Digital Video - March 2008 - (Page 30)

DV 101 BY JAY HOLBEN COLOR CONUNDRUM CLEAR COMMUNICATION WITH A COLORIST IS AN ESSENTIAL ART. n today’s digital age, the concept of Do-It-Yourself has been taken to a new level; especially if you listen to the product manufacturers. However, just because one technically can do everything doesn’t mean one should do everything. There are still aspects of creative production best left to highly specialized individuals, and one of those remains firmly in the hands of the colorist. As a former film cinematographer, the concept of a colorist or color timer is something that I’ve grown up with. When shooting film, color timing is an impossible step to skip; someone has to set the exposure values for red, green and blue light passing through the negative to make a positive print. As it happens, a considerable amount of creative control comes with that task. Adjusting red by a few points can drastically alter the final look of that film print — and from that creative control was born a symbiotic relationship between cinematographer and color timer. When telecine came onto the scene and the machines were able to transfer film negative onto videotape as a positive image, the same principles applied, but, suddenly, there was even more flexibility over the image. It wasn’t just red, green and blue densities, but yellow, cyan and magenta, in addition to gamma, toe and shoulder control. It wasn’t long before a telecine colorist had the ability, quite literally, to turn a day into a night. With this amount of conCheck out Jay’s DV101 Blog for additrol, a very clear and concise commutional information nication was required between the and images related to this cinematographer and colorist to story. Visit DV online. make sure that no misinterpretation 30 dv march 2008 I of intentions happened. For instance, the cinematographer may have intended a scene to be underexposed and mysterious but the colorist interprets that as a mistake and makes the image bright and clear. For years cinematographers and colorists worked to refine their own methods of communication, but nothing goes beyond the cinematographer sitting in the same room while the colorist is working, offering specific guidance on his or her intentions when the image was originated. At its most basic, color timing, also known as color correction, is a technical process to iron out the kinks and inconsistencies in original photography. Inconsistencies arise from differences in exposures, lighting, color, film stocks, white balance, etc. In a particular scene, the sun might have passed behind a cloud during one take, rendering the shot slightly cooler in color than the other shots around it, or a particular shot in a scene may have been shot months away from the next shot in the scene and the lighting wasn’t exactly the same. These inconsistencies can arise from something as simple as the exact same model of lighting fixture has a slightly different color temperature than a previous fixture had months before. While shooting, no one would be able to see the difference, but when the shots are edited together side-by-side, the difference becomes glaring, so the color-correction process smoothes out these inconsistencies and makes the picture a cohesive whole. Over the years, this process has evolved into an extraordinary creative tool. Digital color correction has gone far beyond a simple smoothing of inconsistencies to a further extension of creative image enhancement. An experienced and talented colorist www.dv.com PHOTOS BY JAY HOLBEN http://www.dv.com http://www.dv.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Digital Video - March 2008

Digital Video - March 2008 Contents DV Update Q&A Fest Circuit Instant Expert LP-Micro Light Fusion F2 Drive PPFP-3N Bag Ego Digital Imaging Light KE-79CC Boom & Fuzzy Close-Up: Honoring George Spiro Dibie, ASC Food Fight Key Thoughts on Chroma key DV101 Dynamic Duos First Look: A Big Serve Cameras & Courtrooms Ad Index Production Diary

Digital Video - March 2008

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