VFX - Editing Footage in After Effects

Most of the editing of my footage came down to either color correction or grain removal. As I mentioned before, recording our footage with a higher ISO means our footage is well lit and has better motion but at the cost of grain. The noise removal effect worked well at blending colors over the top of the grain, making surfaces look smooth and appealing, especially on the headset. However, this also means a lot of the texture and detail such as facial hair is lost, making Morgan seem younger than he actually is. If I was filming a model for a fashion scene, this wouldn't be nearly as bad but even then, areas with defined shadows are blurred, making them seem airbrushed and artificial.

The Noise Removal Preview is between the two white lines!

As for color correction, I wanted to set a cold, sadder mood to symbolize how Morgan, in the scene, is defeated and success is fleeting. I also tried to further convey this by acting disappointed in the brief introductory shot I was in. In terms of the effects I used to achieve this, I started with curves which allowed me to change the brightness and RGB values of the video. I then added a hue/saturation effect which allowed me to apply slight color changes and contrast. I finished with a vignette, made from a dark blue solid with a oval mask around the border.

before on bottom, after on top