For over a decade, Clive Christopher, director of telecine imaging at Manhattan Transfer, New York, has been crisscrossing the Atlantic for stints at a variety of post houses. In the process, U.K. native Christopher has acquired an American-born wife, two children—one born in the U.S., the other in Britain—and a reputation as a talented and sought-after colorist.
Since being recruited to take over Manhattan Transfer’s coloring department, in June 2000, Christopher has been a busy man. Some of his recent work includes a soon-to-air ad for Xenical, out of Young & Rubicam, New York; three Merrill Lynch spots—"Inaugural," "Walden Pond" and "8500"—for J. Walter Thompson, New York, directed by Malcom Venville of bicoastal Anonymous; and Forbes’ "Proposal," helmed by Noam Murro of Biscuit filmworks, Hollywood, out of Merkley Newman Harty, New York.
Christopher also worked on four Cingular spots: "Piece" out of BBDO New York; and "Duck," "Hour Glass" and "Scissors" out of BBDO Atlanta, all of which were helmed by Jason Kedgley of the directing collective Tomato, which directs spots in the U.S. through bicoastal Curious Pictures. A fifth ad, "Sound Bites," was directed by Kieran Walsh, a visual effects artist at Manhattan Transfer. (That ad aired during Super Bowl XXXV.)
Playing in the big leagues is nothing new for Christopher. His work has been earning accolades since he broke into the post end of the business with The Moving Picture Company (MPC), London, in 1984. Christopher transferred to MPC’s Complete Post, Hollywood, a satellite of MPC. After a stint in Southern California, he returned to London to head up MPC’s telecine department. From there, he migrated stateside to POP, Santa Monica, as senior colorist. (POP has since merged with sister companies Riot and Digital Magic to form full-service studio R!OT). In ’92, Christopher moved to Chicago to work for now defunct Editel for a year. Once again, he returned to London, this time to head up Sanderson Vere Crane’s (SVC) telecine department. He remained at SVC until coming over to Manhattan Transfer.
Over the years, Christopher has worked on a number of memorable music videos. Some of his most recent credits include three clips for Robbie Williams—"Angels," "Millennium" and "Let Me Entertain You"—all helmed by Vaughan Arnell of Godman, London. Christopher’s feature film credits include Dead Poets Society and Scent of a Woman. While at SVC, Christopher worked on, among other projects, Virgin Atlantic’s "Chase the Rainbow" via Rainey Kelly Campbell Roalfe, London; and Rover’s "Pinball" via M&C Saatchi, London. Arnell helmed both of those spots.
The chance to live in New York, which he calls one of the world’s most exciting cities, and the opportunity to work on Manhattan Transfer’s C-Reality scanning technology are what drew Christopher to the U.S. for this latest gig. "He [Christopher] is not only a remarkably talented colorist, but his personality and client dedication are unsurpassed," says Dan Rosen, Manhattan Transfer president.
Christopher says the biggest difference between working stateside vs. the U.K. is who controls the sessions. "It’s very different," he stresses. "Over here it tends to be the agency people; in London, it tends to be the director."
Does he have a preference for who is sitting in the chair behind him during sessions? "Depends on what you’re doing," Christopher responds. "If you’re just making things look like the way they are, then it really doesn’t make any difference who you’re working with. If you’re going to extreme lengths to create a special look, then it’s probably easier working with a director."
Christopher does have a preference when it comes to the type of work he does. He prefers advertising to features and other types of longform, because he feels spots allow him to use his skills for creating a unique look to a fuller extent. "When you work on features, you tend to have to make things look the way they’re shot, unless there’s a dream sequence or something," he explains. "You’re quite tight on how much input you can have. In commercials, you’ve got the film which is just the starting point, and you can take it anywhere you want."
Christopher is pleased that U.S. commercials seem to be taking a more stylized approach to visuals. "The market here is more conservative [than Europe] as far as looks go," he observes. "But it’s definitely changing. The more things I see on TV here, the more impressed I am."
Christopher has been adding to the trend away from what he calls visual conservatism. The aforementioned "Proposal" for Forbes, for example, was shot in black and white. "We were able to give it a really nice, high-contrast look," he says.
One other difference between the U.S. and Europe that Christopher finds amusing is the practice of placing ads throughout the Super Bowl and other sports broadcasts. "I can’t believe you actually interrupt the games to run commercials," says Christopher. "In Europe when we have a football match on an independent channel, you get some commercials at halftime, and that’s it. On the BBC, of course, there is no advertising at all. You just watch the game."
Christopher says he enjoys working at Manhattan Transfer, and that he is working almost exclusively on spots. "I love it that this town never closes," he states. "In London, if you get out of a session at two in the morning, the town’s pretty much shut down. In New York, something is always open—this place is always going."
