Colorist Cameron Marygold is a recent addition to the roster at LA-based Ethos Studio, a post company offering color, editing and visual effects.

Marygold, who started in the industry as a mixing engineer, has pivoted to picture and now enjoys evoking emotion through color. Born and raised in Los Angeles, he transitioned from playing guitar and drums in various bands around the area to mixing soundtracks for TV and film, most notably one of the soundtracks of the film Crazy Rich Asians. When Marygold transitioned to remote work during the COVID-19 pandemic, he took a deep dive into color in his free time.

Since then he has earned credits as a colorist for the launch film for SZA’s 2022 album “SOS” as well as music videos for artist Lizzy McAlpine and film collaborations for Tory Burch and Dazed magazine, Hypebeast and Alpha Industries, and BMW and visual artist Joshua Vides.

Other commercial projects include the Vans 2022 holiday campaign and marketing campaigns for Nike.

Let’s find out more about Marygold…

As a colorist, what would surprise people about what falls under that title?
Knowing how to communicate appropriately with people is one of the most significant aspects of the job. There are often a lot of notes and directions being thrown around, especially on long-form stuff, and being able to ask the right questions to steer everything in a clearer direction is huge.

Are you sometimes asked to do more than just color on projects? Has your job evolved at all beyond color?
I often get asked to do some light VFX or beauty work, but I prefer sending that work to people who specialize in those things so I can focus on color for the job rather than a few different tasks.

What are some recent projects you’ve worked on?
Currently, I’m working with Danny Gevirtz on his first feature film, I Think I’m Sick. Another fun project toward the end of last year was a feature with director Kerry Mondragon called Wetiko, which should be premiering soon. I also worked on a commercial spot for Tory Burch and Dazed, directed by Luca Venter and shot by DP Daniel Patrick Brennan.

Can you describe a challenging scene from one of those projects?
Wetiko was a unique situation. I first connected with them in January of 2022 about the film, but there were a lot of delays, and everything went quiet for a bit. Then at the tail end of the year, the filmmakers reached back out and were ready to grade — five days before the film was due for festivals. Thankfully, when they initially reached out, I had graded some test clips they liked, which was a huge help since we had a look built already.

On top of that, the film was scanned at two different labs on two different scanners and in two different resolutions, so it took a lot of polishing to get the few clips from the original scan to blend in with the newer, better scans. Communication was vital for this film, but we were able to meet the deadline, thankfully.

The Tory Burch commercial was a super-challenging location because it has a lot of mixed temperature lighting and tons of neon around, so it took a lot of windowing to get everything to match and feel consistent. In the end, though, I was extremely happy with the look we crafted, so it all paid off.

How do you prefer to work with the DP/director?
It depends on the project and job scope, but I like having conversations with the DP and director about their visions for the project. I also love to get still references or a color treatment so I can see what they’re picturing scene by scene.

If it’s a feature, I typically like to be brought in during preproduction to help create monitoring LUTs for them. For Danny’s feature, we used the dailies from the first couple of days to build a wide variety of LUTs so that he and the DP could pick what to use while shooting. That always helps create a faster grade once it’s time for the DI.

How do you prefer the DP or director to describe the look they want? Physical examples?
At this point, I can usually pull together a look based on our conversations, but I love getting still references whenever possible. They’re great to have since I can throw them into Resolve and pop them up against the project to see how it’s feeling. I always love to know where their heads are in terms of direction: Are we going with heavy film emulation, or do we want to lean in to a cleaner, digital look?

Any suggestions for getting the most out of a project from a color perspective?
In my opinion, proper exposure and lighting is one of the biggest things. Regardless of the camera, if you’re not shooting with great lighting, the end product will reflect that. Another hugely underrated thing is production design and costumes. Many people tend not to consider that in terms of the color process, but having your set pieces and costumes match the palette you’re going for is huge.

How does your process change when working on a film versus episodics versus commercials, etc.?
My process is relatively the same across everything, but I love to group my footage and grade on a post-clip level, leaving the clip-level nodes to balance, pull keys and add windows.

Switching to a group-based workflow drastically sped up my grading process, so I always recommend people try that out.

You work on Resolve?
Yes, on a Mac Studio running Blackmagic DaVinci Resolve.

What’s your favorite part of color grading?
I love how collaborative and creative the grading process is. There are so many different approaches that someone could take with color, and I love how there are infinite possibilities when crafting a look. I’m always curious about another colorist’s approach while working on something because everyone’s workflow and intuition are unique to them.

Do you have a least favorite? If so, what?
Pulling keys (LOL). It’s easy for them to fall apart clip to clip, so I always try to avoid keys whenever I can and defer to things that are more of a broad stroke.

How early on did you know this would be your path?
I was always interested in the film side of things, but as soon as I saw how powerful color is and how much you can do within Resolve, I knew I wanted to throw everything into it. And coming from being a mixing engineer in the music industry made it feel like a natural transition because there are tons of parallels between the two. Once I started learning, I couldn’t stop.

What is the project that you are most proud of?
My favorite project was for Lizzy McAlpine’s latest album, “Five Seconds Flat.” I got to work on the music videos and the short film, which Gus Black directed. I felt a significant shift in my career while doing that project. I got a last-minute call from one of the producers on the project, Will Noyce, and as soon as I saw the first video cut, I knew I had to be a part of it. We graded the first video a day or two after Will and I talked, with the other four videos and narrative scenes following shortly after that.

I’m so proud of my work on those videos; those are always the first to come to mind. Everyone involved with that project was highly talented, so I’m very grateful that I was able to be a part of that.

Is there a film or show that sticks out to you as an example of great color?
The first film that comes to mind is Moonlight, graded by Alex Bickel. That’s always going to be a film I look to for inspiration while working on something. A beautiful new film is Aftersun, graded by Kath Raisch. Her grade matched the film’s tone perfectly, and I was in awe the entire time I watched it. A fantastic show is Severance, graded by Tom Poole. On the note of production design and wardrobe being so integral to color, this show perfectly demonstrates how the two work so well together. Brilliant show, brilliant grade.

Where do you find inspiration? Art? Photography? Instagram?
My biggest inspirations come from watching films. At this point, color is (obviously) the first thing that catches my attention when watching something, and it can be super-inspiring when I see a grade that I can’t stop thinking about. Instagram is another place where I find a lot of inspiration because I follow many talented colorists who constantly post beautiful work.

Any tips or tricks you would like to offer up?
I don’t really have any specific tricks, but my No. 1 piece of advice is to try to develop great taste with color. You can have all the tools available, but you need good taste to pull together a grade that catches people’s attention. My workflow is quite simple, but I always go with a look that supports the piece and aligns with my taste. The best grade is one you don’t notice and allows you to fall into the film.

Can you name some technology you can’t live without?
My Mini Panel is integral to my workflow. I couldn’t go back to working with a mouse and keyboard for everything.

What do you do to de-stress from it all?
Work/life balance is extremely important to me. I always try to keep to strict working hours during the week and take weekends off to enjoy time with my fiancée and our pets. They’re what bring me peace when I’m feeling stressed. Also, stay hydrated and go outside.