Industry veteran Doug Delaney started his career in VFX before the days of digital, learning his craft from the top film timers and color scientists as well as effects supervisors.
Today he is a leading colorist and finisher at Technicolor, working on major movies including the recent Captain Marvel. We spoke to him to find out more about how he works.
NAME: Doug Delaney
TITLE: Senior Colorist
IN ADDITION TO CAPTAIN MARVEL, CANYOU NAME SOME RECENT PROJECTS YOU HAVE WORKED ON?
We have just wrapped on Showtime’s The Loudest Voice, which documented Fox News’ Roger Ailes and starred Russell Crow, Naomi Watts and Sienna Miller.
I also just had the immense pleasure of working with DP Cameron Duncan on Nat Geo’s thriller The Hot Zone. For that show we actually worked together early on to establish two looks — one for laboratory scenes taking place in Washington, DC, and another for scenes in central Africa. These looks were then exported as LUTs for dailies so that the creative intent was established from the beginning of shooting and carried through to finishing.
And earlier this year I worked on Love, Death & Robots, which just received two Emmy nominations, so big congrats to that team!
ARE YOU SOMETIMES ASKED TO DO MORE THAN JUST COLOR ON PROJECTS?
Yes, these days I tend to think of “colorists” as finishing artists — meaning that our suites are typically the last stop for a project and where everything comes together.
The technology we have access to in our suites continues to develop, and therefore our capabilities have expanded — there is more we can do in our suites that previously would have needed to be handled by others. A perfect example is visual effects. Sometimes we get certain shots in from VFX vendors that are well-executed but need to be a bit more nuanced — say it’s a driving scene against a greenscreen, and the lighting outside the car feels off for the time of day it’s supposed to be in the scene. Whereas we used to have to kick it back to VFX to fix, I can now go in and use the alpha channels and mattes to color-correct that imbalance.
And what’s important about this new ability is that in today’s demanding schedules and deadlines, it allows us to work collaboratively in real time with the creative rather than in an iterative workflow that takes time we often don’t have.
WHAT’S YOUR FAVORITE PART OF THE JOB?
The look development. That aspect can take on various conversations depending on the project. Sometimes it’s talking with filmmakers in preproduction, sometimes just when it gets to post, but ultimately, being part of the creative journey and how to deliver the best-looking show is what I love.
That and when the final playback happens in our room, when the filmmakers see for the first time all of the pieces of the puzzle come together with sound … it’s awesome.
ANY SUGGESTIONS FOR GETTING THE MOST OUT OF A PROJECT FROM A COLOR PERSPECTIVE?
Understanding that each project has a different relationship with the filmmaker, there needs to be transparency and agreement to the process amongst the director, DP, execs, etc. Whether a clear vision is established early on or they are open to further developing the look, a willingness to engage in an open dialogue is key.
Personally, I love when I’m able to help develop the color pipeline in preproduction, as I find it often makes the post experience more seamless. For example, what aired on Strange Angel Season 2 was not far removed from dailies because we had established a LUT in advance and had worked with wardrobe, make-up and others to carry the look through. It doesn’t need to be complicated, but open communication and planning really can go a long way in creating a stunning visual identity and a seamless experience.
HOW DO YOU PREFER THE DP OR DIRECTOR TO DESCRIBE THE LOOK THEY WANT? PHYSICAL EXAMPLES, FILMS TO EMULATE, ETC.?
Physical examples — photo books, style sheets with examples of tones they like and things like that. But ultimately my role is to correctly interpret what it is that they like in what they are showing me and to discern if what they are looking for is a literal representation, or more of an inspiration to start from and massage. Again, the open communication and ability to develop strong working relationships — in which I’m able to discern when there is a direct ask versus a need versus an opportunity to do more and push the boundaries — is key to a successful project.
WHAT SYSTEM DO YOU WORK ON?
Baselight. I love the flexibility of the system and the support that the FilmLight team provides us, as we are constantly pushing the capabilities of the platform, and they continue to deliver.
