hello, thank you :’)
basically i attempt to make them as clear and balanced as possible. don’t laugh, but i try to make the colors look like how they would in real life, i guess, only i go gung ho on the brightness. here are the layers i typically use:

the number of gradients vary depending on how blinding or dark a scene is, and i just use selective color to balance everything out. it also really depends on the movie; sometimes you luck out on a film that just needs some brightening and vibrance.
i hope i wasn’t too incoherent :s