Graphics Reference
In-Depth Information
CHAPTER 8
Most of this topic has been a fairly one-sided discussion from the perspec-
tive of the colorist. As I've pointed out before, though, color correction is
a very collaborative art form or craft and one of the main collaborators—
and the originator of the image itself—is the director of photography.
In addition to my conversations with colorists, I also spoke to several
DPs, including David Mullen, ASC.
In this chapter, we're going to discuss how the colorist helps to tell the
story, which is arguably one of the most important points of color correc-
tion. How does the colorist get the viewer into the story using color and
keep the viewer's attention and focus in the story? What can the colorist
add to the visual process that was started by the director and DP?
“The majority of movies today are shot in a style that could be called
romantic realism,” begins Mullen. “Sort of naturalistic lighting and pho-
tography, but naturalism pushed to kind of its most dramatic or interest-
ing. So we try to make things look realistic, but manipulated for the mood
of the story. Sometimes when I'm breaking down a script, I'll list the
obvious visual devices that the script seems to call for, then I ask myself if
those are clichés and whether the
opposite
is really what the film needs. It's
like the Hitchcock thing where he liked to set a murder scene in a sunny
field with flowers, just those kind of opposite choices. But this is all stuff
you have to talk about with the director. Sort of bounce these ideas off of
them. Sometimes they want kind of off-the-wall suggestions that kind of
spark new ideas, but generally there are certain cultural associations like
warmth for passion or coldness for badness or isolation or something like
that. It's not always true.
I'll list the obvious visual devices that the script seems to call for, then
I ask myself if those are clichés.
- David Mullen, ASC.
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