Marina Starke is a Berlin-based freelance colorist who uses her own grading suite while working on short-form projects. “For long-form projects I usually work at different post houses, depending on where the project is being completed,” she says.

She knew in school that this would be her path. “When I discovered color grading during my studies, I was totally hooked and fell in love.”

Let’s find out more about Starke and her workflows…

As a colorist, what would surprise people the most about what falls under that title?
Mostly client management, I think. There are so many different ways to talk about ideas and translate words and feelings into color. A big part of the job is to make everyone involved happy. It’s important to listen to each opinion and find compromises if you need to, but at the same time take a consultative position. I enjoy seeing most projects with a whole new set of eyes and feeling the energy of the creatives who look forward to taking the project to the next level in the grading suite.

Good music, food and coffee all contribute to a positive vibe when sitting together in the grading suite. I wish there was also a solution to listen to the same music together while working remotely, without it being distracting or lagging in the background. Where are the developers (laughs)?

Are you sometimes asked to do more than just color on projects? Has your job evolved at all beyond color?
Sometimes I help out with retouching as long as it’s quick and easy. Occasionally, I create a “slap compositing” in situations where the VFX are created after grading and I need to make sure multiple layers work well together. This way I can create a rough preview of how it will look. In some cases, the slap comps have worked so well that they have been kept on projects without a big VFX budget.

What’s your favorite part of color grading?
I really love shaping the images and working on details. Once the base is in place, I feel like I can fully dive into the images, and that’s what I enjoy the most.

What are some recent projects you’ve worked on?
In between commercials and music videos, lately I’ve also been working on longer projects, which is a fairly new and exciting step for me. I had the opportunity to work as the lead colorist on the Netflix series The Empress (September 2022), which was my first episodic project.

Besides that, I have also worked on a Czech feature film and another Netflix documentary, both of which will be released next year. There are two more films coming up this spring that I’m really looking forward to.

How do you prefer to work with the DP/director?
I don’t have a straightforward answer to this question since every project and collaboration is individual for me.

Some have a very precise idea of what they want; others give me a lot of freedom to experiment on my own. While some want to be present at the grading, others are busy and only want to see intermediate results. I see this happen more and more often in commercials now with DPs because they are often already at another shoot. Fortunately, since COVID, there are good opportunities to work remotely, and it has definitely opened a new door for me to be able to work more internationally.

Going back to the question… In my experience it always depends on how well you already know each other and their preferences and also on the relationship between the director and the DP. I’m very flexible in that respect, but I enjoy taking time for myself in between to experiment or work on small details. Building relationships and trust with the people you work with is a beautiful thing, and the work is even more fun when you have a good time together.

How do you prefer the DP or director to describe the look they want? Physical examples? Film to emulate?
It varies a lot. I don’t have a preference, but film references help best in most cases. If the references are very different, we explore what they like from each one. It’s also fun to just push the material around and talk about what feels right for the project at the moment.

In commercials, it is more common to bring the product or parts of the product to the grading suite, such as car paint or certain fabrics. But if there are already approved official photos of the product, I find it makes more sense to import these images into Resolve, as it is then easiest to match the specific hue.

Any suggestions for getting the most out of a project from a color perspective?
I would say it’s a good start to work with people who share the same taste and with whom you also get along well on a personal level.

In addition, I’ve found that many good things can emerge if you let your creativity run free and don’t get too hung up on references or opinions. There have been situations where I was asked to do something specific but was a little skeptical about it beforehand because I couldn’t imagine it, but then the result completely surprised me. That’s why I always want to be open to any idea. You never know what will really come out of it.

It’s also particularly important to me to always be honest when someone asks me for my opinion. I want everyone to feel comfortable making suggestions, even if it seems like a silly idea at first. Just play around. That’s the beauty of working together and exchanging ideas.

What system do you work on?
I mainly work on Blackmagic DaVinci Resolve, but I’ve graded a feature film on FilmLight Baselight as well.

You were recently nominated in two categories at the 2022 FilmLight Colour Awards. Tell us about it.
I feel absolutely honored to be mentioned among these insanely talented colleagues and to receive recognition for my work. I really appreciate FilmLight for providing a platform for the craft.

As a self-taught colorist, I have often wished for a mentor and have not been spared the self-doubt of whether what I am doing is fully “right.” I am very happy to be seen, especially as a young woman, and hopefully it will encourage others to dive in to the color world as well.

Why did you enter We Might As Well Be Dead for the Spotlight category?
We Might As Well Be Dead was the first feature film I worked on. It is director Natalia Sinelnikova’s debut feature film and was shot on a very limited budget. I had an absolute blast working with her and cinematographer Jan Mayntz, who won the best cinematography award at Tribeca for his work on it. They are both so talented and special.

I joined the project around picture lock, so unfortunately, I wasn’t involved before the shoot. But it was a lot of fun to create the look of the dystopian world afterward and merge it with the production design, which had already laid a beautiful foundation. The Spotlight category in the awards felt like the perfect fit for an indie feature like this.

Can you describe a challenging scene from this project?
The film consists of many long shots, so we often worked with animated grades to create invisible transitions.

The beginning of the film takes place in the early morning, when we watch a family heading toward a high-rise building. We finally get inside and see our main character conducting a security check on them. We spent extra time to create a continuous sunrise between the few shots, which would also convey a sense of how long it takes for the family to walk to the tower block.

How early on did you know this would be your path?
When I was at school, working in film was not a topic or a serious option. I did have a passion for photography, though, which was encouraged by my art teacher at the time. As much as I liked taking photos, today I know that I was much more interested in post processing with Photoshop.

When I discovered color grading during my studies, I was totally hooked and fell in love. It was like Photoshop for film, but even cooler. Unfortunately, back then there wasn’t any color grading course at my university, but by watching tutorials and working on many student projects in my free time, I learned a lot and slowly built up a showreel and contacts. And then I just kept going. So I kind of fell into the profession.

If you didn’t have this job, what would you be doing instead?
I wonder that too; it would certainly be something creative. Furniture restoration sounds interesting to me.

What is the project that you are most proud of?
I can think of several projects, but the Netflix show The Empress was my biggest and most ambitious project so far. It was an incredible experience on several levels: first-time episodic, HDR, Dolby Vision, new workflows, many creatives involved and a lot of fun with the storytelling. The project also created a beautiful new friendship with DP Christopher Aoun.

Any tips or tricks you would like to offer up?
I almost always work with clip versions in DaVinci Resolve. These help me to create different variations but also to be able to go back or compare them quickly. There are so many tools now that make it easy to overgrade images. If you get stuck, it’s good to just start over from scratch.

Can you name some technology you can’t live without?
Probably my phone. But I also have a thing for smart lamps. I love being able to switch several lamps on and off at once and dim them. I don’t want to miss that anymore because it creates different moods at home!

What do you do to de-stress from it all?
I spend most of my free time with my friends, but it also helps me a lot to stop taking on too many intense projects at once and to be OK with giving myself breaks.

Main Image Credit: Kristina Lipatov