By Randi Altman

Set to hit theaters at the end of August, the Jordan Peele-penned Candyman is a supernatural slasher film directed by Nia DaCosta and starring Watchmen‘s Yahya Abdul-Mateen II. It’s a sequel to the 1992 film of the same name and the fourth film in the Candyman film series (and no matter what you do, don’t say Candyman three times. Trust me.).

James Notari

This location-heavy film was shot in Chicago just as everything in the US was shutting down due to Covid, which meant a very shortened last few days of shooting. “Principal photography started in fall 2019, and then we returned to Chicago in early March 2020 for a week-plus of additional filming — mostly new scenes and new locations with the same cast. We wrapped on March 15, and I was on a plane back to LA two days later,” says DIT James Notari, adding that thanks to some brainstorming and problem-solving, it all worked out in the end.

We spoke to Notari, whose long list of credits includes the recently shot TV movie Highland and the feature Underworld 5: Blood Wars, to find out more about the shoot and what his role as a DIT entails.

You were DIT on Candyman. Can you describe your role on this film?
My DIT role on this one was color management and exposure control. We used one show LUT that DP John Guleserian created with his colorist Company 3’s Natasha Leonnet.

Using Pomfort’s Livegrade Pro, I would create CDLs for each shot/scene to maintain the consistency of the show’s look and tone. There was a loader on set doing two media breaks daily. Breaks included ARRI picture, sound, camera reports and DIT reports/stills. Technicolor’s dailies colorist Cory Pennington worked off site creating dailies/post deliverables using Colorfront Express Dailies.

Any specific challenges on this one? 
Candyman was a very heavy location show with lots of nights while in Chicago. I think there were only five soundstage days total. This made for some great visuals but added just a lot of extra pushing and crew set-up/break-down times. The very last day of filming was probably the most challenging. Due to the sudden arrival of Covid in early March 2020, everything was quickly shutting down. Each day we would hear of another show in Chicago closing shop.

Candyman had three final days left on the schedule at that point. The solution was to compress the final three shooting days into one day, with two full units running at the same time. I was the sole DIT for these two units, both shooting on two separate stages — a thousand yards apart. It was a challenge to run so much cable, signal/power boosters, etc. Thank God for the amazing utilities we had on that show. I stayed with the director and DP on the main stage, and the signal from both sets was fed to my cart where I live-graded both simultaneously. We had five ARRI Alexa LF cameras that day. The graded images were hardwired out from my cart to two different VTRs, both on two different stages as well. It was messy, but it worked.

Candyman was handled with such care and attention to every single detail. The producers and director never budged on letting things just “slide.” We actually filmed in the real Cabrini Greens from the original Candyman movies. It was like a huge backlot. A ghost town as well, with mostly fenced-in, boarded-up lower-income housing.

In this Candyman, the lead actor plays a struggling artist and his partner a curator. So, all of the artwork had such purpose and meaning in the frame. Each painting/drawing was created by a local artist, and massive art installations were driven in from New York City. It was so great to be part of a project with so much passion for the process.

Can you talk about working with Candyman director Nia DaCosta and DP John Guleserian?
I went to AFI with John Guleserian, back before DIT was even a crew position, and we have similar circles of friends. It was nice to reconnect on Candyman. John is a super chill cinematographer and is all about capturing the director’s vision and creating a fun and peaceful environment on set.

This was Nia’s first big movie, and so she did rely on John to run the set for sure, and they both got along fantastically. A few days into the shoot, Nia started to sit at my cart with John, and that lasted the rest of the show.

How did you become a DIT? What kind of training did you have?
I started my film career in the VFX/post world as a VFX coordinator and digital artist (painting out cables, signage, roto work, cleanup). This was around 2008 when the Red camera was introduced to the world and digital filmmaking exploded. I was actually on the first Red feature, Gamer, as a VFX coordinator.

My familiarity with these Red cameras/R3D files would lead me into my next career move as a media manager on set. This was a brand-new world of the digital wild west. For the first time on set you could color correct, sync sound and transcode all post/client deliverables. It was an exciting time. In 2011, I worked on Underworld 4: Awakening in Vancouver. This was the first Red 3D feature, and it was a beast of a job. I was operating two carts side-by side, transcoding all dailies as well as daily lunchtime-synced 3D screenings projected in a 52-foot trailer on set. I created a workflow chart/pipeline breakdown for that show and follow it still today, with adjustments per show of course.

I continued my role as dailies supervisor until a DP asked if I could also do color grading on set in addition to my dailies supervisor role. I did these dual roles for a few years and then transitioned into the DIT position, collaborating with the DP and director and the camera team, in the moment — live. I haven’t looked back. I love it. Today, I rarely do backups and transcodes on set. I mostly focus on live grading, exposure and image control, as well as overseeing the loader and workflow process from set to post.

How would you describe your job to someone who might not know what a DIT does?
I tell people it’s like live Photoshop.

Do you prepare your cart differently depending on the project?
I really don’t prepare my cart differently for each show. I just keep adding gear to it as I go.

As a DIT, we live and die by the gear we use on set, and we are only as good as our carts. I designed my cart and have tweaked it over the years based on different experiences per show.  At this point, since I spend so much time with the DP and director on set, I try to keep a very streamlined and clean work area.

The frame of my cart is an Inovativ Echo 36 with two Sony PVM A250 monitors for viewing and a control monitor for grading. My entire cart is Mac-based, with a Mac Trash Can and an Ethernet hub that routes my hardware. I carry a 32TB Pegasus RAID from Promise for any external use, APC backup battery, Blackmagic Smart Scope Duo 4K waveform monitor, Blackmagic 12×12 video router with Master Smart Control and two Blackmagic Ultra Studio 4K capture devices. Pomfort’s Livegrade Pro is my main grading software. For more extensive color control, as well as stepping deeper into the RAW files, I have Colorfront Express Dailies. If I am involved with any media backup/MD5 checksums I use Pomfort’s Silverstack.

What are some best practices you employ on each job?
Fifty percent of the DIT’s role on set is to be the DP’s therapist. What the DP says in the tent stays with you. Being a good listener goes a long way, and a calm personality helps too. No DP needs to know how your cart works; they just want to have that safe place to go on set away from the madness — to sit and see the images, hold the single channel(s) and talk to a friend who they trust as a second pair of eyes.

How do you like working with the DP? Do you have any contact with the colorist at all? 
I love working with the DP. The collaboration and discussions we have in prep and then moving into production where it all comes to life — it can be very special. In prep, I am in contact with the DI colorist, where a LUT(s) is created with the DP, but once we hit the ground running, I’m then in constant communication with the dailies colorist — daily texts, emails and calls. The dailies colorist is a big part of the workflow.

Do you set looks on set? What tools do you use?
As mentioned earlier, I use Pomfort’s Livegrade Pro to live grade and create CDLs for each shot/scene to keep the consistency of the show’s look.

How do you like the DP to describe the look they want?
I ask the DP what movies I should reference, or if they have any stills I can view, but usually it’s a quick chat. Then we fine-tune those ideas with the show LUT in prep. Within the first week of production, we usually have a handle on where the look is going to live.

How is creating a look on set making it easier for the colorist?
The master plan is that the grading adjustments we do on set carry through to the dailies colorist and then to the final step with the DI colorist. It’s the vision the DP has on set that we try to protect. Throughout each production, I stay in constant communication with the dailies colorist each day to ensure dailies posted online will match the grading from set.

After dailies have been created at the lab, the colorist will then send high-resolution graded stills for me and the DP to view. This is a last step to make sure we are all on the same page and that everything is translating correctly down the pipeline.

In the end, we all hope the DI colorist will stay within that world that was created on set. I am not sure if what DITs do on set helps the DI colorist or not. I have heard both sides of that discussion. What I care about most is that the DP is happy when they are in the DI session. That what they see in that dark theater is what they remember seeing on set. No surprises.

How is what you do making it easier for post?
Since I have an extensive background in post, I go out of my way to make that conversation/pipeline as smooth as possible early on. Although DITs are in Local 600, constant communication with post is a key aspect of the job. We deal with all departments. We are the sole contact on set that post will reach out to regarding mag clearance, LTO, breaks, flicker, banding, lost pixels, compression, fps, framing charts, etc. In prep, I contact the editor, post supervisor, sound mixer, loader and the dailies colorist to make sure that we are all on the same page. This started years back when I was doing dailies on set and discovered how necessary this line of communication was. On each show there is an HOD workflow group call to discuss this as well in prep. However, after that call is over, as crew members on the ground, it’s up to the DIT to manage this from set. At least that is how I approach each show that I’m working on. One contact that people can call. One person who oversees all data from set and storage of mags, etc. To keep it simple is a good idea.

Randi Altman is the founder and editor-in-chief of postPerspective. She has been covering production and post production for more than 20 years.