Actually, I'm doing all my work in Shake, linear light, with a couple of cinema-displays. Yes, they're only 8-bit displays, but that's not a challenge I can't meet. I am quite aware of all the tools you mention -- I've obssessed over them for years. I wouldn't even think of trying to grade something in Photoshop or AE -- no real mathematical control so you can't "roll your own" control. And my favorite tool is curves, which is quite limited in PS and AE. No offense to Stu Masowitz, but Shake is my horse.
I do come from a heavy film background -- stills, but film none the less. And as a custom printer, color was something of an obsession. I got to where I could tell the difference between two prints coming out of processing that had only a 1/2 cc difference of color correction applied. Text books said human vision couldn't see the difference between 2 cc's. My co-workers were all Brook's graduates, and perfection was an everyday pursuit.
So I'm not new to this. I just have a look that I want to extract, that I think can be quite beautiful, and that 100's of hours with Shake has yet to yield my perfect solution. It's a look that says "not video" as opposed to a look that says "was video, but not as bad as your dad's handycam."
That said, I'm a lot closer than I was. But if I were already shooting mopic film, I think I'd have given up trying and kept with what I know. That's why I think hunger is a good thing. I'm hungry.
And I'm joking about the diving. I may be down early next year . . . I'll look you up. I was a Navy diver/Underwater Photographer (1 of 8 in all DOD), and we used to train in Key West or Guantanimo every year. Truly a blast.
I wish I could show what I'm working on, but like you, the footage isn't mine . . . but someday I'll be happy to post what I own and what I've learned.
I do come from a heavy film background -- stills, but film none the less. And as a custom printer, color was something of an obsession. I got to where I could tell the difference between two prints coming out of processing that had only a 1/2 cc difference of color correction applied. Text books said human vision couldn't see the difference between 2 cc's. My co-workers were all Brook's graduates, and perfection was an everyday pursuit.
So I'm not new to this. I just have a look that I want to extract, that I think can be quite beautiful, and that 100's of hours with Shake has yet to yield my perfect solution. It's a look that says "not video" as opposed to a look that says "was video, but not as bad as your dad's handycam."
That said, I'm a lot closer than I was. But if I were already shooting mopic film, I think I'd have given up trying and kept with what I know. That's why I think hunger is a good thing. I'm hungry.
And I'm joking about the diving. I may be down early next year . . . I'll look you up. I was a Navy diver/Underwater Photographer (1 of 8 in all DOD), and we used to train in Key West or Guantanimo every year. Truly a blast.
I wish I could show what I'm working on, but like you, the footage isn't mine . . . but someday I'll be happy to post what I own and what I've learned.