Colorist Podcast

This episode is sponsored by Colorist Society International and Mixinglight.com. On this special episode of the Colorist Podcast, we discuss the details of NAB 2018 from a colorist’s perspective. Joining me is my long time friend and Coloristos podcast partner, Jason Myres. Back in 2012, Jason and co-hosted a podcast called “The Coloristos” with our friend Juan Salvo. Every year, we were excited about the announcements that came with every NAB. This one proved to be just as interesting and surprising as years past. Jason is also known for creating one of the best places for colorists to interact on the internet, liftgammagain.com. It’s the hub for colorists around the world to discuss software, hardware, inspiration, and techniques for colorists. Jason’s experience spans a wide variety of software and hardware platforms, which gives him a broad experience to draw on. In this podcast, we talk about: Blackmagic Design’s NAB announcements and how they effect colorists The addition of Fusion to DaVinci Resolve T

This episode is sponsored by Colorist Society International and Mixinglight.com. On this episode of the colorist podcast, I talk with Color Scientist and Trainer, Dado Valentic. Recently, Dado’s presentation about Artificial Intelligence and Color Grading has been making it’s way through the internet. In this YouTube video, he poses a question: Can we make the colorist’s job easier by using machine learning to match shots? This is the basis for a new plug-in he is developing for DaVinci Resolve called, “Joi” Originally from Yugoslavia, Dado’s career has spanned from working at corporations like Apple and Sony, to running his own post production facility, “MyTherapy.” There he worked on a massive amount of projects in TV, film and commercials. In addition, he is a  trainer for the International Colori st Academy and Colour.Training. Currently, he’s decided to put his full focus on developing new software with his latest company “Colourlab” In this podcast, we talk about: Starting at Apple and how he first bec

This episode is sponsored by Colorist Society International and Mixinglight.com. Senior Production Engineer and Colorist at Dolby, Shane Mario Ruggieri, CSI, joins me on this episode of the colorist podcast. In San Francisco during the 2000’s, Shane came up through the ranks, working in all aspects of production and post production. From the beginning of Final Cut Pro, and later Apple Color, he cut his teeth on the early stages of color grading on the Mac. He’s colored for features, commercial, corporate, and entertainment industries. His clients have included Apple, Sony, Netflix, Green Day, Carrie Underwood, and Universal Studios.  Now working at Dolby, Shane has specialized and is one of a handful of colorists that has been working with Dolby Vision HDR since 2010. He co-authored “A Perceptual EOTF for Extended Dynamic Range Imager” and authored “Breaking Out of the 100-nit Box: A Colorist’s View of Grading HDR”, which were presented at SMPTE. In this podcast, we talk about: How starting with SDR prepared

This episode is sponsored by Colorist Society International and Mixinglight.com. On this episode of the colorist podcast, I talk with Ian Vertovec, Co-Founder, and Senior Colorist at Light Iron.  Ian has colored major films “The Social Network,” “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo,” and “Ender’s Game.” And more recently, he has colored the TV shows “Baskets” for FX and “Glow” on Netflix.  Originally from Chicago, Ian focused on photography, then moved on to digital compositing. He later co-founded two post facilities in Los Angeles: Plaster City, then Light Iron. Out of necessity, he moved on to color at his company. He found his combination of photography and compositing matched perfectly for a career as a colorist. In this podcast, we talk about: Coloring David Fincher films and working with extremely dark images The challenges of working on VFX heavy projects Making HDR look both cinematic and realistic Advantages of working with high-end systems like Quantel Pablo The difference between working on TV and fi

This episode is sponsored by Colorist Society International and Mixinglight.com. On this episode of the Colorist Podcast, we take a look back at 2017. So much has happened this past year in the world of the colorist. Blackmagic unveiled two new affordable panels, as well as releasing Resolve 14. Filmlight continues to innovate, and shipped version 5 of Baselight. UHD and HDR are gaining wide adoption, with new content being available every day. I recently had the opportunity to go back and review every podcast from this past year. I couldn’t believe all the talented people that made time to sit and talk with me. Colorists that worked on films from Lord of the Rings to Saving Private Ryan, TV shows NCIS Los Angeles and Planet Earth II, and commercials for Coca-Cola and Levi’s. We delved into many different topics, like collaborating with DP’s, working in foreign countries, and emerging technologies like HDR. In this podcast, I’ve included some of my favorite insights from 2017: Peter Doyle: Working on films t

This episode is sponsored by Colorist Society International and Mixinglight.com. On this episode of the Colorist Podcast, I talk with Patrick Woodard, Lead Colorist at Digital Film Tree. Patrick is best known for his color work on episodic TV shows like NCIS: Los Angeles, UNreal, Weeds, and Everybody Hates Chris. He’s worked on programs that air on the major networks, like CBS, NBC, and FOX, as well as the pay networks HBO and Showtime. In addition to working in TV, he’s also completed spots for Oakley, DC Shoes, and Fox Racing.   Patrick built his foundation in photography, studying at the Brooks Institute of Photography. Combining this background with an internship at Digital Film Tree, set him in the direction of becoming a colorist. Moving up within the company gave him the opportunity to holistically understand the file-based workflow and the ways that it could be fast and flexible.    In this podcast, we talk about: How his background in photography served him as a colorist Challenges of working on a b

This episode is sponsored by Colorist Society International and Mixinglight.com.   Senior Colorist Bob Festa joins me on this episode of the Colorist Podcast. Bob Festa has colored some of the most iconic music videos and national commercials. Companies like Coca-Cola, Levi’s, American Express, McDonalds, and IBM come back to his suite again and again. In a career that spans over 30 years, he has completed over 20,000 spots. He continues to color today, working on the shows “The Runaways” and “The Last Ship.” He is the recipient of daVinci’s “Master Colorist Award” and “Commercial Colorist of the Year.”  Bob has held positions as a Senior Colorist at Company 3, R!OT Santa Monica, Hollywood Digital, and Encore.  And he also ran his own facility, New Hat. He’s worked with daVinci systems since it’s start, and even helped drive some of the features we use today.  Bob continues to be a mentor to aspiring colorists. He shares his skills, experience, and knowledge to the next generation of artists.   In this podcas

This episode is sponsored by Colorist Society International and Mixinglight.com. On this episode of the Colorist Podcast, I continue the conversation with Director, Writer, and Colorist, Alexis Van Hurkman. In the last episode, I talked with Alexis about how he got his start in post, his experience at Apple, and starting his own boutique grading facility. There was so much great conversation in the podcast that I needed to break it into two separate shows. In this episode, we dive deeper into the tech side of grading. In the last five years, there’s been dramatic changes in color technology. High Dynamic Range (HDR) is making it’s way into the mainstream, and color managed workflows are improving with each day. And with that “bigger box of crayons,” we have more options when creating looks. The creative and the technical elements in grading are closely linked. In part two, we discuss: The “Color Correction Look Book” and how to create subtle grades When to push a look further then your comfort level Grading

This episode is sponsored by Colorist Society International and Mixinglight.com. Director, writer, and colorist, Alexis Van Hurkman joins me on this episode of the Colorist Podcast.  There’s been many twists and turns in the career of Alexis Van Hurkman. He bounced around from audio, editorial, graphics, and visual effects. Ultimately, each of those steps in his journey contributed to his skills as a colorist. Along with grading his own projects, he’s finished programs for The History Channel, The Learning Channel, BBC Four, and WNET. Many listeners will recognize Alexis’s book titles, “The Color Correction Handbook” and “The Color Correction Look Book,” as well as the manuals for Apple Color, Final Cut Pro, and DaVinci Resolve. He’s also created several training titles with Ripple Training, featuring the newest features in Resolve. This epic podcast was one of the longest I’ve recorded yet. So long, in fact, that I’ve decided to split it up into two separate episodes. There’s a ton of great info and I didn’t

This episode is sponsored by Colorist Society International and Mixinglight.com. On this episode of the Colorist Podcast, I talk with Juan Ignacio Cabrera, CSI. Juan has worked on the films Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Star Trek: Into Darkness, and Transformers: Age of Extinction. He’s been credited as a stereographer, colorist, compositor, and visual effects supervisor.  Juan got his start in the visual effects industry in Spain, starting his own business at 17 years old. He later moved to the US and was hired at Bad Robot and Paramount Pictures. Currently, he runs his own boutique facility, Lightbender Post, as Founder and Senior Colorist. His projects span everything from features, television, streaming, and video games. On this podcast, we talk about: Translating the skills of visual effects to color grading Completing or enhancing vfx in a color application Working with SGO Mistika as his color tool of choice Improvements to color grading applications Color managed workflows with ACES HDR and when it w

This episode is sponsored by Colorist Society International and Mixinglight.com. Vanessa Taylor, freelance colorist for the films The Great Gatsby and Lady Macbeth, joins me on this episode of the Colorist Podcast.  Vanesa has over 20 years experience in the industry. She got her start working at Animal Logic, working on the Quantel Henry as an Online Editor. After that, she moved on to the DI department at Park Road Post.  She’s worked on projects from Joss Whedon, Baz Luhrmann and Peter Jackson. She’s based out of the UK, but travels worldwide to work on a variety of different independent films.  On this podcast, we talk about: Her experience with Quantel Henry, Pablo, eQ and iQ served as a basis for her career How she moved on to Park Road Post Knowing when to do a visual effects shot in a color grading application Working on a big budget feature film and where your contribution can fit it Learning several color systems Balancing the tech and art of color grading HDR and what it means creativity for color

This episode is sponsored by Colorist Society International and Mixinglight.com. On this episode of the Colorist Podcast, I talk with Adam Inglis, colorist for feature films Sherlock Holmes, Alien Vs Predator, and Mr. Turner.  Adam was one of the first users of Baselight, when it was previously known as “Film Grader.” It was used internally at CFC in London when finishing the claymation feature Chicken Run.  Currently, his work can be seen on the BBC Documentary series Planet Earth II. Shot with several different cameras in only natural light, the show puts the viewer in amazing landscapes with vibrant colored animals.  On this episode, we talk about: His editorial background and getting his start at the Computer Film Company (CFC) Comparing working at a facility, starting your own shop, and working freelance The challenges of working on nature documentaries The advantages of ACES and color managed workflows Comparing grading systems strengths and weaknesses Getting booked as a freelance colorist Grading tel

This episode is sponsored by Colorist Society International and Mixinglight.com. On this episode of the colorist podcast, we’re trying something a little different. We take a break from talking with a colorist to focus on something quite a bit more technical. Dave Abrams, monitor calibrator and owner of Avical, joins me on this episode. It’s about to get seriously geeky, and in the best possible way :) Dave has been calibrating monitors for over seventeen years. He’s been through the transitions from SD to HD, tape and film to file based, and now 4K and HDR. Post facilities from all over the world rely on his expertise and knowledge of monitors to get the most consistent and accurate monitoring possible. High end home theater owners also use his services to get great looking images at home. And seeing both sides of each situation gives him a great perspective on the industry as a whole.  On this podcast, we talk about: How HDR is changing the approach to calibration The differences between calibrating by the

This episode is sponsored by Colorist Society International and Mixinglight.com. Veteran colorist and ICA instructor Warren Eagles joins me on this episode of the Colorist Podcast. Warren has been coloring for over 26 years. He’s graded a broad spectrum of projects from commercials, drama, and features. He’s best known for his work on Lock, Stock, and 2 Smoking Barrels, and recently has colored two indie features: Blue World Order and Project Eden: Vol 1. I first came in contact with Warren 10 years ago when he created an FXPHD class for the da Vinci 2K plus. He drew back the curtain to the expensive color grading rooms that were almost impossible to gain access to. Fast forward to today, and Warren is still empowering his students with the knowledge to color through his own endeavor, the International Colorist Academy. Partnering with Kevin Shaw, they created a worldwide training program for colorists, by colorists. On this podcast, we talk about: His start in telecine and how it formed his grading style Ho

This episode is sponsored by Colorist Society International and Mixinglight.com. On this episode of the Colorist Podcast, I talk with Peter Doyle, Senior Colorist at Technicolor London. Peter has worked on some of the most popular films of all time like the Lord of the Rings Trilogy, Harry Potter films, and The Matrix. He has collaborated with major directors, Tim Burton, The Coen Brothers, and The Wachowski Siblings.  Peter helped pioneer the digital intermediate process we use today, working with a groundbreaking software package then known as “Colossus.” This would later evolve into Autodesk Lustre, and is used on many big budget films today. The look of his projects can be vastly different. From the hyper saturated look of Charlie and The Chocolate Factory, to the bleak and faded style of Inside Llewyn Davis, Peter is constantly pushing the boundaries of color grading. On the podcast, we talk about: Making the transition from visual effects to color How directors and DPs have shaped the way that he grade

On this episode of The Colorist Podcast, I talk with veteran film color timer, Dale Grahn. Long before films were colored using computers, Dale color timed movies, using the only technology available at the time: printer points and printer lights.  He is best known for pioneering the bleach bypass look of Saving Private Ryan, and he’s also worked on other huge films like Gladiator, Minority Report, The Ring, Die Hard, and Bram Stoker’s Dracula.  His work included animated films like The Lion King, Aladdin, Toy Story, and Beauty and the Beast, which required a different workflow that many timers avoided altogether. He’s collaborated with the biggest names in the industry like Steven Spielberg and Joel Silver. Currently, he is a fellow of the Colorist Society International and has directed his energy towards recognition of colorists worldwide. On the podcast, we talk about: When he got his start as a color timer How timing differs from color grading or telecine Gaining the opportunity to time is first major fi

On this episode of Colorist Podcast, I have a conversation with Ayumi Ashley. She is the co-founder of Mission Film and Design (MFDSF) in San Francisco, California. It's a boutique color, sound, and VFX facility, focusing mainly on commercials, music videos, and short films. She has completed work for North Face, Skyy Vodka, and Ben & Jerry's. Additionally, Silicon Valley clients like Adobe, Pinterest, and Square have also finished their work with her. Ayumi started working as a freelance colorist while still attending college. Apple Color and the reduced price of DaVinci Resolve helped her hone her skills and enter the ranks of working colorists quickly. The combination of affordable grading platforms, higher demand for colorists, and minimal competition in her area, helped her and founding partner Matt Notaro start and run her own finishing company. In this interview, we talk about: • How she got started as a colorist • Why the 5D mk ii had such a profound impact in her market • The low cost of entry fo

Rob Bessette joins me on this episode of the Colorist Podcast. Rob is a senior colorist at Finish Boston and specializes in coloring commercials. With over 11 years of experience, Rob has had the opportunity to color spots for Toyota, Coca Cola, Sam Adams, Subway, Chili’s, Dunkin’ Doughnuts, and many others.    Rob became a colorist though a more traditional path. He worked his way up from the ground level while working at night, and then mentored with a seasoned colorist. For several years, he had the opportunity to learn telecine and graded a lot of film.   I first met Rob while he was working the Blackmagic Design booth at NAB. He had the experience of hearing people’s opinions from all over the world while demoing the latest software that he had to learn at a breakneck pace. We talk about: What drew him to working in commercials  How working with great directors and directors of photography shapes the way he grades Strategies for working with food that will make you hungry Opinions on working with the fu

In this episode, I talk with Terence Curren, a Colorist and Online Editor in Los Angeles. He’s known for unscripted television shows like Project Runway, True Life, Ghost Hunters, and many others.  He got his start at the well known post facility, Matchframe Video, as employee number one. At Matchframe, he was one of the first editors in LA to work with Avid Media Composer, Symphony, and DS. And to this day, he still colors and finishes his shows on a Symphony.  In 2002, after 16 years at Matchframe, he moved on to starting his own company, Alphadogs. Many LA post production professionals are familiar with Alphadogs from their monthly meet ups called The Editor’s Lounge. It’s been a hub for people to learn about new technologies, directly ask vendors questions, and socialize with other pros. It’s been a great resource for over 13 years and I’ve personally learned a ton from attending them. In this interview, we talk about: How his start in editing affects his approach to color  Running his own business from

In this episode, I talk with Mark Todd Osborne, a colorist in Los Angeles with over 18 years of experience. He has worked on films like Pirates of the Caribbean: At Worlds End, Bad Boys II, Hugo, Need for Speed, as well as many commercials and music videos. Mark got his start at Company 3 and spent 11 years there working with top colorists Stefan Sonnefeld, Dave Hussey, and Mike Pethel.  He also spent some time at Cameron | Pace, working on stereoscopic projects on Quantel Pablo. What’s most impressive about Mark’s career is ability to work in many different genres. Working in commercials, television, cinema, music videos, and even video games has been part of his successful career.  In this interview, we talk about:   The challenges and benefits of being a freelance colorist Using social media and how it impacts getting booked on jobs Demo reels and the strategy behind them Other colorist’s work that has inspired him Working on your own system vs working at a facility How grading on other systems can effect