Perhaps it was George Gershwin’s "Rhapsody in Blue" that inspired colorist Jean Ren Nebot to color the sky a bleeding blue-like he’d melted a pastel crayon right into "Geese," part of Fallon McElligott, Minneapolis’ "United Is Rising" campaign. And maybe the boy in the caf trying to launch a plane into the sky in "Day Dream," another United Airlines spot, reminded Nebot of what he was like as a child. Whatever the inspiration, Nebot’s work as a colorist makes you wonder whether it might be more fun to color than to shoot.
Nebot says what he likes most about being a colorist is working with the client. "When you and the client are of the same mind, it’s a great investigation of ideas," says Nebot. Born in northern France, he studied video technology and sound at the University of Brest before he went to Paris to work at the clair Film Laboratory. His first job at clair, as a color timer, evolved into a two-year stay, during which he learned how to color-correct film. In 1989 Nebot was introduced to the telecine process at After Movies Video System Partners, Paris, where he has worked ever since.
For 10 years Nebot has been collaborating with agencies and production companies all over Europe, but it was British-born director Andrew Douglas, of bicoastal/international Satellite (which reps him in both Europe and the U.S.), who finally brought Nebot’s magic palette to the States. Douglas and Nebot had worked together previously on projects for the Xsara Coupe, a French car, and Cerruti Image, a fragrance for men, back when Douglas was represented for spots in France by Le Producers, Paris. When Douglas was tapped for the United spots, he went to Fallon McElligott and asked to use as his colorist Nebot, who, although apprehensive about working in the States, had such a good working relationship with Douglas that he enlisted himself in the project.
"One of the things I like about working with Andrew is, when I propose a correction, we go back and forth discussing what looks best. It is the most important part [of the process] for me-the discussion," asserts Nebot.
Colorful Canvas
His work on the five-spot series ("Geese," "Performers," "Day Dream," "Gazing Ball," and "Rising Is") speaks for itself. For the past two years Fallon McElligott has used the "rising" theme to convey the problems with airlines today and United’s efforts to solve them. The new work is meant to look toward the future. To that end, Fallon copywriter Kara Goodrich and art director Chris Robb simply added the word "is" to the existing tagline. Nebot then infused the campaign (the first overseen by new Fallon creative director David Lubars) with life-breathing color, making the campaign a virtual painted storybook about a trip around the world.
In one ad, "Performers," Cirque du Soleil members on stilts in black-and-white costumes juggle rings that soar against a placid blue sky, while an airplane flies in the distance to an unknown destination. The aforementioned "Day Dream" features a boy who catches a glimpse of a plane while sitting in a restaurant. Through the reflection in the window, he pinches the aircraft’s underbelly between his first finger and thumb and appears to launch the plane forward. The colors in the shot are mostly blues, grays and whites, but the yellow in the overhead hanging lamps is so brilliant that it illuminates the entire scene.
"I look at every shot as one picture. I am not a painter, but it’s like a still and I want to fill everything in the picture," says Nebot, who may not be a painter but is definitely an artist with a method. "When I see a picture I like to see every detail. I don’t like it when the white is too brown or when you can’t see any detail at all in the black."
Part of Nebot’s method includes making several color corrections as a way of rating which grade is best for the film. "I take time to make a picture because I want to see everything and then see which is the best," he explains. "At the beginning of the session I make one, two or three shots and several gradings and show that to the DP or the agency, and then we discuss [it] and say, "That is good for the mood of the film.’ " He says the initial correction process can take up to an hour.
Nebot thought working in America would put more restrictions on what he could do artistically, but he was pleasantly surprised by both the agency and 525 Post Production, Santa Monica, where he colored the job. The facility was, in his words, sympathique with him.
"When you don’t know the facility, you are perhaps a little afraid of having technical problems because you don’t know exactly the installation of everything. When I asked questions, and when I had problems, they were always there to help me," Nebot says. While he’s used to working on an URSA Diamond and a Pogle DCP from Pandora at his After Movies roost, he found when he arrived at 525 that he would have to work on the URSA Gold and the Pogle Platinum system that the post house uses. He was given three hours to master the equipment. "By two in the afternoon I had to meet with the agency and show them three corrections," says Nebot, explaining his temporary bout of nerves.
Nebot’s best work-the culmination of 10 years of coloring experience-fills a 30-minute reel to bursting. One recent project of note was Björk’s "Bachelorette," a music video directed by bicoastal/international Partizan Midi Minuit director Michel Gondry, which was recently nominated for a Grammy for best music video. The reel also includes spots for Hollywood Chewing Gum, McDonald’s, France Telecom and Club Med that he colored for the French market. The United spots will be the first U.S. work to appear on Nebot’s reel, but he says he would be open to doing more in the U.S.-especially if it is with Andrew Douglas.
