The rapid pace of change in the color correction sector continues, and as new tools and techniques emerge, the fundamentals of the process are being rewritten. One consequence is that the lines are blurring between color correction and visual effects.
That blurring is changing the order of the traditional commercial production and post workflow. It is also prompting questions about the artists’ roles. Many feel the colorist and visual effects artists will collaborate more closely than ever before; some believe there will be an emergence of a new breed of talent who are skilled in both areas; while others predict that some artists will be left behind.
“Initially all color was done in the traditional telecine suite including tape-to-tape color correction,” relates Fred Ruckel, creative director/Discreet Inferno artist at Stitch, New York. “Spots weren’t so heavily reliant on special effects to augment the story. But today, pretty much every spot has some kind of retouch, replacement, removal or color stylization.”
Ruckel notes that “when we put the whole spot together [in a finishing system], we can then decide to grade it a bit more than was done in the transfer to give it the polished, integrated final look. When creating composites, the artist has to color all the different layers to make them blend best and not show the different pieces used to make the final result.”
“Now it’s almost standard operating procedure [to collaborate with visual effects artists],” explains colorist Stefan Sonnenfeld, managing director of bicoastal Company 3. “If they are not doing that, that’s not good, especially for effects-laden jobs. I feel more comfortable with a visual effects artist [in a telecine session]; you have a better chance to achieve creative success. … It’s about more people working together; everything is intertwined these days. We are in this together and have an objective to achieve the best possible creative for the client. I think clients are more confident and secure when we are all speaking.”
Sonnenfeld says that for him to successfully do his job, the input of the effects artisan can make a huge difference in making a spot appear seamless. “There is a much more symbiotic relationship in which the colorist comes up with a look, and to achieve that look, the colorist needs the artistry of the visual effects artist to complete it,” he explains. “[For instance], I might do several passes. If they are not blended properly in a tasteful way, it looks manipulated and hokey. If done tastefully and artistically, they have something that works seamlessly and enhances the work.”
Andy Mac, creative director at R!OT Santa Monica, a sister shop to Company 3, says this sort of collaboration leads to more control. For instance, he often request two passes: One of the beauty color correct of the overall image; a second as an optimized pass in order to get a quality edge for the compositor.
The emerging techniques surrounding data based postproduction and software-based color correction systems may usher in even more changes–most evident to the client is that data brings with it a nonlinear environment. “In a nonlinear environment, an agency can see [color corrected] work in cut order–that’s an advantage to which clients will get more accustomed,” says colorist Tom Poole, of the New York office of The Mill, which is headquartered in London.
“The downside is when it affects the revised edits that can happen mid-session.” Poole adds, noting that agencies shoot a lot of footage for commercials. “Storage of high resolution files is high; whether one would transfer all the film or just the cut, I’m not sure.”
At Nice Shoes, New York, a data workflow is in development. Chris Ryan, a Nice Shoes colorist, believes that this could lead to “a more modular approach with multiple people working together.” That includes the colorist and visual effects team, which would have the ability to share data from a central server. “We are getting toward a point where there is no order anymore to how you have to do things,” he relates.
Once in the data realm, “then it’s who do you want to do the color. Who knows?” comments Mac of R!OT. “I see agency people playing with dailies in Photoshop–color correction software could allow them to do that more precisely. With data, you can work on a laptop. You are liberated and you can move around. As manufacturers come up with cleverer software — maybe agencies will play with looks on set.”
In post house environments, Ruckel points out that it is the scanning portion of the telecine equation that represents the big difference with most visual effects boutiques. But he believes even that is moving toward a change. “Scanners are getting cheaper and faster. There will been film scanners affordable for effects houses. I think that will be the next step.”
Meanwhile, both colorists and compositors have access to a wider palette of creative tools. “Data grading software is pushing more [effects] tools to colorists–in some ways its good, in some its bad,” contends Poole. “A problem is there is a tight window to do a commercial and you are in danger of over complicating things–this is a feeling I’ve heard from other colorists.”
“Too many manufacturers are trying to [build color correction tools] at the moment–some are good for just color, some are good for integration,” relates Mac. “I don’t think anyone has a full grasp on it. We are reinventing the color pipeline, and I think it will be this year [that significant changes occur]. Someone will say, ‘this is how we are going to do it,’ and I don’t think it will be a manufacturer.”
The industry could also see a change where budgets are concerned. “There are a lot of low-end color correction systems that just came out and are all going to vie for market share,” points out Ruckel. “I really think a lot of color correction is going to be brought to the desktop level.”
Dave Waller, co-owner/visual effects artists at Brickyard, Boston and Santa Monica, says all of these choices are good for the creative. “Everybody is so color happy because of all of the new tools,” he says. “That’s why so many more ads look so great.”
Assisting Brickyard’s workflow is the use of UP Sessions, a long-distance collaborative tool offered by Santa Monica-headquartered Ascent Media Group, parent of Company 3 and R!OT. There, Waller and clients can watch a color correction session in another city from Waller’s Discreet Flame suite–while Waller is working on in his creative environment. Waller explains that this allows clients to supervise two sessions at once. Meanwhile, he has the ability to ask for passes, answer questions, and in general collaborate more closely with the colorist.
As always, in the end it all boils down to creative talent. As well, artists will have to stay educated about new technologies. “Obviously compositors have been doing effects for a long time; and we’ve been doing color correction for long time,” says Poole. “Your career is driven by what you’ve learned. [Now] what we do is work side by side.”
But opinions vary. “I believe that color correction as we know it–and compositing as we know it–will merge. I think the compositor and colorist will become one and the same,” states Larry Bridges, CEO of Red Car, which maintains offices in New York, Santa Monica, Chicago and satellites in cities including Buenos Aires and Detroit. “They will do more in the area of look creation,” adds Bridges, who is an editor/director/DP. “Filmmaking is becoming more spontaneous and less sequential– that means a move toward one room.”
“Worlds will collide for sure,” comments Ruckel. “On any given day a visual effects artist is asked to online edit, color correct, Paintbox, dustbust, add/remove something from a scene, or add rain or some particle effect.”
“You have to have two steps,” asserts Sonnenfeld. “I don’t think one box and one person can do everything. Effects artists are not necessarily great at color and colorists are not necessarily great at visual effects.” Looking at the client perspective, Sonnefeld adds, “People work weeks and weeks on [visual effects] shots. In color correction sessions, they come in and want to leave. They don’t want to stop to track and render.”
Mac predicts that the future many hold room for some talented hybrid compositors/colorists, “But I think the software might be killing the old [color correction] hardware, not the artists.”
“People are still very loyal to their telecine artist and composting artist,” concludes Waller. “I think it remains to be seen who–if anyone–gets left out in the cold.”