We grade on a calibrated monitor in a dim room. Our audience watches on a phone, on a bus, at 40% brightness, with a cracked screen protector. Pretending otherwise is how you end up with a gorgeous grade nobody actually sees.
What goes wrong on phones
- Shadows crush. That moody, low-key look turns into a black blob.
- Subtle colour separation disappears on small, bright screens.
- Skin can swing warm or magenta depending on the phone.
- Platforms recompress your upload and eat fine gradients.
How we adjust
- Lift the shadows a touch more than feels right on the big monitor.
- Build contrast with colour and light, not only with blacks.
- Keep skin tones honest and consistent across shots; people notice skin before anything else.
- Add a little texture or grain so compression has something to hold on to instead of banding.
Check it where people watch it
Before any delivery, we export, upload privately to the actual platform and watch on three phones: an iPhone, a mid-range Android and whatever the cheapest phone in the office is. If it works on all three, it works.
“We have one old Android in the studio just for this. It's the most honest reviewer we've got. If the grade survives that phone, it'll survive anything.”
Don't make two grades, make one smart one
It's tempting to do a 'mobile grade' and a 'TV grade'. We almost never do. One grade that's built for small screens and checked on a big one travels better, and saves a round of versions nobody wants to manage.
“The goal isn't the prettiest frame in the grading suite. It's the frame that still feels right when someone is scrolling past it at speed.”
Planning a shoot? Tell us about it — or see what we've made.
