SeeingEyeBlog

Among the other new developments in my life and work is the trend towards color timing. I got into color work a few years ago, through watching a colleague and friend on his own color timing jobs. I realized that with an all-digital workflow (particularly with the RED), there is temptation at every step–zoom & reframe a shot here, use the wrong codec there–to either disenfranchise the cinematographer at best, or cause irreversable image degradation at worst. It was clear to me that I needed to be my own colorist. I would have no one to blame but myself, and it would assure me of committing to projects on which I actually want to spend the extra effort. Luckily I was ahead of the curve and had a couple years of practice long before Apple acquired Silicon Color and democratized everything. But Apple’s acquisition happened at the perfect time–just as two features I had shot were going into online/color. We got a great deal at a post house whose FCP/Color room was well below the radar compared to their normal da Vinci suite. There, I color timed Yesterday Was a Lie (F900) and Broken Windows (S16). Currently, I have an upcoming feature which will follow a similar DI process to Laser Pacific’s inDI, with little old me at the helm.

An oldschool colorist may not agree that the software solutions are worth their salt. But I don’t care much, and here’s why. A discerning eye can tell the difference between a print finished photochemically versus one put through the digital intermediate process, and most discerning eyes will usually agree that the photochemical finish looks sharper with better detail, yet the DI gives you far more control (which, psychologically, can make up for sloppiness on set and cause a false dilation of the good/fast/cheap triangle). So my point is, we’re clearly taking a step backwards, but technology is catching up fast, bringing with it many steps forward. This step backwards is the time we as cinematographers need to change the game. There is so much control available to us in the color suite, we need to master it all. It’ll enable us to truly preserve those beautiful houses of cards we so delicately assemble on set. Learn to color time your own work, and join the movement to make “DP/Colorist” a commonplace term among producers, directors and post supervisors. That way, when a DI looks as good as photochemical finishing, we will retain our mantle of image quality shepherd. Maybe some of us can even pioneer this at the union bargaining tables next time. I would love to get a clause in my contract for my color timing efforts.

First and foremost, I have seen a cut of Broken Windows, and I must say, I’m excited for the film to be released. I think it was well acted and well directed. As for my own work, it was one of the most fun experiences of my life, and I took as many risks as I did shots.

When I wrote my original post on the brick wall bounce, I hadn’t seen the dailies, let alone a cut of the scene. Now that I’ve seen it, I am all the more eager to build my portable 4×4 brick wall bounce surface.

The scene is lit with a 6k HMI bounced off the architectural brick of the location we were shooting at. I was using 1/2 CTO on the light, and LLD on the camera. What I got was a really nice look that I can’t really put into words. I remember it being nice on set, but the scene rendered beautifully on film.

I really can’t wait for the online and color timing. Stills coming soon.

Conrad L Hall, ASC, used a phrase “room tone” to describe the color temperature of a normal white light after it bounces around and hits all the surfaces in the room, which may be colored (like wood paneling, brick wall, etc). Instead of being the pure white, the light will take on the colors in the room. Now the conventional way to change the color of a light is to put a colored gel on it. But then you’re limited to what that gel does to the light. There are so many different variations in room tone from place to place that manipulating color only by gelling (apart from normal correction gels) seems to be canned, or stale. Using room tone allows the light to become a naturalized citizen of whatever space you’re in, not a foreign invader.

Recently, on Broken Windows, I had a very happy accident during a scene we were lighting. We were in an artist’s loft with a lot of windows and a lot of natural daylight. When night came around and we were setting up for a night scene, my gaffer pointed my daylight fill into the interior brick wall as a work light. But after the director and I blocked the scene, it was obvious that the brick wall bounce was perfect for the scene. I decided to go with my gut and just use the 6k brick wall bounce as my key. It was a beautiful master once we contained all the unwanted spill.

However, the problem I ran into was after we shot the master and got into coverage. The color temperature of the brick wall bounce was so unorthodox that I had no ability to match that color when putting up additional units. The solution for the scene was a LOT of passive bounce from the key and some negative fill, but it sparked the idea with my crew that we should make our own 4′x4′ brick wall bounces. We are planning to make it out of faux brick panels that will weigh around 8 lbs, and mount them onto the bale of a shiny board. And according to the website where I found the panels, they are fireproof, so I can use big hot lights. I’m thinking of also making some out of the stone and wood panels they have, so I can match a few different kinds of room tone.