There’s something special about the way the F1 movie looks, right?

If you’ve seen it, you know what I’m talking about. The visuals don’t just support the story—they are the story. From the glint of sunlight across carbon fiber to the cinematic haze rising from hot tarmac, everything feels immersive, alive, and intentional. You’re not just watching racing—you’re feeling it.

What if you could bring that same energy to your own videos? Whether you’re shooting car content, sports, doc-style interviews, or just want your visuals to pop with that clean, cinematic tension—the F1 color grade can be your blueprint.

You don’t need to be a colorist. You just need a bit of curiosity, a copy of Premiere, and a willingness to learn. Sound good?

Awesome. Let’s start with why this look is so compelling.

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🎥 What Makes the F1 Film Look So Good?

To reverse-engineer a cinematic LUT, we need to understand what the filmmakers were going for. The F1 movie (directed by Joseph Kosinski of Top Gun: Maverick) isn’t just visually slick for the sake of it—everything from the color grade to camera choice is designed to pull you into the experience of being inside the cockpit at 200 mph.

🎦 Cinematography & Camera Tech

• In-Car IMAX: Sony Venice cameras mounted right inside modified F2 cars. These cameras are ultra-compact yet full-frame, letting filmmakers shoot high-res, IMAX-friendly footage from eye-level driver angles. This adds realism and intimacy.
• Minimal CG: Most of what you see is real. The blur of background, vibration of the chassis, reflections on the visor—it’s all captured with practical cameras and lighting.
• Subjective Perspective: Many shots are designed to show what the driver sees and feels. The color grading reflects that—cool shadows, warm glows, and restrained saturation keep everything grounded.

🌈 Color Grade Characteristics

• Clean & Realistic: Unlike many action films, F1 avoids overly stylized hues. The grade leans slightly into teal-blue shadows and golden highlights but doesn’t go full teal-orange cliché.
• High Contrast, Soft Roll-Off: The blacks are deep but not crushed, and the highlights bloom softly (especially in sun-lit scenes). This creates cinematic dimension without losing detail.
• Controlled Saturation: Colors pop, but nothing screams. Even the Ferrari reds feel dialed in—not overblown.

Think: modern film stock + race documentary realism = F1’s look.

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🧰 Getting Set Up in Premiere Pro

Now that you know the visual philosophy behind the look, let’s get your project ready to build this color grade.

🪜 Step 1: Import Your Footage

• Create a new Premiere Pro Project (set it to Rec.709 unless you’re grading HDR or log footage).
• Import your clips.
• If your footage is log or flat (like S-Log3, D-Log, or V-Log), apply a basic LUT to convert it to Rec.709 before you apply the F1-style grade.

💡 Tip: You can still follow this guide with standard DSLR or iPhone footage—it just may need slightly less curve tweaking.

🪜 Step 2: Add an Adjustment Layer

An Adjustment Layer is the easiest way to apply a grade non-destructively.

• Go to File → New → Adjustment Layer
• Drag it onto the timeline above your footage
• Stretch it to cover the clip(s) you want to grade

Why use an adjustment layer?

• You can easily toggle it off/on
• Apply the grade to multiple clips at once
• Keyframe changes over time for advanced scenes (we’ll get there later)

🪜 Step 3: Open Lumetri Color Panel

• If it’s not visible, go to Window → Lumetri Color
• Select your adjustment layer, and the Lumetri controls will appear

We’ll be working primarily in these Lumetri sections:

• Basic Correction
• Creative
• Curves
• Color Wheels & Match
• HSL Secondary
• Vignette

Each section plays a role in shaping the F1 aesthetic. In the next section, we’ll start dialing in values.

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🔧 The Structure of This LUT

Before we hit the sliders, let me outline the shape of the look we’re building:

Component	Goal
Basic Correction	Balanced exposure, neutral baseline
Creative	Enhance punch and texture, not fake color
Curves	Tone mapping for shadows and highlights (cool shadows, warm highs)
Color Wheels	Stylize tone regions slightly for cinematic feel
HSL Secondary	Keep skin tones looking natural
Vignette	Subtle center focus to draw the eye

We’re not slapping on a filter here. You’re building this look layer by layer—just like a real colorist would.

We’ve got our adjustment layer set. We’ve opened the Lumetri panel. We’re ready to drive.

Now it’s time to start shaping our image—methodically. Remember, we’re not just copying values; we’re learning whythose values work. That means every tweak you make will deepen your understanding of cinematic color grading.

Let’s begin with the Basic Correction tab.

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1. 🎚 Basic Correction — Set Your Foundation

This is where you balance out exposure and contrast before you stylize. Think of this as prepping the car before it hits the track.

Settings:

Setting	Value	Why It Matters
Exposure	+0.05	Slight bump to lift footage out of flatness (especially log)
Contrast	+25	Adds punch; deepens blacks without crushing
Highlights	–8	Brings back detail in sky and specular reflections
Shadows	+10	Lifts darker areas, especially cockpit interiors
Whites	–5	Prevents clipping in bright daylight shots
Blacks	+7	Ensures blacks are deep but not harsh

Quick Tip 💡:
Always keep an eye on your Lumetri Scopes (Window → Lumetri Scopes → Waveform/RGB Parade). You want your darkest shadows above 0 and your brightest highlights below 100.

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2. 🎨 Creative Tab — Adding Texture Without Overdoing It

Now that your footage is balanced, let’s make it sing. This is where you enhance the feeling of sharpness, grit, and cinematic color.

Settings:

Setting	Value	What It Does
Look	None	We’re making our own LUT, remember? 😉
Faded Film	+6	Softens shadows just a touch for a more analog feel
Sharpen	+18	Brings out textures—tires, asphalt, visor reflections
Vibrance	+12	Adds life to low-saturation areas (like cloudy skies or track paint)
Saturation	–8	Keeps the whole image cinematic and controlled

Why These Work:
The F1 film isn’t oversaturated. Everything feels “real.” Even Ferrari red looks rich, not radioactive. These values help walk that line between clarity and restraint.

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3. 📈 Curves — Welcome to the Tone Sculptor’s Toolbox

This is where we get crafty. Curves control how bright or dark different parts of the image are—and we can add color toning to specific zones (like shadows or highlights).

✴️ RGB Curves

We’re going to add a subtle S-curve to enhance contrast.

• Click once around the 25% point and pull down slightly (shadows)
• Click once around the 75% point and push up slightly (highlights)

You should now have a gentle “S” shape that deepens contrast without killing detail.

🔵 Blue Curve (Color Toning)

Now let’s introduce that delicious cool-shadow/warm-highlight vibe that’s all over the F1 movie.

• Shadows (around 20%): pull down slightly — adds teal into shadows
• Highlights (around 80%): push up slightly — adds a warm tint to whites

What you’ve just done is split-toning using curves—cooling down the shadows while warming the highlights.

🎨 Think of this as putting your footage in a Ferrari suit—sleek, stylish, and built for speed.

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4. 🌀 Color Wheels & Match — Subtle Stylization of Tone Zones

Color Wheels are another way to stylize different luminance zones (shadows, mids, highlights). Unlike Curves, they work more intuitively—just drag the ball where you want the color shift.

Settings:

Wheel	Hue Target	Amount	Notes
Shadows	~200° (Teal)	+5	Adds depth and atmosphere
Midtones	~180° (Cool green)	+3	Keeps the midtones neutral but cinematic
Highlights	~40° (Golden)	+4	Adds sunlight glow, great for daytime exteriors

Pro Tip 🚦:
Use this to match different lighting conditions between scenes—if one is more neutral and another is warmer, adjust here first before changing anything else.

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5. 🎯 HSL Secondary — The Skin Tone Fixer

Here’s where most beginner LUTs fail: skin tones. Either they turn orange, ghostly, or get accidentally pulled into the teal shadows. F1 avoids this mistake beautifully—skin is always natural.

Step-by-Step:

1. In the HSL Secondary panel, use the eyedropper to select skin tone (usually reds).
2. Refine the range using the sliders until only the face is highlighted.
3. Toggle “Color / Gray” to preview the selection.
4. Once you’ve nailed it, boost:

Setting	Value	Result
Hue vs Hue	+3	Slight warmth
Hue vs Sat	+10	Healthy skin tone saturation
Hue vs Lum	+5	Adds soft glow and clarity to skin

🎬 Bonus Tip: This also helps avoid the dreaded “cyan forehead” problem caused by heavy blue curves.

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6. 📷 Vignette — Drawing the Eye to the Action

The F1 film doesn’t use dramatic vignettes—but there’s always a soft sense of focus. That’s what we’re aiming for.

Settings:

Setting	Value
Amount	–12
Midpoint	45
Roundness	25
Feather	85

🎯 The goal here is subtlety. You want the viewer’s eye gently pulled to the subject—not slapped in the face with a spotlight.

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🧪 Optional: Add Subtle Film Grain

The F1 movie was shot digitally, but it never feels “too clean.” That’s because subtle noise is added to break up digital flatness. You can fake this in Premiere.

Option A: Using Noise

• Apply Noise effect to adjustment layer
• Amount: 3%
• Check Use Color Noise
• Set blend mode to Overlay or Soft Light

Option B: Overlay Real Film Grain

• Download free grain overlays (search “4K film grain overlay .mov”)
• Add above adjustment layer
• Set to Overlay or Multiply
• Lower opacity to taste (20–40%)

🧱 So You Built a Cinematic LUT… Now What?

You’ve spent all this time crafting the perfect F1-inspired look inside Premiere Pro’s Lumetri Color panel. It’s cinematic, crisp, real. But now you’re probably wondering:

• Can I save this as a .cube LUT file?
• Can I apply this to other projects and videos?
• Can I use it in DaVinci Resolve, Final Cut, or on my camera monitor?
• Can I even animate this look for transitions, tone shifts, and emotion?

Yes. You absolutely can—and you should. Let’s walk through how.

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💾 Step 1: Export Your Custom LUT from Premiere Pro

Premiere doesn’t make this super obvious, but exporting a LUT is easy once your grade is applied.

Here’s how:

✅ Exporting Your LUT (.cube File)

1. Select your Adjustment Layer with your grade applied.
2. Open the Lumetri Color Panel.
3. Click the three-line menu (hamburger icon) in the top-right corner of the panel.
4. Choose Export .cube LUT.
5. Name your file something descriptive like F1_Cinematic_LUT.cube.
6. Choose your save location and hit Save.

Boom. Done.

You’ve just created a portable LUT that can be used:

• In other Premiere projects
• In other NLEs (DaVinci, Final Cut, etc.)
• On external field monitors like Atomos or SmallHD
• Even in photo editors like Lightroom or Photoshop (for flat-tone stylization)

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🧰 Step 2: Apply the LUT to Other Projects

Let’s say you’re working on a new sequence and want to reuse your LUT. Here’s how to bring it back in.

In Premiere Pro:

1. Go to your new timeline.
2. Add an Adjustment Layer above your clips.
3. Open Lumetri Color → Creative tab.
4. Under Look, click Browse.
5. Select your .cube LUT file (the one we just exported).
6. Adjust Intensity to taste (80% is often a good starting point for most scenes).

This is where the LUT becomes modular. It’s no longer just stuck in one project. You now have a signature look you can apply to:

• Short films
• Car reviews
• Sports montages
• Commercials
• Travel vlogs

You can even brand your content around this look. Think of it as your visual identity.

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🌍 Using the LUT in Other Programs

The beauty of a .cube file is that it’s universal. Here’s how to use it elsewhere:

🔵 In DaVinci Resolve:

1. Drop the LUT into this folder:
   Library > Application Support > Blackmagic Design > DaVinci Resolve > LUT > Custom
2. Restart Resolve
3. Right-click your clip in Color tab → 3D LUT → Custom → Your LUT Name

🍎 In Final Cut Pro:

1. Import the LUT into the Custom LUT effect
2. Apply it to your clip or adjustment layer
3. Adjust mix to taste

📷 In Your Camera Monitor (like Atomos Ninja):

1. Convert to a 16–33 point LUT if needed
2. Load via SD card or USB drive
3. Use as a preview LUT when shooting log

🎥 Pro Move: Shooting in S-Log or C-Log with your LUT previewed live makes color grading in post a breeze.

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🧙🏽‍♂️ Step 3: Animate the LUT for Dynamic Storytelling

Now we’re getting into power user territory.

Imagine this:
You’re cutting a racing video. The driver is calm and focused in the garage—colors are desaturated, muted. Then, the engine roars to life. The music kicks in. The race begins. Suddenly the frame bursts into color, contrast, and clarity.

This is LUT animation. And it’s incredibly effective when done right.

🔁 Option 1: Keyframe LUT Intensity

1. Apply your LUT via the Creative tab (as shown earlier).
2. Use the Look Intensity slider.
3. Click the stopwatch icon beside it to enable keyframes.
4. Set intensity to 0% at the start of your scene.
5. Add a second keyframe a few seconds later at 100%.

✨ Bonus Tip: You can reverse this for flashbacks or emotional dips—fade OUT the LUT slowly.

⏳ Option 2: Animate Curves Instead

Want finer control? Animate the Blue Curve or Contrast Curve instead.

• Add keyframes on the Curves panel over time
• Push Blue Curve into teal during racing sequences
• Flatten contrast during emotional flashbacks or pre-race jitters

This lets you dynamically sculpt the tone of your scene—not just apply a blanket filter.

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🧪 Step 4: Real-World Applications (Where to Use This LUT)

Let’s look at some actual scenarios where this LUT shines—and how to tweak it per context.

🚘 Car Content (Vlogs, Showcases, Reviews)

• Use full contrast and saturation as-is
• Enhance metal surfaces with sharpening and clarity
• Use HSL Secondary to make car paint pop without affecting skin tones

🎬 Short Films or Dramas

• Lower overall Look Intensity to ~70%
• Use keyframing to fade LUT during mood changes
• Add Film Grain overlay to increase cinematic texture

🏃 Sports Montages

• Crank contrast and vibrance
• Use speed ramping + LUT intensity spikes
• Add camera shake and motion blur with color transitions

👨‍💼 Corporate/Documentary

• Keep skin tones natural with strong HSL control
• Reduce saturation to –15 for a serious tone
• Use Vignette and Blue Curve only during B-roll or cutaways

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💬 Pro Tips to Level Up

Here’s how to go from “good” to “unreal”:

Tip	Why It Helps
Use comparison view to match clips	Ensures visual consistency across camera angles
Stack multiple adjustment layers	Apply film grain separately for better control
Export LUTs for different light conditions	Daylight, overcast, indoor scenes each benefit from subtle grade tweaks
Use proxy workflow if footage lags	Color grading is GPU-intensive—use low-res proxies for smooth playback
Calibrate your monitor	A $200 grading monitor can save you hours of wondering “why does this look different on my phone?”

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🧾 Summary: From Concept to Cross-Project Powerhouse

By now, you’ve:

• Built an original F1-inspired color grade
• Exported it as a .cube LUT
• Learned how to apply it across multiple platforms and devices
• Discovered dynamic storytelling uses through animation
• Explored real-world applications from films to fast cars