NPR On Digital Color Correction

From Hollywood Makeovers, Frame by Frame, over on NPR.org:

Nowadays, films are edited digitally, get their sound digitally — and, in just the past few years, rely on technology that can change the colors of a costume or a background digitally, without fancy lighting or painted sets.

This is a very good answer to the question "Hutson, just exactly what do you do," which always follows when I tell people that I am an "Online Editor."

No, it has nothing top do with the internet.¹

I've actually worked with Stefan; he has no idea who I am or what my name is, but on some of our Pirates of the Caribbean and National Treasure: Book of Secrets marketing pieces, we've sent our fully onlined pieces to him to correct dailies and go over our b-roll, and I've had the pleasure of seeing, on a few occasions, that he barely touched my color.

So that feels good.

I do object to the premise of this article, that yopu don't need to worry about set design, costumes, or lighting with a good colorist. Solid, seamless work (like the change of that scarf from purple to green) takes a long time to get right; it is incredibly easy, however, to make it look like crap. Plus, as someone who is always coloring stuff that wasn't dressed or lit — all of my work is on Behind-the-Scenes material — there is no substitute for getting it right in-camera.

For the record, I don't work on a Da Vinci system, but the Avid finishing systems. Usually a Symphony Nitris, occasionally an Adrenaline. Not as specialized, but we don't do features, so it makes sense for our work. My specific job is to take a final cut of a piece (known as the "offline sequence," since it was edited at an "offline" media resolution of highly compressed video), and "online" it by reproducing the cut at full resolution (be it HD or SD), color correcting it, cutting in all final graphics and mix, and finally delivering the finished piece on video tape.

Regardless of the differences, I do like seeing someone in my line of work (though far more advanced!) getting some notice over at NPR.




[ ¹ At least not directly; my work is often shown on the internet.] [⇪]

[c/o Daniel M.]