By Robert Goldrich

Mark Gethin, MPC LA’s award-winning colorist and creative director, has set the look and feel for assorted commercials as well as select films and TV series. He is a highly sought out partner for a number of leading filmmakers and cinematographers, including directors John Hillcoat of Stink, Adam Berg of Smuggler and Rupert Sanders of MJZ, and DP Linus Sandgren, all of whom Gethin has collaborated with for over a decade.

Gethin’s work can be seen in Hillcoat’s highly anticipated Triple 9, a crime-drama heist feature slated to debut in March 2016. The colorist also worked with DP Sandgren on director Gus Van Sant’s Promised Land and Lasse Hallström’s The Hundred-Foot Journey.

Gethin’s body of work in commercials spans such brands as Dulux, Activision, Jameson, Volvo, BMW and X-Box. Other noteworthy credits include HBO’s Togetherness and numerous Super Bowl spots such as this year’s Emmy-nominated Nissan’s “With Dad” directed by Lance Acord of Park Pictures, and 2014’s Coca-Cola ad “It’s Beautiful,” a multicultural rendition of “America The Beautiful” directed by Hillcoat. Gethin also graded Hillcoat’s music video for Johnny Cash’s “She Used To Love Me A Lot.”

Gethin is a two-time BTAA Craft Colorist of the Year for his work on Saab’s “Turbo” with director Berg and Xbox Halo’s “The Life” directed by Sanders. Additional awards have come from collaborations with Berg and DP Mattias Montero on Assassin’s Creed IV’s “Black Flag: Defy,” a Cannes Gold Lion winner; Juan Cabral’s Cannes Grand Prix winner, Cadbury’s “Gorilla via Blink Productions;” and Stella Artois’ “Ice Skating Priests,” a Cannes Gold Lion winner directed by Jonathan Glazer (handled by Academy Films in the UK and RESET in the U.S.).

SHOOT: How has the role of the colorist evolved relative to commercials and branded content? Features?

Gethin: I think the role has evolved over all the disciplines because people are so much more aware of what you are able to do in color. Years ago it was still a secret art whereas today everybody has Instagram or Photoshop and an idea of how you can manipulate an image. But at the end of the day it still comes down to taste, a good eye and collaboration.

SHOOT: It’s said that one discipline informs another. How has your commercial experience impacted your feature film work? Conversely, what have your feature endeavors enabled you to bring back to your work in commercials/branded content?

Gethin: I think having a background in commercials gives you a certain eye for detail and an ability to do many different looks, whereas on a movie it’s really about the whole picture, so much broader strokes. You can’t get too obsessed about one shot because you have another thousand shots to do.

SHOOT: Your latest feature is John Hillcoat’s Triple 9. What was (were) the biggest creative challenge(s) that Triple 9 posed to you as a colorist and how did you meet that (those) challenge(s)?

Gethin: The biggest challenge was trying to give Triple 9 a film noir 16mm feel, but without feeling too affected or too retro. John had very specific references that were from the ‘70s—stills and movie clips that he liked. But mainly they were shot on film and we wanted a look like how that medium portrayed the image. It’s not that John wanted Triple 9 to look retro (it’s a modern day piece), but more like if you took that camera and film and shot it today, that’s how it would look. The movie was shot digitally so we added film grain afterwards in the DI suite and we were very conscious of trying to retain softness in whites and to give the picture a lot of weight and contrast, but without crushing blacks. Initially we went through making sure nothing was clipping and taking the exposure down below an acceptable level. Then basically each time we watched the movie, we kept pushing it darker and darker until we felt the right mood was achieved. 

SHOOT: Discuss your relationship with director Hillcoat which also spans the Coke Super Bowl commercial “It’s Beautiful” and the Johnny Cash music video “She Used To Love Me A Lot.” How did you two come together initially? What’s the nature of your collaborative relationship and how does it vary (or perhaps it doesn’t in which case you can discuss that) when you work with him on a feature as compared to shorter form fare (commercials and music videos)?

Gethin: I’ve worked with John for over 15 years now. We started working together on music videos back in London, then over the years, more commercials and now his latest movie. I love working with John. He always brings a lot of visual references for each job, usually photography stills. We’ll then discuss what qualities he likes and what he hopes it will bring to the project, then start grading. We’ve worked on many many projects over the years and have very similar sensibilities, so I have a pretty good idea what John’s likes and dislikes are.

SHOOT: How did you diversify into features?

Gethin: I’ve worked with DP Linus Sandgren for over 10 years, originally in Europe on commercials. Then we both moved to L.A. around the same time which enabled us to continue working together. When Linus got his first big movie, he pushed really hard for me to be involved (Gus Van Sant’s Promised Land), and whenever possible we’ve worked together on his movies. Linus again is someone who I have a great working relationship with and we will share stills/references beforehand, and have a lot of dialogue before the job, especially on a movie. 

SHOOT: What are you working on now?

Gethin: I’ve recently finished a couple of Guinness Rugby World cups spots with John Hillcoat for London, which turned out really nice. And I have a big Gillette James Bond Spectre commercial coming out soon that I’m excited about for Adam Berg. But on a weekly basis I tend to do a lot of commercials, so there’s usually something interesting right around the corner.

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