POST


GRADING CRAFT


MAKING THE GRADE


THE COLOURISTS OF FOUR RECENT STANDOUT TV AND FILM PRODUCTIONS EXPLAIN WHAT IT TOOK TO CREATE A GRADE THAT MADE THE STORY SHINE THROUGH. JON CREAMER REPORTS


...TÁR


COMPANY 3’S HEAD OF COMMERCIAL COLOUR, TIM MASICK, COMPLETED THE GRADE ON TODD FIELD’S PSYCHOLOGICAL DRAMA FEATURE STARRING CATE BLANCHETT


How did you discuss the look before shooting began? Todd [Field, director] is an incredibly knowledgeable director in every aspect of the filmmaking process. He knew what he wanted and what this film would be. His overarching goal was “truth,” meaning not to impose anything on the image that would take away from the information we are getting from the film—no specific, intentional look or stylisation. Nothing too pretty, matter of fact, but not raw and untended - maintain the integrity of the cinematography. Another general element we discussed was that most of the film takes place in


88 televisual.com Summer 2023


winter in Berlin, so it must feel bleak. This immediately helped to paint pictures in my mind of how the film would look.


What sort of testing did you do beforehand? Principal photography was in Germany, so Todd and Florian [Hoffmeister, cinematographer] worked with Traudl Nicholson at Arri to create a baseline shooting LUT to establish looks on set with DIT Lorenzo Zama. Beyond colour grading tests, there were extensive lens tests that resulted in Arri creating a bespoke series of lenses.


What other influences did you bring in? There wasn’t anything we were trying to emulate; any existing references went out of the window. Ultimately, it became about taking our content and making it truthful


and not stylised as we wanted the audience to experience the footage without noticing the grade - allowing the viewer to interpret what they see without influence. Also, I have worked with Todd for many years on commercials so we already had a shorthand when working together. You know the good things to do and what to avoid.


What was the grade working to do? We tried to have nothing overpowering in any of the shots for the grade. For example, we had red pencils in some of the shots, and while we wanted them to be noticed, we would slightly lower their tone so that they would sit cohesively in the shot. Beyond supporting the idea of nothing being too prominent in any shot, this also played into the idea that Lydia has so much control over things, nothing is ever out of place.


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