Good Colorist Magazine or Site

[Thibaut Petillon]

Hi Craig,

I know this one : https://www.coloruser.net/forums. Nice forums.

But it’s more Apple Color oriented…

Hope this helps

Thibaut

Colourist at Les Machineurs – Paris, France

[Illya Laney]

The TIG?

twitter.com/illyalaney

[Joseph Owens]

[Illya Laney] “The TIG?”

is for film/telecine snobs.

jPo

You mean “Old Ben”? Ben Kenobi?

[Illya Laney]

Hey, I thought I saw Presto listed there.

twitter.com/illyalaney

[Joseph Owens]

Ok. … like me. I admit it.

But seriously, you’d be amazed at how little is shared among colorists. In nearly 20 years of reading and contributing to various forums and support sites, groups, schools, etc., since before there was an internet and email at the time was for geeks, far and away the most discussed topics (among professional colorists) are lamenting the drop in quality of things in general, and day-to-day troubleshooting — either software problems or dealing with screwed up projects/codecs… etc. Just like here on the COW. The other reality is that there are probably more people who embroider with their feet, and they probably do have a magazine, available on newstands everywhere.

Technique is never discussed. Its like a Fight Club rule. If I were to try to interpret the atmosphere, ever since the non-category of ‘colorist’ came into existence, it was peopled by those who were interested in an artistic/artisanal pursuit of craft, pursued on a highly individualistic basis. Lord knows, there are no other rewards. Although there are those who frame it in terms of getting their “award” every two weeks. From which your local government takes a delightful share. But it was a fairly closed space, in which “secret sauces” often made a difference in career longevity and appeal. Now that the “general public” has been invited to the party with the almost-free distribution of applications that either mimic or provide a ported version of the instruments used by the formerly secret society, a lot of legitimately naive suppositions enter the mix.

Grading is not editing. Its not compositing, either. Its more like post-cinematography, although DPs would cringe to hear that — don’t you realize all that brilliance just rolls out the back of the camera all by itself? Ansel Adams is famously quoted that the ‘negative is like a composer’s score — the print is the performance’. A good colorist should be the golden voice or gifted performer that lifts a written script off the page and breathes life into it, creates that seamless world in which the story truly lives. A lot of what goes into that, the element that seals the deal for a viewer’s suspension of disbelief, isn’t so much a matter of raw technique, anyway. Yes, elements of it… but how to fuse all those things together — maybe it can be taught — mostly its a question of a massive amount of hands-on experience of what works, and what doesn’t — and usually has to be re-invented for the next scene, act, story, anyway. How to impart that kind of relentless innovation?

It would be like all those pre-cooked “looks”. You just can’t trowel them on and expect a movie to pop out the other end, in the first case, and for colorists who probably have an entire library of secret herbs and spices, most of those really look like good old “salt ‘n peppa”. When, maybe, the client is really looking for Joe’s Secret Nawlins Cajun, which is mostly paprika, but I digress. What the rest of it is, I’m not sayin’.

jPo

You mean “Old Ben”? Ben Kenobi?

[Robert Houllahan]

I think the issue with color technique is that every colorist has had to develop his or her own sauce and it takes time and from my personal experience the formative years can be painful, because it is not editing and has to do with a subject that is esoteric.

-Rob-

Robert Houllahan
Director / Colorist
Cinelab Inc.
http://www.cinelab.com

MAHC-PRO 6-Core 3X GTX285 20Tb SAS Wave Panel Panny 11UK SDI Plasma.

[Ronald Anderson]

Entertaining and insightful Mr. Owens. For better or worse the relatively inexpensive softwares now allow for anyone to dabble in Color grading. Because of all the tools available, and the changes in our old post production models, now it seems that one can get a top quality job from a home studio.
In the words of past comedy great, Jimmy Durante’ , “Everyone Wants to Get into the Act!”

[Craig Harris]

I agree and can relate to the time and pain it takes to develop that ‘Secret Sauce.’ I am still mixing the ingredients… trying to find that perfect combination of spices and herbs (as others refer to it).

What I would love to see however is some kind of visual forum where colorists are able to share their stories, ideas and work. It would never be a forum to give away the ‘special sauce,’ but it would be a place for creative discussion, ideas and inspiration.

DP’s, musicians, photographers and other creatives consistantly share ideas and what inspires them (eg – American Cinematographer). Why not colorists?

BTW – Episode 1 of a new Warner Series (Mortal Kombat) was timed today on my DaVinci Resolve system (2009 MacPro). Exciting stuff!!!

[Jason Myres]

Here you go:

https://www.liftgammagain.com