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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.

Creating the color of Hacksaw Ridge

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Australian colorist Trish Cahill first got involved in the DI on Mel Gibson’s Hacksaw Ridge when cinematographer Simon Duggan enquired about her interest and availability for the film. She didn’t have to consider the idea long before saying yes.

Hacksaw Ridge, which earned Oscar nominations for Best Picture, Director, Lead Actor, Film Editing (won), Sound Editing and Sound Mixing (won), is about a real-life World War II conscientious observer, Desmond Doss, who refused to pick up a gun but instead used his bravery to save lives on the battlefield.

Trish Cahill

Let’s find out more about Cahill’s work and workflow on Hacksaw Ridge…

What was the collaboration like between you and director Mel Gibson and cinematographer Simon Duggan?
I first met Mel and the editor John Gilbert when I visited them in the cutting room halfway through the edit. We looked through the various scenes and — in particular, the different battle sequences — and discussed the different tone that was needed for each.

Simon had already talked through the Kodachrome idea with a gradual and subtle desaturation as the film progressed and it was very helpful to be spinning through the actual images and listening to Mel and John talk through their thoughts. We then chose a collection of shots that were representative of the different looks and turning points in the film to use in a look development session.

Simon was overseas at the time, but we had a few phone conversations and he sent though some reference stills prior to the session. The look development session not only gave us our look template for the film but it also gave us a better idea of how smoke continuity was shaping up and what could be done in the grade to help.

During the DI, Mel, John and producer Bill Mechanic came in see my work every couple of days for a few hours to review spools down. Once the film was in good shape, Simon flew in with a nice fresh eye to help tighten it further.

What was the workflow for this project?
Being a war film, there are quite a few bullet hits, blood splatter, smoke elements and various other VFX to be completed across a large number of shots. One of the main concerns was the consistency of smoke levels, so it was important that the VFX team had a balanced set of shots put into sequence reflecting how they would appear in the film.

While the edit was still evolving, the film was conformed and assistant colorist Justin Tran started a balance grade of the war sequences on FilmLight Baselight at Definition Films. This provided VFX supervisor Chris Godfrey and the rest of the team with a better idea of how each shot should be treated in relation to the shots around them and if additional treatment was required for shots not ear-marked for VFX. The balance grading work was carried across to the DI grade in the form of BLGs and were applied to the final edit with the use of Baselight’s multi-paste, so I had full control and nothing was baked in.

Was there a particular inspiration or reference that you used for the look of this film?
Simon sent through a collection of vintage photograph references from the era to get me started. There were shots of old ox blood red barns, mechanics and machinery, train yards and soldiers in uniform — a visual board of everyday pictures of real scenes from the 1930s and 1940s, which was an excellent starting point to spring from. Key words were desaturated, Kodachrome and, the phrase “twist the primaries a touch” was used a bit!

The film starts when our hero, Desmond Doss, is a boy in the 1930s. These scenes have a slight chocolaty sepia tone, which lessens when Doss becomes a young man and enters the military training camp. Colors become more desaturated again when he arrives in Okinawa and then climbs the ridge. We wanted the ridge to be a world unto itself — the desolate battlefield. Each battle from there occurs at different times of day in different environmental conditions, so each has been given its own color variation.

What were the main challenges in grading such a film?
Hacksaw Ridge is a war film. A big percentage of screen time is action-packed and fast-paced with a high-cut ratio. So there are many more shots to grade, there are varied cameras to balance between and fluctuating smoke levels to figure out. It’s more challenging to keep consistency in this type of film than the average drama.

The initial attack on top of the ridge happens just after an aerial bombing raid, and it was important to the story for the grade to help the smoke enhance a sense of vulnerability and danger. We needed to keep visibility as low as possible, but at the same time we wanted it still to be interesting and foreboding. It needed analysis at an individual shot level: what can be done on this particular image to keep it interesting and tonal but still have the audience feel a sense of “I can’t see anything.”

Then on a global level — after making each shot as tonal and interesting as possible — do we still have the murkiness we need to sell the vulnerability and danger? If not, where is the balance to still provide enough visual interest and definition to keep the audience in the moment?

What part of the grading process do you spend most of your time on?
I would say I spend more time on the balancing and initial grade. I like to keep my look in a layer at the end of the stack that stays constant for every shot in the scene. If you have done a good job matching up, you have the opportunity of being able to continue to craft the look as well as add secondaries and global improvements with confidence that you’re not upsetting the apple cart. It gives you better flexibility to change your mind or keep improving as the film evolves and as your instincts sharpen on where the color mood needs to sit. I believe tightening the match and improving each shot on the primary level is time very well spent.

What was the film shot on, and did this bring any challenges or opportunities to you during the grade?
The majority of Hacksaw Ridge was shot with an Arri Alexa. Red Dragon and Blackmagic pocket cameras were also used in the battle sequences. Whenever possible I worked with the original camera raw. I worked in LogC and used Baselight’s generalized color space to normalize the Red and Blackmagic cameras to match this.

Matching the flames between Blackmagic and Alexa footage was a little tricky. The color hues and dynamic range captured by each camera are quite different, so I used the hue shift controls often to twist the reds and yellows of each closer together. Also, on some shots I had several highlight keys in place to create as much dynamic range as possible.

Could you say more about how you dealt with delivering for multiple formats?
The main deliverables required for Hacksaw Ridge were an XYZ and a Rec709 version. Baselight’s generalized color space was used to do the conversions from P3 to XYZ and Rec709. I then made minimal tweaks for the Rec709 version.

Was there a specific scene or sequence you found particularly enjoyable or challenging?
I enjoyed working with the opening scene of the film, enhancing the golden warmth as the boys are walking through the forest in Virginia. The scenes within the Doss house were also a favorite. The art direction and lighting had a beautiful warmth to it and I really enjoyed bringing out the chocolaty, 1930’s and 1940’s tones.

On the flip side of that I also loved working with the cooler crisper dawn tones that we achieved in the second battle sequence. I find when you minimize the color palette and let the contrast and light do the tonal work it can take you to a unique and emotionally amplified place.

One of the greater challenges of grading the film was eliminating any hint of green plant life throughout the Okinawa scenes. With lush, green plants happily existing in the background, we were in danger of losing the audience’s belief that this was a bleak place. Unfortunately, the WW II US military uniforms were the same shade of green found in many parts of the surrounding landscape of the location, making it impossible to get a clean key. There is one scene in particular where a convoy of military trucks rolls through a column of soldiers adding clouds of dust to an already challenging situation.