This week’s focus on editors and colorists takes a look at a trio of telecine operators who are creating buzz with their visually stunning work. Profiled below are: Siggy Fertsl, of R!OT, Santa Monica; Seamus O’Kane of The Mill, London and New York, and Mick Vincent, who is joining Clear, London.
Siggy Ferts
In less than a year, veteran colorist Siggy Ferstl relocated to R!OT Santa Monica from Sydney-based Digital Pictures, made an imprint in the U.S. commercial market, and extended himself into the feature world.
Ferstal brings a broad industry perspective to his work–he started in the business 23 years ago as an assistant colorist at AAV Australia in Melbourne; and went on to work in Sydney, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and the U.K. He spent most of his career in commercials, but also did some feature work during his eight-year stint at Digital Pictures, during which a digital intermediate (DI) pipeline was developed and adopted. His DI work in Sydney included House of Flying Daggers. And, since moving to the U.S. he color corrected the upcoming Bruce Hunt-directed feature The Cave at Company 3, Santa Monica, a sister company to R!OT, which has a DI color correction theater. The movie is a thriller that follows a rescue team that is sent down into the world’s largest cave system to try to find the spelunkers who first explored its depths. While inside, their escape route is cut off.
Some of Ferstl’s his commercial work since joining R!OT includes a pair from General Motors’ “Only GM” campaign–“Who’s Got Our Backs?” and “Would You?”–which underscore the advertiser’s concerns for safety. The spots were created by McCann Erickson Detroit, Troy, Mich., and directed by Ken Arlidge of bicoastal Aero Film.
In the commercials, the automaker’s vehicles play only cameo roles as background, behind children who talk about the safety features.
“The kids were saying very important lines, so they had to come across as real and honest,” Ferstl relates. “We tried going contrast-y and crunchy, and we tried softer looks. We ended five percent down from normal saturation.
“Then I isolated [the kids’] faces,” he continues, “and tried to separate them from the background as much as possible to put the focus on the kids.”
That spot was finished in standard definition, but others, like a recent cinema commercial for Kodak, are finished in HD. In the Kodak ad, the company wanted to demonstrate the various looks that its film stock can achieve. So Ferstl’s task was not about consistency of look, but creating different looks. That included black-and-white, color, outdoors, and different times of day and night.
Ferstal continues to use his trusted da Vinci 2k, which he demoed in April at the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) convention in Las Vegas; meanwhile he keeps one eye on developing software-based systems.
“Software color correction will have a role in the future, but I’m not sure if it is suited for short form at this stage,” Ferstl explains. “They were mostly designed for feature DI applications [which primarily use data]. Workflow is the main issue. Data requires a lot of prep work, and may not be a good workflow for the fast turnaround for commercials. On the other hand, software offers color grading in a nonlinear environment.”
Ferstl points out that the role of the colorist–and the client–is becoming more complex with the advent of these new technologies and high resolution formats. “Technology for color correction and more camera technologies are at times very confusing for clients,” he explains. “I do advise them on approaches, depending on how they plan to deliver the final commercial.”
Seamus O’Kane
The Mill, which has offices in London and New York, recently welcomed a new talent to its team: veteran colorist Seamus O’Kane, who joins the shop after 12 years at post house VTR, London, and nearly two decades in the telecine buisness.
O’Kane, who will be based in London but available to work at the New York facility, has spent most of his career in commercials. At VTR, O’Kane’s spot work including the U.K. Mini “Martians” spot, directed by Chris Palmer of London’s Gorgeous Enterprises, London–he’s repped stateside via bicoastal Anonymous Content–and the worldwide Mini launch spots directed by Dante Ariola, of bicoastal/international Morton Jankel Zander (MJZ) as well as spots for British Airways, MasterCard, Stella Artois, HSBC, and Guinness.
At VTR, he also had a front row seat for the emergence of the Digital Intermediate (DI) process, which has resulted in changes in the technology and in the business. “At VTR we had a [Grass Valley] Specter and we were pushing the DI data solution into the commercials market,” O’Kane relates. “Last summer I did my only long form DI, a romantic thriller called Dead Fish starring Gary Oldman and Terence Stamp, but I have done many short films for my commercial directors following the same process. This is a natural progression for the colorist/ director /director of photography relationship and is something to be enjoyed.”
O’Kane joined The Mill in April, when he went to the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) convention to demonstrate the Pandora Revolution color correction system. “There is a big revolution happening in the workflow–the marriage of dedicated hardware running open software,” the colorist says. “I think ultimately anyone with a software color correction system will have to design the complete interface–it has to be more custom made. Software will be looking for cleverer hardware.”
Since joining The Mill O’Kane’s spot work has included Transport for London’s “Blockbuster,” out M&C Saatchi, London, and directed by Chris Palmer. This spot was designed to resemble a trailer, and is an awareness message meant to encourage people to pay attention when crossing the street. “It had a look like Enemy of the State,” O’Kane explains. “It’s high impact, high energy. The whole idea was to take the cinema feel and almost enhance it a little bit. It’s very ‘moviesque’…[At the end], you see a man leaving some buildings in a very cinematic style, and then he’s hit by a car. When the actor steps into street there is [added] graininess and as cars hit, a jolt back to a greyer, London street.”
Another recent job was a Tesco Cherokee spot via Lowe, London, entitled “Naomi & Anger Management,” directed by Bryan Buckley of bicoastal/international Hungry Man. The spot, airing in the U.K., opens with Naomi Campbell walking through the lobby of a hotel. Suddenly a price starburst appears in frame, telling the viewer that her top cost £8. She grabs the star and throws it into the elevator in an effort to hide the inexpensive price of her clothes. Similar vignettes follow, causing chaos within the hotel. Finally she is lead away by the local police. Twenty and 10-second versions of the spot show her in an anger management group; unfortunately the arrival of the starburst explaining the price of her dress is all too much and she lashes out. On all ads, the commercials end with ‘Design by Cherokee, Priced by Tesco.’
Mick Vincent
Veteran U.K.-based colorist Mick Vincent is completing a 19-year run with London-based VTR, where he most recently served as director of telecine, and is readying to become director of telecine at Clear, London, where he will launch the visual effects company’s telecine unit in July.
Vincent’s career has primarily focused on commercials–recent work has included spots for clients such as Fosters and Lynx. But Vincent was heavily involved in implementing a Digital Intermediate (DI) workflow for features and commercials at VTR. Vincent handled feature DI work for films including the Mike Binder-directed The Upside of Anger.
He intends to implement a DI workflow at Clear with a Grass Valley Spirit 4k, enabling the team to work with 2k and 4k data for commercial and long-form work, and Filmlight’s Baselight 8 color correction software system with the new Baselight Blackboard control panel; a Pandora’s Revolution color correction system will be available for more traditional jobs.
The DI workflow for commercials is what Vincent calls “in-context grading”–the process of conforming a spot in the telecine session and then doing the final color correction when the spot is in shot order. Vincent explains that the company would scan the film at 2k in advance of the booking, and then offer clients a data based nonlinear work environment. He explains that this method eliminates the need to color a lot of film that will not be used in the commercial. Also, it means that the color correction session can focus on creative decisions, rather than spending time changing reels and shuttling through film. “Clients come into a telecine suite to be creative, it would be nice if that’s all they have to concentrate on,” Vincent says.
The software-based Baselight color correction system recently gained the optional Blackboard control panel with familiar balls, knobs, and flexibility offered by traditional color correction systems. Vincent was involved in the development of Blackboard by offering input and suggestions. “The early [software systems] used a keyboard and mouse and small color correction panel, but although it was powerful, it was a little inflexible,” Vincent explains. “More clients in attended sessions are used to making changes with balls and knobs and being very fast and interactive without the need for processing the shots and grading with a pen and tablet.”
Creative Endeavors
While staying on top of technical developments, he also stays at the top of his game.
His lengthy list of spots included “Wild” for Lynx deodorant via London-based Bartle Bogle Hegarty, London and directed by Daniel Kleinman (then of Large, now of Kleinman Productions, London). In the spot, a man’s actions have a peculiar effect on the ladies around him. For example, while the man is sitting in a hot train station, he opens his book and runs his finger down his face, as a woman’s blouse opens and sweats runs down her face. The message is that with Lynx, he is cool but they are not.
Other spot work has included “Kobe Bryant” for adidas via Leagas Delaney, London, and directed by Floria Sigismondi of U-ground, London. In the ad, Bryant plays in front of a crowd of demons who jeer at him as he tries to shoot a basket. With his adidas sneakers and a belief in himself, he scores and makes his demons disappear.
Vincent’s body of work has also included work for Fosters, such as “Feng Shui” for M&C Saatchi, London, directed by aforementioned Kleinman (then with Spectre). Here, a man’s luxurious home is given a Feng Shui make-over. When finished the room has been stripped of all the paintings and furniture leaving a chair, a toilet, a TV and a fridge stocked with Fosters–the bare necessities of “he who drinks Australian.”
