Why Coloring Is Considered The Most Exciting Time In Film?

“One of my clients brought champagne to the screening of their film’s final color grade. I was so confused.” said a prospective colorist that I chose to interview. Goodness, if only he knew the excitement a filmmaker feels when they’ve gone through a rough editing process and is so anxious to finally see the added visuals the coloring brings to a film project.

But let’s rewind. A few weeks back, the editor finally uploads the final cut of the film to the Dropbox making me feel comfortable to begin looking for a film colorist (the individual who would design the film’s color scheme to achieve a specific mood / visual style). My first course of action was to send out a bulletin in the WIFV network.

Within days, multiple responses came through. I went through all their reels, resumes, profiles, websites etc. and they were all top-notch. There was even a candidate who did coloring work for Bloomberg magazine.

 My next thought was to review the content provided by a film influencer I follow on social media named Emily Skye, the founder of She Wolf Films, and the director of the award-winning film, River and the independent film, The Meal. The coloring on both films was fantastic and immediately got my attention. She also tended to list the names of the individuals on her cast and crew in particular her colorist, Ty.Roth.

I went to his Instagram and reached out to his team asking if he was available to color grade a short film project. I gave his representative the specs of my film and within a day a quote was provided. It was very much above my budget, but for his level of expertise, it was very understandable. I continued to search through Instagram.

Suddenly, I came across another film colorist’s company page and was immediately drawn to it. They had just over 18K followers (half of Ty.Roth’s) and their work was exactly what I was looking for. Even Morgen (the director) gladly approved.

Wait, oh no! They’re based in the UK. Now, they seemed even more farfetched to me. The last time I dealt with a crew member outside of the United States I was very disappointed. But I still decided to reach out. I sent them a direct message on Instagram – no response. I called their offices – no answer. I sent their team members emails – no response. I even sent them LinkedIn connection requests with messages – no response. My nerves started to kick in.

A day or two later, I was discussing via text with Morgen about what the normal budget rates for a colorist were today, what type of budget I should expect for our type of project etc. As we were texting, I suddenly got an email response from the colorist in the UK. OMG! I got even more excited when I read that he’s open to taking on my project and for me to provide more information to assess the project further.

He also mentions that because my budget was small, he would have to work on it in between his other major projects. (That’s completely fine with me!).

Within a few days, he provided me with a quote. It was still above my budget, but much more manageable. I did ask if there was room to negotiate and there was not. About two weeks later, contracts were signed, zoom calls were made, and access to Dropbox was given. But there was a major problem – the stock footage.

Since most of the stock footage was purchased from an exterior website the color grades were already impressed and couldn’t be altered / edited to match the color grade of the actual footage. (No, no, no!) But he would try his best to make everything match. (Whew!).

 [Note: Always plan your stock footage captures into your production schedule. It will save you a lot of money and time].

A few weeks later the first color grade pass was sent. Very good but just a little bit too dark. The second pass comes in – much better but just a little bit too blue. Morgen also asks for a reduction in the saturation.

The third pass comes in and it was decided that it was wise to match the color scheme of movies whose tone and style matched our project. Whereas I was thinking of a color scheme of an opposite genre. Morgen suggests the color scheme palettes of two movies that starred Jamie Foxx and Chadwick Boseman.

The colorist agreed with the change. Then, he provided a quick color sample in which Morgen, and I approved. The very next color pass was nailed perfectly.

After 3.5 months, the film was finally ready to proceed to visual effects!

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• The Rocky Path To A Final Picture Lock

Disclaimer:

The author is not liable for any losses or damages related to actions of failure to act related to the content in this article. If you need specific legal advice, consult with an attorney who specializes in your subject matter and jurisdiction.