By Randi Altman
Industry veteran Andrea Chlebak has spent her career color grading film and television projects while at a variety of post houses. For the past two years, she was at LA’s Efilm, where she worked on projects such as An American Pickle, Bad Hair, Limetown and A Babysitter’s Guide to Monster Hunting. Prior to that, Chlebak spent 10 years in Vancouver at Digital Film Central and Umedia, grading Elysium, Chappie, Kahlil Gibran’s The Prophet and Prospect.
Bad Hair
And her journey continues… Chlebak recently joined LA’s Harbor Picture Company as senior colorist. Harbor, which has studios in New York, Los Angeles and London, offers live-action, dailies, creative and offline editorial, design, animation, visual effects, CG and sound and picture finishing.
We recently reached out to Chlebak to talk about her path, workflow and her work on American Pickle and others.
You have been busy with projects, even during the shutdown. Can you talk about working remotely? How did that affect your process?
Yes, it’s been pretty non-stop. I feel like I lucked out with the number of projects I was on that were in the final stages just before the pandemic and shutdown began.
After the initial pause — when absolute shutdown occurred — I think post facilities got very creative in finding ways of working that kept the process going, but also kept everyone safe. The solutions that I participated in ranged from some at-home grading setups to scheduling sessions to stream to the home of the director or DP, or to another building in order to maintain strict distance.
A Babysitters Guide to Monster Hunting
When in-person sessions were allowed, I was able to grade with one person in my suite and with social distancing measures — but it made a lot of sense to stream to a home or other facility. On A Babysitters Guide to Monster Hunting, I was slated to travel to Vancouver for the entirety of the grade — that obviously did not happen. For that project, we streamed from the facility in LA to a facility in that city.
I think that all of the years we have spent improving the streaming grade session experience really helped keep everything rolling. A major reason I do what I do is because I love to collaborate with people. I really stand by the process of going into the grade open-minded and finding the look and solutions together. It is more difficult to do that smoothly when there is a delay in transmission, or if you can’t see the filmmaker react to the image while you are working. While, yes, you can hear reactions, it made me realize how much of my work is working off the vibe of the room and riffing off of the filmmakers to come to a final look and feel. So I suppose the distance just makes that a slightly longer process.
What are some projects you worked on since the pandemic began?
Feel the Beat (Netflix), Bad Hair (Hulu), An American Pickle (HBO Max) and A Babysitter’s Guide to Monster Hunting (Netflix) – along with a variety of music videos and short films. All of these productions were completed while I was at Efilm Hollywood.
Feel the Beat
On Feel the Beat, I was in Toronto, working with director Elyssa Down and DP Amir Mokri mere days before the shutdown occurred. The timing had me back in LA to complete the HDR version. So while that project had a few streamed reviews, it was mostly a usual DI. After that, I went into finishing Bad Hair, which was a film that had actually been graded late last year and premiered at Sundance in January. However, we had a recut to grade for the Hulu release, and I worked with director Justin Simien (Dear White People) to finalize the theatrical and HDR look while also revisiting the look as a whole, given the new order of some scenes.
At the time of the finishing, we were working with strict coronavirus shutdown regulations along with city curfews. To keep things totally safe, Justin and I worked in separate buildings and graded via Streambox sessions, but because we had a good foundation for the film already, things went pretty smoothly given the circumstances.
After that was An American Pickle, which was in the middle of post and edit when the pandemic took hold. Once we were scheduled to return to final color for that film, some adjustments had been made in terms of safety protocol, and director Brandon Trost (The Disaster Artist, This is the End) was able to supervise the grade. We were able to work in-person with strict safety measures in place but also alternated with streaming sessions to review specific notes. Since the film shifted its primary release to streaming on HBOMax versus the originally planned theatrical release, we were able to reframe our process to focus more creatively on the HDR master of the film.
An American Pickle
After that completed, I moved onto A Babysitter’s Guide to Monster Hunting. I was really looking forward to my third collaboration with DP Gregory Middleton (Watchmen, Game of Thrones), and even though I was supposed to travel to grade that film in person, we managed to make it work streaming the grade from start to finish.
Do you expect that even after the pandemic, parts of your job might be done remotely or in a hybrid model?
I do think that this experience will have changed how some people see the process, yes. There will most likely be less travel for colorists and DPs. I think after the pandemic, colorists will probably work more independently, and more streaming sessions will happen. I hope that it opens up more opportunities to collaborate on look and allow the DP to check in more if they are not available to come to the full grade. That said, I also think once it is safe to do so, a lot of people will be keen to work and collaborate in person again.
Let’s talk about An American Pickle. Can you tell us what it’s about and describe the look and your process?
An American Pickle begins in 1919 with Herschel Greenbaum (Seth Rogen), a struggling but upbeat laborer who immigrates to America to build a brighter future for his growing family. One day, while working at his factory job, he falls into a vat of pickles…where he is perfectly preserved for 100 years. When he emerges in present-day Brooklyn, he connects with his only surviving relative, his great-grandson Ben (also Rogen), an easygoing app developer. The story is about the pair’s attempt to bridge their 100-year gap and reconsider the true meaning of family.
An American Pickle
For the grade, I was lucky enough to work with both DP John Guleserian (Like Crazy, About Time) and Director Brandon Trost, who is also an extremely talented DP. Since the film takes place in the past and also current day, we started by establishing those two major looks — one for the early 1900s and one for present day. The 1900s story was shot in 4:3 frame and with a vintage lens that really gave a distinct look, and when it came to color they gave me a number of references from the early color film days and also a hand-colored film look — we experimented with a few different palettes and eventually narrowed in on a softer filmic look we all liked.
We then spent a bit of time with the current-day story, which was much more subtle in terms of grade, but it also needed to have a style and palette that would connect back to the 1900s look in some way. Having Brandon and John both there was a treat, as it was like having two DPs at times. We tried a variety of looks, and then again narrowed the modern-day look. Once we had the major direction in place for both time periods, our DP left the process to shoot another film and the director and I spent the remaining weeks refining the palette and style — we ended up reaching what we called a modern storybook look. They shot the film on an ARRI LF camera.
An American Pickle
Also, since American Pickle is like a “twin film,” with Seth Rogen playing two characters, there were a lot of visual effects involved. I spent a lot of time in later reviews as Brandon finalized the VFX shots, and we were able to integrate the reviews into the DI so we could cut down on some potential VFX notes that could be handled in color. The grade took place at Efilm Hollywood.
How do you prefer to work with the DP/director?
I really love when I get the chance to start working with both DP and/or director when they are heading into pre-production. Being involved from this point gives me a more creative role usually, and it also allows me to properly support the DP on all imaging aspects during production. I typically keep in touch and do some look development, and sometimes update or create scene-specific LUTs along the way as needed. Being involved early also allows me to start supporting VFX teams and collaborate with the post supervisor to refine the post workflow — my role in that is to ensure that the creative process gets the time at the right stages based on the project needs.
In terms of the final grade, I find it helpful to start with the director and DP together, to get a watch through and have them align with me on look and direction. That is usually a great experience because the DP is often watching the close-to-final cut for the first time and has a genuine reaction. If I can get that time in at the beginning, I have found working with the DP for a few days or weeks to work through the film, and then finishing up final touches with the director, can be a really great way to organize the process. In some films I have only worked with the director throughout the entire process.
A Babysitters Guide to Monster Hunting
How do you prefer the DP or director to describe the look they want? Physical examples?
I think it’s different each time. Most often I ask for visual references because you can talk about looks or films and have different ideas in mind. I usually start with a thorough discussion where I ask as much as I can, then I often ask them to send me the moodboards they usually have already created.
If in pre-production, I’ll often create my own moodboard and share that so we can have different visual references when we are talking about certain scenes. Then, of course, the look session is the most telling because it’s when I get to create a variety of directions and gauge their reactions to each one. All of those methods really help me to narrow their style, aesthetic and sensitivities.
Any suggestions for getting the most out of a project from a color perspective?
To elaborate on the earlier question about the process and how I like to work with the DP and director, I think you would get the most out of the color process if you bring your colorist on as early as you can.
This isn’t always feasible, but I often hear from DPs I work with that they were able to focus more on the cinematography without having to worry about technical aspects — they like knowing that I am looking at images coming off of set and there to provide a quick review or troubleshoot if something goes sideways in production. It just means you are going to have less confusion at the end.
Feel the Beat
I think it also makes for a smoother finish. The colorist is involved for a number of months, so by the time they get to the final stages, they are really locked into the look and direction, and it’s really just a matter of implementing. This also leaves a bit more time to get deeper into the color story and refine the look in a more meaningful way.
What’s your favorite part of color grading?
I love that initial phase of look development, when you are working with the DP and/or director and presenting ideas and seeing their reactions. I really enjoy that alignment phase, when as the colorist you are gathering information and finding interesting solutions and also learning what the filmmakers ultimately love and hate. I enjoy navigating the multiple roles as well – how a director sees the film and what they focus on versus a DP or the producers — I weirdly love reading the room and learning from the different perspectives.
Do you have a least favorite?
I really love my job, so that’s a bit of a hard one. I guess I could say that I don’t love when it’s over. I’d also say that my least favorite part is the inevitable color calibration differences that we experience from display to display or theater to theater – especially now with a pandemic and being in different cities or rooms, I have definitely developed more anxiety around display calibration and whether the filmmaker and I are looking at the same image.
Bad Hair
Why did you choose this profession?
The profession I initially chose was photographer, but half-way through my degree, I just fell in love with motion imagery and storytelling. I knew early on I would find some way of working in film. After graduating college, I began shooting stills on set for a number of months, and to be honest, I had a bit of difficulty with the gender bias in the camera union, which at a young age was enough to turn me in the opposite direction.
Instead of blazing the cinematography trail, I turned to post production. The roundabout way I got into color grading was through VFX compositing and lighting and on the side editing indie films. Then I started to color grade the films I was editing. When a VFX producer was reviewing my reel and suggested I look into the colorist role, I didn’t even know that it was a profession, but it definitely flipped a switch in my brain.
It was another two years before the role of junior colorist landed in front of me, and at that time I 100% knew it was for me. I luckily had my start when DI was just becoming more widespread, so I was learning how to scan and record film while at the same time learning these new digital grading platforms. I think I was about 26 when the first feature came my way and basically, I never turned back.
What is the project that you are most proud of?
Good question. I’ve been working on becoming more mindful of picking something out to remember or be proud about after completing each project. For example, for An American Pickle, I am really proud of the aesthetic overall and how we found something that blended the two time periods, while keeping them distinct – and even though it is a comedy, I felt like we preserved or enhanced a lot of beauty in the look. For Elysium I am really proud of having pulled off a very meticulous look on such a large budget, heavy VFX film with such a small DI team. For Mandy I am really proud of having pushed myself to create a bold look and for having taken some big risks pushing an image that far surpassed anything I had done before. And for Watchmen, I‘m just really proud to have played a small role in developing looks that helped to guide the overall aesthetic for the series.
A Babysitters Guide to Monster Hunting
What would surprise people the most about being a colorist?
It often surprises people when I talk about how color is used to draw the eye and tell a story. In the kind of work I do, where I spend a bit of time shaping and adjusting light in the grade, it can go beyond just making things look good or giving it a look. A solid understanding of color psychology is an asset, as often we can enhance emotion and intensify the narrative using palette.
Where do you find inspiration? Art? Photography? Instagram?
Everything and everyone. I love looking to multiple mediums for inspiration. I definitely keep a solid art book collection, as well as constantly keeping and saving images that I like. I build libraries of my own images, as I love to travel and study how light changes in different parts of the world. I definitely use Instagram and Pinterest to save and store imagery I like. I’m finding myself out and about in the earlier hours in Los Angeles and surrounding areas getting inspiration from the world around me.
Can you name some technology you can’t live without?
One I wished I could live without is my phone, but it is not possible. I also can’t live without my Circadian optics light, which helps me rebalance after long days in a dark room, and my iPad Pro for all of the streaming collaboration I’ve been doing.
A Babysitters Guide to Monster Hunting
On the other end of the spectrum, I would say good communication and people skills are a major asset to the job. Whether you are working with many different roles —cinematography, VFX, directing, producing — in the room or collaborating with engineers and IT teams to build workflows, it’s a role that spans artistry, science and technology.
What system do you work on?
FilmLight Baselight is my platform of choice, but I have graded films in DaVinci Resolve. Recently, when I was training a new color assistant, she said, “Baselight works like how I think.” That sentiment really resonated with me in how I felt about using it early on. For me, Baselight is really intuitive in terms of the working surface (Blackboard) and also how the GUI is designed. It allows me to work very seamlessly when collaborating with many people in the room – I work directly on the film’s image and I almost never look at my interface.
I also find the way you can be in control of the color spaces and effortlessly split or switch between displays has been a huge time saver for me in recent years with creating SDR and HDR deliverables on tight timelines. That said, I think great results are achieved with any system — and that it is truly the choice of the artist, as a DP would choose a camera and lenses.
Finally, what do you do to de-stress from it all?
I have become a daily meditator, so that definitely helps me to stay calm and mindful of those around me, as well as focus on what I can do in the moment versus worrying about the future or past.
I’m also pretty devoted to any and all fitness routines that work with my schedule. Now it’s all at-home workouts, so I am fairly obsessed with HIIT and yoga, along with the odd ‘80s or ‘90s dance party with my six-year-old.
Randi Altman is the founder and editor-in-chief of postPerspective. She has been covering production and post production for more than 20 years.
