David Mullen ASC
Moderator
Rudi, I obviously recognize that there are all sorts of industries, levels, budgets, etc. and all sorts of color-correction options for them -- more than ever. And obviously I am only speaking from my standpoint as a DP of independent and midrange studio fare.
My general view is that to become good at anything, you have to have passion for it and you have to put in the time to master it, and my passion is for cinematography, not post-production work, and I put my time into what I have a passion for. But clearly I don't speak for everyone.
I think we can all agree that there are many levels of color-correction work going on out there, and while we can agree that the biggest productions are probably going to use top-notch colorists and equipment at the bigger post houses, and amateurs are going to do the work at home using affordable software and a DIY set-up... the debate really happens for the stuff in the middle, what the best approach would be.
I think many of us have a picture in our head of where we would like to be, who our role models and heroes are, and we try to follow those examples. My dream for a long time has been to become a great cinematographer -- my heroes were (and are) people like Roger Deakins, Geoffrey Unsworth, David Watkin, Vittorio Storaro, Freddie Young, Gordon Willis, etc. So naturally I spend my free time thinking about how to become better at what I do -- and while part of that naturally includes post-production and color-correction, etc., for me to achieve my goals, it's not necessary to become a top-notch colorist myself, only to work with one. At some point in your life, you have to focus on what you have to master to achieve your goals -- and while I could take the time to master camera assisting, or electrical work, or color-correcting, etc. I think my time is better spent learning to compose and light better, design the visuals for a movie better, learn to be a better visual storyteller, etc. But that's specific to my personal goals, and other people have other goals. Naturally it's not everyone's dream to become a great cinematographer doing significant work, it may be to become a truly independent director free to follow their own interests, it may be to become the best colorist in the industry, it may be all sorts of things that need their own unique paths to success.
Even today, with all this new technology, there is still a need for specialization. Not every book writer wants to become good at typesetting and layout just because they are an author. But there are some people who do enjoying putting a written work through all the steps to publication and doing all the work themselves. There are people who want to both shoot, edit, and then color-correct a project. I just want to shoot and shoot and shoot... you know what I mean?
My general view is that to become good at anything, you have to have passion for it and you have to put in the time to master it, and my passion is for cinematography, not post-production work, and I put my time into what I have a passion for. But clearly I don't speak for everyone.
I think we can all agree that there are many levels of color-correction work going on out there, and while we can agree that the biggest productions are probably going to use top-notch colorists and equipment at the bigger post houses, and amateurs are going to do the work at home using affordable software and a DIY set-up... the debate really happens for the stuff in the middle, what the best approach would be.
I think many of us have a picture in our head of where we would like to be, who our role models and heroes are, and we try to follow those examples. My dream for a long time has been to become a great cinematographer -- my heroes were (and are) people like Roger Deakins, Geoffrey Unsworth, David Watkin, Vittorio Storaro, Freddie Young, Gordon Willis, etc. So naturally I spend my free time thinking about how to become better at what I do -- and while part of that naturally includes post-production and color-correction, etc., for me to achieve my goals, it's not necessary to become a top-notch colorist myself, only to work with one. At some point in your life, you have to focus on what you have to master to achieve your goals -- and while I could take the time to master camera assisting, or electrical work, or color-correcting, etc. I think my time is better spent learning to compose and light better, design the visuals for a movie better, learn to be a better visual storyteller, etc. But that's specific to my personal goals, and other people have other goals. Naturally it's not everyone's dream to become a great cinematographer doing significant work, it may be to become a truly independent director free to follow their own interests, it may be to become the best colorist in the industry, it may be all sorts of things that need their own unique paths to success.
Even today, with all this new technology, there is still a need for specialization. Not every book writer wants to become good at typesetting and layout just because they are an author. But there are some people who do enjoying putting a written work through all the steps to publication and doing all the work themselves. There are people who want to both shoot, edit, and then color-correct a project. I just want to shoot and shoot and shoot... you know what I mean?
