American Cinematographer - January 2015 - K12

Senior Colorist
Mark Griffth
on flm restoration
Color grading has been Mark Griffth's mandate for almost
30 years. He began as a colorist, specializing in award-winning
commercials and visual effects at Optimus in Chicago, then at
Command Post & Transfer in Toronto. At the time, secondaries were
still fairly new, there were no windows and no way to store a list.
Even tape-to-tape color passes were a matter of trial and error. As
the industry evolved, so did Griffth. He moved to Los Angeles in
1991 and expanded on his commercial experience, adding trailers
and feature flm projects to his growing credit list.
For 10 years now, Griffth has been a member of the FotoKem
team. Since 2010, he has worked on a number of important
restoration projects, including three major 4K flm restorations: The
Sound of Music for its 45th anniversary, Oklahoma! and My Fair Lady,
on the occasion of their 60th and 50th anniversaries, respectively,
last year.
Here he offers insight into the delicacies of his craft:
How does picture restoration differ from color correction
for a newly released feature?
With a new feature, you're using color tools to create a particular
mood or to lure the eye to a certain point on the screen through
windowing. But restoration takes a different mindset. It's not
about creating something new that looks cool but re-creating the
existing image to look new, as if it was shot yesterday. It's a very
precise process. You have to be sensitive to the intentions of the
people who created the elements that went into that flm - the
lighting, the exposure, the art direction - because the director, the
cinematographers and the art directors are not usually able to be in
the room with you.
How do you perceive your role as a colorist on restoration
projects?
I consider myself a creative ambassador, melding the technical
aspects of color correction with the creative aspects to preserve
these flms and represent all those who took such care to create
these national treasures. The tools are so vast and effective today
that you want to use them to make the picture look good, pop off the
screen, and address imperfections that would be visually distracting
to the audience. But there is a fne balance. The restorations I've
done are big flms, and people have strong memories of them.
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What does the flm medium bring to digital 4K restorations?
The resolution of flm allows you to see so much detail in the
images: clothing patterns and textures, fowers, leaves of trees,
the texture of buildings. These are the details that go into the art
direction and cinematography. They all come to life with great
composition and exposure. And the 4K and 8K capabilities of
scanning and workfow allow flm's grain structure to really sing.
Years ago, in early video restorations, there was some heavy
handedness in using grain reduction devices: If people felt there was
too much of a grain feel they'd get rid of all of it. But flm grain adds
a certain life to the image. People began to realize grain was part of
the attraction of flm and should be embraced.
What's it like to watch the fnished restoration on a big screen?
Most of the time I'm not working with fnal sound - the mix is
going on concurrently with the color correction process. But it feels
really good when we present a digital screening of the flm here
in our theater before it goes out. The fnal soundtrack enhances
every nuance you've been working on in color. All of the painstaking
attention to detail brings new life to the fnal product.
Are you seeing any trends in the restoration feld?
The tools have never been better and the technology has never
been gentler for asset protection. But it is more than equipment that
makes the difference; it's the experience and skill required to work
with these important assets. It is important for the next generation
to gain experience with flm images, and bring that expertise to
future restorations. At FotoKem, we are in the unique position of
being a flm and digital post facility, with decades of experience
working on a myriad of projects, and being able to bring that skillset
to restorations.
What advice do you have for future colorists of flm
restorations?
No matter what tools become available, restoration needs to be
approached with a light touch. It is vital to preserve what was done,
not create what wasn't. It's the history of cinema at your fngertips!
Photo: Photo courtesy of Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment.
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American Cinematographer - January 2015

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