Senior colorist Vincent Taylor has brought his extensive experience in the grading suite, his background and training as a cinematographer and his far-flung cultural perspectives to the New York office of the Moving Picture Company. The move reunites Taylor with MPC, as he spent three years leading the color department in its studio in Shanghai prior to moving to New York where he most recently served as head of color at Chimney.
Taylor’s introduction to the grading suite was part happenstance. After working behind the camera for a decade as a cinematographer in Australia, he pitched in to shoot a short film that was a personal project for some friends. When it came time to grade it, the post facility they were working out of asked him if he would consider crossing over from production to that of telecine and the art of color grading.
“I said yes and have never looked back. I love it,” he recalled. “It was the continued crafting of the image that drew me in, which is of course exactly what you do once you’re in the color suite. I found that DPs and directors really appreciated my background; I’d been on set and had extensive lighting experience. So I fell into color quite naturally.
“First and foremost, I’m a storyteller,” he added about his approach to color. “I studied to be a director, but it was lighting and cinematography that attracted me. And in that respect, people often don’t fully appreciate how color can be part of the storytelling, regardless of whether you’re working in comedy or drama or documentary. I’m always asking questions about the story, about what we’re trying to say. Needless to say, directors and DPs love the approach to color from this perspective.”
Currently Taylor’s color grading is on display in visually stimulating commercials spanning genres, techniques, categories, and disciplines, from comedy to fashion to automotive to food and beverage. In Shanghai, for example, Taylor worked on Airbnb’s introductory TV commercial launch in China and led color for major campaigns including Bentley, BMW, Coca Cola, Sky TV, Mercedes, L’Orรฉal and Johnnie Walker. He’s also worked extensively in the music video space, recently grading clips for artists such as Lil Nas X.
Taylor said he feels as though he never left MPC. “I’ve continued to follow the work that’s being done there, and many of my friends are still with MPC around the globe,” he pointed out. “I think the quality of the work they’re doing is always attractive to an artist, especially if you’re looking to continually grow, and that’s certainly something I’ve always aimed to do.”
At MPC he plans to continue to work on high-end ad assignments as well as feature films, TV series and movies, documentaries and music videos. Angela Lupo, managing director of MPC’s NY studio, described Taylor as “a senior colorist with a true creative voice and a passion for his craft.”
In NBC’s “Brilliant Minds,” Zachary Quinto Plays Doctor–In A Role Inspired By Physician/Author Oliver Sacks
There's a great moment in the first episode of the new NBC medical drama "Brilliant Minds" when it becomes very clear that we're not dealing with a typical TV doctor.
Zachary Quinto is behind the wheel of a car barreling down a New York City parkway, packed with hospital interns, abruptly weaving in and out of lanes, when one of them asks, "Does anyone want to share a Klonopin?" โ a drug sometimes used to treat panic disorders.
"Oh, glory to God, yes, please," says Quinto, reaching an arm into the back seat. The intern then breaks the pill in half and gives a sliver to the driver, who swallows it, as the other interns share stunned looks.
Quinto, playing the character Dr. Oliver Wolf, is clearly not portraying any dour, by-the-rules doctor here โ he's playing a character inspired by Dr. Oliver Sacks, the path-breaking researcher and author who rose to fame in the 1970s and was once called the "poet laureate of medicine."
"He was someone who was tirelessly committed to the dignity of the human experience. And so I feel really grateful to be able to tell his story and to continue his legacy in a way that I hope our show is able to do," says Quinto.
He's a fern-loving doctor
"Brilliant Minds" takes Sack's personality โ a motorcycle-riding, fern-loving advocate for mental health who died in 2015 at 82 โ and puts him in the present day, where the creators theorize he would have no idea who Taylor Swift is or own a cell phone. The series debuts Monday on NBC, right after "The Voice."
"It's almost as if we're imagining what it would have been like if Oliver Sacks had been born at a different time," says Quinto. "We use the real life person as our North Star through everything we're doing and all the... Read More