By Margot Suydam

Bob Festa of R!OT, Santa Monica, was named best commercial colorist during the recent National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) show. Festa won the honor for three spots: K-Swiss’ "Classic," Dodge’s "Dust" and Coca-Cola’s "Hollywood Restaurant." Color correction system provider da Vinci Systems, Coral Springs, Fla., presented the award. (Since the International Monitor Awards competition has dissolved, there has been no opportunity to honor the work of colorists. Da Vinci Systems decided to take on the task by introducing its Master Colorist Awards in four categories: commercials, music videos, features and episodic television.)

Fellow R!OT colorist Scott Klein notes, "Bob’s pictures over the years speak for themselves. What doesn’t get down on tape is his mastery of the suite environment. He owns the original blueprints for an elegant command of the room and has set the bar for so many of us."

Similar accolades came from Mike Orton, president of technology consulting firm Weird Science, Los Angeles, who says that Festa is "truly poetry in motion. He seems to almost effortlessly juggle the picture, the clients … the director and funny stories, all the while moving the process forward in a smooth and efficient manner," Orton shares.

A colorist for more than 20 years, Festa has worked all over Hollywood, with stints at such post houses as Editel, Encore Video, and Hollywood Digital. For the last nine years, he has hung his hat at R!OT, Santa Monica, which is now a part of Ascent Media Group. Over the years, Festa has not only witnessed changes in the postproduction market, he has also established himself with a number of commercial directors. "With twenty-three years in the business, there are a lot of relationships that I’ve developed, which are all pretty long term," he says.

Asked to characterize his work, Festa says that nurturing a certain identifiable look is a luxury that colorists really can’t afford. "Whatever walks in the door, you have to be flexible enough to lend an ear and use your language, background and experience to determine what direction your client—the director—wants to go," he relates. "My biggest strength is that I like to listen. I can hijack the job and do it my way, but this business is based on relationships and repeat business, so I listen and show three to seven different variations of what they are talking about. If everybody has a choice, then they are happy."

Moreover, he adds, everybody wants their film to look completely different from everybody else’s. "Everyday there is a new look, so if we are all using the same tools, again it comes down to technique," Festa says. "The trend is for new looks. If all of us were here just to replicate exposure on set, it would be a pretty boring world. Part of the dynamics is when you sit in the seat, you don’t know what’s going to happen."

Festa also recently applied his skills to Untitled, one of the short films in the third installment of the Sony "Dreams" project, which put Sony F-900 Cine Alta 24p cameras into the hands of commercial directors, who then shot short films under a common theme—this year it was "Magic." Directed by Dante Ariola of bicoastal/international Morton Jankel Zander, and shot by cinematographer Mott Hupfel, Untitled features a man from Brooklyn sharing his feeling about magic past and present.

The "Dreams" short was not the first time Festa had worked with 24p. "I have been working in hi-def for about four years," he notes, "and I like it."

In his opinion, DPs shooting with 24p have a steeper learning curve than colorists. "Unless they get it right, they could really jeopardize the integrity of the material," Festa asserts. "In terms of exposure latitude, 24p has a very narrow range, so there is not a whole lot of room for error."

Also new on the technological front are software-based tools which are moving color correction away from dedicated hardware-based systems. "The film to digital intermediate business is all software-based, and we’re still working in a heavy hardware-intensive environment," Festa says. "The software-based systems are great in their own special niche, but shortly, there will be an explosion and train wreck that will cross-pollinate the two."

The question then arises: Do these new tools present a challenge to colorists? "Damn straight," Festa replies. "Any colorist who doesn’t keep his ears open and is not open to change is a gift to the graveyard."

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