Tag Archives: Colorist Chat

Colorist Chat: Company 3 Colorist Yoomin Lee

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Yoomin Lee is a colorist at Company 3 London, a global company providing post services across feature films, episodic television, commercials, gaming and more. “The freedom to work on all sorts of projects, big or small, is a major thing that attracts talent to work for them,” Lee says.

We reached out to Lee to find out more about how she works and what inspires her.

As a colorist, what would surprise people the most about what falls under that title?
Most people think I’m a hairdresser when I say I’m a colorist, so it surprises them that my job exists.

Are you sometimes asked to do more than just color on projects?
Alongside color, sometimes I’m asked to do some compositing. Beauty work, cleaning and giving some texture to images are also common in color grading. Our tools have become so powerful that they allow us to do so much with them.

Yoomin Lee

Louis Vuitton Speakers

What are some recent projects you’ve worked on?
The Louis Vuitton Speakers and Earphones films for Jacob Sutton, Anton Corbijn’s feature film Squaring the Circle, L’Occitane’s global campaign “Art of Gifting” and the 2023 Waitrose Christmas campaign directed by Autumn De Wilde.

How do you prefer to work with the DP/director?
Ideally, I like to work with them in person, as it allows us to build relationships and interact in real time. However, as times have changed, remote working has become more popular and is another tool in our arsenal to collaborate with filmmakers.

How do you prefer the DP or director to describe the look they want? Physical examples, film to emulate, etc.?
Rather than verbal recommendations, visual references help me understand the base of what the client is looking for. From there, we can work together to build out the piece of work.

After working together on several projects, it becomes easier over time as you understand their vision and become familiar with their taste.

Do you have any suggestions for getting the most out of a project from a color perspective?
It’s always helpful when clients are clear about what they want; however, I think leaving some room to explore in color-grading sessions is good. Sometimes, we get a shot-by-shot reference from clients, which could limit what you can achieve because it’s hard to judge if that is the best approach until you see something different or better.

Do you provide LUTs for on-set?
Sometimes, if requested, but we tend to be more generic rather than extreme so that it works for most shots.

How does your process change when working on a film versus episodics or commercials?
With long-form, I tend to spend more time creating the basic overall look rather than finessing shot by shot too much, whereas with commercials, we have more time to finesse the details.

What system do you work on?
I use both FilmLight Baselight and Blackmagic Resolve.

What’s your favorite part of color grading?
That would be creating beautiful images, taking an ordinary picture and bringing life to it. No two days are the same.

Why did you choose this profession?
One of the main reasons is that I love bringing life to images. However, I also like that it’s technical as well as creative. It’s such a satisfying thing to see the transformation of the projects after color grading.

I only found out the role of a colorist existed when I started working as a junior in a post company, and I have been fascinated since then.

What would you be doing if you didn‘t have this job?
I would likely have become an architect. Shapes and forms of buildings tell stories, and architecture can be visually pleasing. There are synergies with being a colorist.

U2 “Joshua Tree”

What is the project that you are most proud of?
“The Joshua Tree” 30th anniversary concert visuals for U2. It was a joy to participate in this project and to see the visuals live on the 200-foot-wide screen behind the legendary U2 in 39 cities worldwide.

Where do you find inspiration? Art? Photography? Instagram?
Everywhere! Anything visual has been my inspiration: photography, paintings and films. Over the years, since I became a colorist, I have observed more how light changes at different times of the day all over the world.

Is there a film or show that sticks out to you as an example of amazing color?
There are so many, but most recently, I saw Poor Things, directed by Yorgos Lanthimos and color-graded by my colleague at Company 3, Greg Fisher, and it looked amazing.

Can you name some technology you can’t live without?
Like many others, my phone allows me to take snapshots of inspiration and look through different social media channels to find inspiration. Still, I’m pretty good at spending only a little time on Instagram and social media.

What do you do to de-stress from it all?
I don’t have a television at home, mainly because I’m scared to see things I graded look differently on a domestic monitor. Still, I’m in front of a monitor all day long, so while I’m at home, I’m trying to avoid the environment that surrounds me at work. I’m trying to live an analog life as much as I can.

Edgar Reyna

Colorist Chat: After Studios’ Edgar Reyna

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Edgar Reyna is a colorist at India’s After Studios, a company that offers post services, including digital intermediates, visual effects and online editorial. A 10-year industry veteran, Reyna, who is Mexican-born, has been enjoying his time in Mumbai.

Let’s find out more…

As a colorist, what would surprise people the most about what falls under that title?
When I’m questioned by people from different industries, they don’t understand what I do for a living. Sometimes people ask me if I can dye their hair, and some other people think I’m an actor.

People who attend a DI session for the first time are often surprised by the enormous changes we, as colorists, can make to their projects.

Edgar ReynaAre you sometimes asked to do more than just color on projects?
Recently, I have spent more time doing composites than grading, so having an extended tool set increases the quality of the output.

When I’m grading long-form work, DPs and directors usually ask if I can do something to the sky. I don’t like to add only blue, so I replace the sky. Besides sky replacement, sometimes I do simple cleanups — like for commercials, I usually do skin retouch.

What are some recent projects you’ve worked on?
Recently I finished a show called 36 Days, a film called Afwaah and another one called Akelli. I’m currently working on two other shows.

Can you describe a challenging scene from one of them?
Afwaah was shot at night. When working with low light, you need to avoid breaking the image. They also did multiple setups while shooting.

36 Days is an HDR show, and the cinematographer got dramatic contrast in a low-light environment. Working with a high-contrast ratio without burning the eyes of the audience was quite challenging, but we found a way to create a rich contrast ratio without going too high or too low in exposure.

Akelli features the most complex look I’ve done this year. We created a fusion between the tonal curve from 2383 and 500T film stocks. I really appreciated the opportunity to work and experiment on this project.

The most complicated factor was interchanging languages, nits and footlamberts, and I had to adjust to it daily.

How do you prefer to work with the DP/director?
The first thing I like to do is talk about the project, the story and the characters. Basically, I feel the need to be involved as much as possible. After having an overall look at what the film, is I start to discuss the look, the intentions for scenes and the message they want to send.

Edgar Reyna

When I spend time communicating and getting along with my collaborators before the grading process starts, I get better results.

How do like the DP or director to describe the look they want? Look books, etc.?
It depends a lot on the DPs, directors and projects. I usually have a conversation with the cinematographer, and we dedicate some time to developing the look for the film or a particular scene.

Directors usually come with a reference from a film or a photograph. Sometimes they show me some stills from my

Instagram and ask me to get something closer to a previous project.

I have no problem with any type of reference; the only thing I’m expecting from a DP is to have the security to lock the look without hesitation.

Any suggestions for getting the most out of a project from a color perspective?
Reading the image and learning to read the context of it are the most important things for me because without the proper context, we can lose what we are trying to communicate. Sometimes a frame looks stunning by itself, but the same look might not work for the whole scene.

Having a proper understanding of what the person in charge of the grade wants is very important because there is always a way to make the producers, DP and director happy.

How does your process change when working on a film, versus episodics or commercials?
Usually, for commercials I do a lot of secondaries. Shaping light and relighting is my bread and butter.

For episodics, I usually create assets for scenes and episodes (a preset on a power grade or a preset on layers, depending on the system), and I’m currently bringing those for every episode. I like to set the mood for the night, day, interior and exterior.

For films, I like to create an overall look with primaries, then I usually push the image, taking the look as a base for particular scenes with secondaries.

What system do you work on?
I use Blackmagic Resolve and FilmLight Baselight.

What’s your favorite part of color grading?
When I see the grade after months of not seeing it. Sometimes I’m so close to the project that having a break from it and watching it from another perspective is like breathing fresh air. That is the moment when I can judge what I did, grow and learn.

Do you have a least favorite?
When I have to watch a project that I just finished as part of my own QC. I always see things I want to modify or do differently, but it’s not always possible because of deadlines.

Also, supervising sessions might be hell on earth if you are not able to break the ice with the person who is sitting with you.

How early on did you know this would be your path?
I was around 16 when I saw a show about making The Lord of the Rings. While I was watching it, they talked about the DI process and how they used the technology to enhance the world they were creating. At that time, I thought that was video editing, and I get so amused that I decided to do that after I went to college — small gigs as an offline editor, modifying colors and doing some basic VFX. One day a producer saw my work and asked me if I wanted to specialize in VFX or color grading. At that point, I wasn’t sure what a colorist did, so I went back home and Googled it. I was shocked to find the DI process for The Lord of the Rings on YouTube since that was the moment my life changed. And now, 15 years later, I can say that I accomplished my dream.

If you didn’t have this job, what would you be doing instead?
Definitely interior design. I’m so crazy about looking through mood boards and renovation, and sometimes I get some inspiration for my grades from mood boards I find on Pinterest. It is very refreshing to see color palettes applied in something different from what I do.

What is the project that you are most proud of?
The first feature film I did, called Dovecove, was a life-changer. Working with limited equipment on a low-budget film helped me to develop hard and soft skills that helped me become the colorist I am now. Dovecove opened the door to conversations, and it helped me to get some projects early on in my career.

This is one of those examples when (almost) giving your work for free might take you to better places.

Where do you find inspiration?
Until this year, I was using Shotdeck and Pinterest as sources of inspiration. Each platform gave me different types of flavors (film stills, photographs, paintings, illustrations, etc.).

I studied contemporary photographers to understand the way they see light. Now I’m currently following some art galleries on Instagram, which is a faster and easier way to learn, study and get some inspiration.

Edgar ReynaIs there a film or show that sticks out to you as an example of great color?
There are currently three projects that are stuck in my mind:

I just saw Tumbadd, and I think that’s an amazing example of color serving the storytelling. Portrait of a Lady on Fire is a film with an amazing natural grade. I never felt the image was pushed too much… it was always on point. Drive My Car is also a film with a very good grade; the hues are just on point.

These three projects are the best things I have seen this year so far (even though they might not have been released this year).

Any tips or tricks you would like to offer up?
The best tip or advice I can give to younger or aspiring colorists is to connect with your clients or collaborators. It is just as important to create a nice collaborative space than the grade itself. After some time, the grade will be forgotten by both parties, but the moments you spent will stick forever. Be the coworker you want to work with.

Can you name some technology you can’t live without?
My iPad is an amazing tool for recreation and work. I can watch some exports on it; use it to review grades; access emails, references, HDR, SDR, etc. I think an iPad is a must for every colorist.

What do you do to de-stress from it all?
Walking has brought me a lot of joy. I usually walk to clear my mind and restart my mood.

When it is possible, I call friends or family on the phone while working so I can make the session less stressful.

Podcasts and books have helped a lot to de-stress, but definitely visiting coffee shops is the most “Edgar thing” you’ll ever find.

Sound Lounge: Two Mixers, a Sound Designer and 25 Years

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Marshall Grupp

By Marshall Grupp

I can vividly recall the day I visited Tom Jucarone’s studio at East Side Film and Video as if it were yesterday, asking him if he’d be up for creating a unique audio post space unlike any we had seen before. Once he agreed, Peter Holcomb joined the team, and, as the saying goes, the rest is history.

Sound Lounge was born with a clear vision – to establish studios that offered a welcoming ambiance with lots of natural light, high ceilings and top-notch technology. Our belief was simple: We wanted our clients to feel at home while we helped them showcase their stories in the best way possible.

Our paths to this venture were unique. Tom and Peter had years of collaboration on top-tier advertising projects and Super Bowl spots, whereas my journey into 30- and 60-second commercials started after being a sound editor for feature films and TV shows. Our paths serendipitously intersected during a project for a Coke campaign, marking the inception of our collaboration.

From the outset, my partners and I made a point of recognizing and nurturing talent, a key factor in our lasting success. Numerous artists who took their first steps in the industry at Sound Lounge have gone on to become some of the most successful audio mixers in New York City. Reflecting on my 40-plus years in this industry, I have always believed in the importance of versatility as an audio engineer. For example, Pete Crimi, one of our mixers, has demonstrated this by contributing to both Super Bowl commercials and the HBO series How To With John Wilson.

What Sound Lounge looked like in the late ’90s.

Throughout our 25-year journey, I have often reflected on how we evolved from simply mixing commercials to providing extensive audio production services for television series like The Bear and The Crowded Room, as well as movies such as The Place Beyond the Pines, RBG and Theater Camp. It was always my belief that Sound Lounge was meant to handle all things related to sound.

I was determined not to limit us to being seen as solely a facility for commercials.  Over the years, we started new divisions and added services to our portfolio. In 2002, we introduced radio production and a casting division, assisting clients in voice-over talent selection. Drawing from my experience in long-format content, we took another significant step in 2005 by constructing a Dolby-certified theater. Seeking to extend our reach beyond New York City, we created the technology used to establish Sound Lounge Everywhere, a remote studio located in Boston. This technology allowed us to swiftly adapt when the country faced a sudden shutdown on March 13, 2020. Our expertise in remote services enabled us to resume operations almost immediately, which is a testament to our long-standing leadership and adaptability in the field.

Sound Lounge throw-back photo

In our line of work, it’s undeniably a “relationship” business. While possessing the creative and technical chops is crucial for handling the caliber of projects we undertake, it is equally important to recognize that we are entrusted with the creative visions of art directors, copywriters, film editors, directors and showrunners. These individuals invest months of effort into crafting their work, and we embrace opportunities to create and collaborate with them.

At the onset of my career, I wasn’t particularly inclined toward the technical aspects of audio post. My career goes back to the days of Steenbecks, Moviolas, film splicers and 35 mag dub machines. Remember the days of videocassettes and DATs? Fortunately, Sound Lounge had Tom Jucarone at the helm. In addition to being an incredible audio engineer, he is always exploring and staying current with the latest technologies in the audio post world. From the very beginning, we focused on constructing a facility and have consistently invested in upgrades to maintain our position as an industry leader.

Present day

But our journey has not been without its trials, having weathered the real storms of 9/11, the 2008 recession, the impact of Hurricane Sandy, an unexpected steam pipe explosion on 5th Avenue and the multitude of challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Finally, a few lessons learned: Employees first! Listen, learn and foster a culture that values your team. Success breeds from the inside out. Take chances! Not every new division or collaboration will be successful, but the majority of the time, the benefits outweigh the risks. You can teach an old dog new tricks.

It has been an incredible journey, and we are eager to embrace what lies ahead. Our primary focus moving forward is to safeguard the legacy we built, ensuring that, in another 25 years and beyond, Sound Lounge will still be serving our industry.

Marshall Grupp has been in audio post production for 45 years, winning many awards for his sound design work in films, television shows and commercials. He is managing partner and COO of Sound Lounge in NYC.

Colorist Chat: Berlin-Based Freelancer Marina Starke

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Marina Starke is a Berlin-based freelance colorist who uses her own grading suite while working on short-form projects. “For long-form projects I usually work at different post houses, depending on where the project is being completed,” she says.

She knew in school that this would be her path. “When I discovered color grading during my studies, I was totally hooked and fell in love.”

Let’s find out more about Starke and her workflows…

As a colorist, what would surprise people the most about what falls under that title?
Mostly client management, I think. There are so many different ways to talk about ideas and translate words and feelings into color. A big part of the job is to make everyone involved happy. It’s important to listen to each opinion and find compromises if you need to, but at the same time take a consultative position. I enjoy seeing most projects with a whole new set of eyes and feeling the energy of the creatives who look forward to taking the project to the next level in the grading suite.

Marina Starke

The Empress

Good music, food and coffee all contribute to a positive vibe when sitting together in the grading suite. I wish there was also a solution to listen to the same music together while working remotely, without it being distracting or lagging in the background. Where are the developers (laughs)?

Are you sometimes asked to do more than just color on projects? Has your job evolved at all beyond color?
Sometimes I help out with retouching as long as it’s quick and easy. Occasionally, I create a “slap compositing” in situations where the VFX are created after grading and I need to make sure multiple layers work well together. This way I can create a rough preview of how it will look. In some cases, the slap comps have worked so well that they have been kept on projects without a big VFX budget.

What’s your favorite part of color grading?
I really love shaping the images and working on details. Once the base is in place, I feel like I can fully dive into the images, and that’s what I enjoy the most.

Marina Starke

The Empress

What are some recent projects you’ve worked on?
In between commercials and music videos, lately I’ve also been working on longer projects, which is a fairly new and exciting step for me. I had the opportunity to work as the lead colorist on the Netflix series The Empress (September 2022), which was my first episodic project.

Besides that, I have also worked on a Czech feature film and another Netflix documentary, both of which will be released next year. There are two more films coming up this spring that I’m really looking forward to.

How do you prefer to work with the DP/director?
I don’t have a straightforward answer to this question since every project and collaboration is individual for me.

Some have a very precise idea of what they want; others give me a lot of freedom to experiment on my own. While some want to be present at the grading, others are busy and only want to see intermediate results. I see this happen more and more often in commercials now with DPs because they are often already at another shoot. Fortunately, since COVID, there are good opportunities to work remotely, and it has definitely opened a new door for me to be able to work more internationally.

Marina Starke

The Empress

Going back to the question… In my experience it always depends on how well you already know each other and their preferences and also on the relationship between the director and the DP. I’m very flexible in that respect, but I enjoy taking time for myself in between to experiment or work on small details. Building relationships and trust with the people you work with is a beautiful thing, and the work is even more fun when you have a good time together.

How do you prefer the DP or director to describe the look they want? Physical examples? Film to emulate?
It varies a lot. I don’t have a preference, but film references help best in most cases. If the references are very different, we explore what they like from each one. It’s also fun to just push the material around and talk about what feels right for the project at the moment.

In commercials, it is more common to bring the product or parts of the product to the grading suite, such as car paint or certain fabrics. But if there are already approved official photos of the product, I find it makes more sense to import these images into Resolve, as it is then easiest to match the specific hue.

Any suggestions for getting the most out of a project from a color perspective?
I would say it’s a good start to work with people who share the same taste and with whom you also get along well on a personal level.

We Might As Well Be Dead

In addition, I’ve found that many good things can emerge if you let your creativity run free and don’t get too hung up on references or opinions. There have been situations where I was asked to do something specific but was a little skeptical about it beforehand because I couldn’t imagine it, but then the result completely surprised me. That’s why I always want to be open to any idea. You never know what will really come out of it.

It’s also particularly important to me to always be honest when someone asks me for my opinion. I want everyone to feel comfortable making suggestions, even if it seems like a silly idea at first. Just play around. That’s the beauty of working together and exchanging ideas.

What system do you work on?
I mainly work on Blackmagic DaVinci Resolve, but I’ve graded a feature film on FilmLight Baselight as well.

You were recently nominated in two categories at the 2022 FilmLight Colour Awards. Tell us about it.
I feel absolutely honored to be mentioned among these insanely talented colleagues and to receive recognition for my work. I really appreciate FilmLight for providing a platform for the craft.

As a self-taught colorist, I have often wished for a mentor and have not been spared the self-doubt of whether what I am doing is fully “right.” I am very happy to be seen, especially as a young woman, and hopefully it will encourage others to dive in to the color world as well.

We Might As Well Be Dead

Why did you enter We Might As Well Be Dead for the Spotlight category?
We Might As Well Be Dead was the first feature film I worked on. It is director Natalia Sinelnikova’s debut feature film and was shot on a very limited budget. I had an absolute blast working with her and cinematographer Jan Mayntz, who won the best cinematography award at Tribeca for his work on it. They are both so talented and special.

I joined the project around picture lock, so unfortunately, I wasn’t involved before the shoot. But it was a lot of fun to create the look of the dystopian world afterward and merge it with the production design, which had already laid a beautiful foundation. The Spotlight category in the awards felt like the perfect fit for an indie feature like this.

Can you describe a challenging scene from this project?
The film consists of many long shots, so we often worked with animated grades to create invisible transitions.

The beginning of the film takes place in the early morning, when we watch a family heading toward a high-rise building. We finally get inside and see our main character conducting a security check on them. We spent extra time to create a continuous sunrise between the few shots, which would also convey a sense of how long it takes for the family to walk to the tower block.

Marina Starke

We Might As Well Be Dead

How early on did you know this would be your path?
When I was at school, working in film was not a topic or a serious option. I did have a passion for photography, though, which was encouraged by my art teacher at the time. As much as I liked taking photos, today I know that I was much more interested in post processing with Photoshop.

When I discovered color grading during my studies, I was totally hooked and fell in love. It was like Photoshop for film, but even cooler. Unfortunately, back then there wasn’t any color grading course at my university, but by watching tutorials and working on many student projects in my free time, I learned a lot and slowly built up a showreel and contacts. And then I just kept going. So I kind of fell into the profession.

If you didn’t have this job, what would you be doing instead?
I wonder that too; it would certainly be something creative. Furniture restoration sounds interesting to me.

What is the project that you are most proud of?
I can think of several projects, but the Netflix show The Empress was my biggest and most ambitious project so far. It was an incredible experience on several levels: first-time episodic, HDR, Dolby Vision, new workflows, many creatives involved and a lot of fun with the storytelling. The project also created a beautiful new friendship with DP Christopher Aoun.

Any tips or tricks you would like to offer up?
I almost always work with clip versions in DaVinci Resolve. These help me to create different variations but also to be able to go back or compare them quickly. There are so many tools now that make it easy to overgrade images. If you get stuck, it’s good to just start over from scratch.

Can you name some technology you can’t live without?
Probably my phone. But I also have a thing for smart lamps. I love being able to switch several lamps on and off at once and dim them. I don’t want to miss that anymore because it creates different moods at home!

What do you do to de-stress from it all?
I spend most of my free time with my friends, but it also helps me a lot to stop taking on too many intense projects at once and to be OK with giving myself breaks.

Main Image Credit: Kristina Lipatov