How to Get the Matrix Green Look on Video (Color Grade Settings)

Why it's green

In The Matrix, everything inside the simulation has a green cast, like the code on the screens. The real world scenes go blue and cold instead. It's one of the simplest famous grades to copy, and one of the easiest to overdo.

The green is mostly in the shadows and midtones. Skin still reads as skin, just a bit sick. If faces go full lime, you've gone too far.

The green recipe

Open the film filters, start from Bleach Bypass, then change:

• Contrast: 128
• Saturation: 72
• Brightness: 96
• Temperature: -4
• Tint: -18 (negative tint pushes green)
• Highlights: -8
• Shadows: -10
• Grain: 14
• Split Tone Intensity: 34
• Split Tone Shadow Color: #0a2a14
• Split Tone Highlight Color: #d0e0b8
• Split Tone Balance: 40
• Vignette: 20

Low saturation plus the green split tone is the whole trick. The bleach bypass base gives the hard metallic contrast the film has.

The real world version

For the Zion and ship scenes, keep the same base and change:

• Tint: +2
• Temperature: -20
• Split Tone Shadow Color: #101c2c
• Split Tone Highlight Color: #b8c4cc
• Grain: 20

Cutting between the two looks is a cheap way to make an edit feel like it has a story.

Footage that suits it

Offices, stairwells, rooftops, anything with fluorescent light, which is already a bit green. Black clothes and sunglasses obviously help. Rain works too. Warm sunny footage fights the grade, so pick cooler scenes if you can.

Text and motion

A green monospace title fits, and if you want the code rain vibe the Type animation in depth text looks right, letters typing in behind the subject. For speed ramps and slow motion moments check the slow motion guide.

Mistakes

Tint at -40 turns everything into a night vision camera. Keep it around -15 to -20 and let the split tone do the rest. Also don't raise saturation to make the green stronger, that makes skin look radioactive. Lower saturation actually makes the green read better.

The 30 second version

1. 1Apply Bleach Bypass
2. 2Tint -18, Saturation 72
3. 3Split tone shadow #0a2a14 at 34

Open the filters and try it.

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