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Resources for Becoming a Colorist?

Jonathan Stevenson

Jonathan Stevenson

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Hey guys, I've recently been doing a lot of thinking about trying my hand at becoming a colorist- or at least greatly expanding my knowledge on the subject. My ultimate goal is to become a cinematographer, and I believe that a full understanding of grades, curves, color space, bit depth, etc will serve me greatly. In my opinion, it seems that being a competent colorist would make for a much more well-rounded cinematographer. On top of this, my local market is pretty small, so being specialized in such a craft could be a smart move financially.

That said, I would love to hear about good books to read, good websites to peruse, and taking courses if they exist? Maybe finding an apprenticeship somewhere? I'm certified in Apple Color but that seems to barely be scratching the surface, and just knowing how to use Color doesn't make me a colorist by any stretch of the imagination. Right now I'm exploring the ICA in LA as an option.

Thanks for the help everyone!
 
Check out the books by Steve Hullfish ... great place to start.
 
sbroock said:
Check out the books by Steve Hullfish ... great place to start.
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Steve's book is a good place to start, but to become competent at any craft, the best way is to put oneself in a position to learn from working professionals. I've rarely seen a top-drawer self taught colorist. The really good ones come up through the ranks in post houses and DI facilities, with the ability to observe and learn from those who are already there. Like any skill that involves collaboration, interacting with cinematographers, directors, editors, and producers is part of what one needs to learn, because the job goes beyond simply knowing how to mix colors. None of this can be learned sitting at home on a Mac with Apple Color, so the best way to become a professional is to put yourself in the company of other professionals, either though working one's way up through the ranks in a facility, or by internships, or by attending presentations or classes presented by those who have experience in color grading and possibly befriending one of them as a way of getting some time in the room.

I find that the biggest impediment these days is impatience. People entering the business today seem to think they can step right into a lead artist's chair simply because they understand the basics of the software. Most of us who work in a professional capacity on studio level programs have spent years working our way up, building up our skills (both professional and personal), and learning from others along the way. It takes a lot of experience to make what we do look easy. Unfortunately, one only appreciates and understands the value of experience when one has, well, experience. Prior to that it all seems like everyone is just trying to keep you down. When you get to a certain point, you begin to realize that's not the case.
 
Steve Hullfish.


Whichever method or resource you have access to, wrap your head around these concepts early:

* Corrective (tonal) color correction (primary and secondary)
* Creative color correction (primary and secondary)
* Technical (monitoring environments, analysis tools, gamuts, conversions)
* The Rest (putting in the time, selecting a tool that you can afford and give results, happy client, impossible client, getting paid)
 
M Most said:
Like any skill that involves collaboration, interacting with cinematographers, directors, editors, and producers is part of what one needs to learn, because the job goes beyond simply knowing how to mix colors. None of this can be learned sitting at home on a Mac with Apple Color, so the best way to become a professional is to put yourself in the company of other professionals, either though working one's way up through the ranks in a facility, or by internships, or by attending presentations or classes presented by those who have experience in color grading and possibly befriending one of them as a way of getting some time in the room.
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Good advice - it isn't very easy to find these experiences in the itty bitty Colorado market, however. fxphd has a couple of good classes, taught by a first-rate colorist, that can help simulate the experience of learning at the knee of a great colorist, though. She gives great advice, explores color theory, gives a bunch of interesting hands-on assignments that illustrate just how hard it is to excel at this art. Not the same as being there, but better than a book.
 
I agree with MMost, but also if and when you get access to an experience colorist, it would probably be best for all involved to be squarely passed the simple basics (newbie) of color correction, and be prepared to catch the pearls of wisdom from a seasoned colorist.

It's the tricks of trade that give the spit shine color grading.
 
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Meryem Ersoz said:
Good advice - it isn't very easy to find these experiences in the itty bitty Colorado market, however. fxphd has a couple of good classes...
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fxphd is a very good resource. However, my answer to the first part of your post would be if one wants to learn these things, one must do things to accomplish that. If one of those things involves spending time in or moving to a market that has an active post production infrastructure, such as Chicago, New York, Los Angeles, or perhaps Dallas or Atlanta (maybe Toronto or Vancouver if you're Canadian, or even if you're not....), that's what one must ultimately do to acquire the knowledge and experience, and it's what many of the professionals you might want to learn from have done over the years. If you wanted to become a professional ski racer, but happened to live in Miami, you would need to move somewhere else in order to accomplish that. If you wanted to be an expert diver, but lived in Alaska, you would need to travel to do that, too. The post production business is no different. It doesn't exist everywhere, so one must go to where it does exist.
 
Great stuff here, thanks everyone. I would really be interested in getting some time with a colorist in a suite. Hopefully I can make some connections here in town. But, fxphd sounds great and I've already got one Hullfish book on my ipad! Thanks everybody. If you have any ideas on getting in a suite with a colorist, I'd love to hear them.
 
Here's my 2c on the Bruce Allen Self-Taught Color Correcting Method(TM)

1. Study and practice painting. You should know not just the color value of Prussian Blue or Burnt Umber but you should have an emotional memory connected with these pigments. Pick favorites, and love them. Be aware of their place in history - of mankind's historic connection to them and the meanings we have ascribed to them. From religious symbolism to graphic design, Chevreul, Bauhaus etc... maybe I'm preaching to the choir and insulting you here - this was high school art stuff to me - but I was amazed at how few of my fellow USC film production students knew or cared about this amazing world.

2. Go to a lot of art galleries. Once you see famous artworks close up (especially modern ones whose colors are often very difficult to reproduce properly), you suddenly see how terribly most printed art books convey the message. A Matisse that I flip past in an art book can be an emotional, mesmerizing experience in real life. Why? Partly the setting, but the color is incredibly important too.

Every time you look at a frame of video, think of it like a bad reproduction in an art book - and you're trying to make it look like the original.

3. Travel the world with your eyes open. I was color correcting a my friend Nathan Collett's feature shot in Kenya and it helped immensely that I had seen similar scenes in real life. When you get the color right, it just sings like a real place in your memory.

4. Watch lots of movies. You should have a vast palette of visual references in your mind of other great films and their color schemes.

5. Shoot, of course ! ...and spend ages testing different production vs post techniques to see what works.

6. Still Photography - again, vital! Why is it so low on the list to me? Well, personally I think that because color photography is so new, the use of color is often based more on fashion trends and technology. Yes, the amazing stills work done over past few decades is a goldmine for "looks" - but the trick is finding the stuff that talks to deep, universal emotion and not just surface flash. I find painting helps me with that.

Of course, a lot of coloring is about tonal values, local contrast, etc - and for that, black and white photography is a fantastic resource. I a bookshelf full of my favorite photographers' works at home and know them well enough to Google them up if I'm away from them.

7. For sure - learn from others. Hanging out with a good colorist in the bay is a great experience. Never shy away from an opportunity to get in there. Also, find your friends and guys on the internet who are doing things right and learn from them.

8. Practice copying other looks - you should be able to duplicate pretty much any look from the world of broadcast commercials, feature films or still photography from the fine art to glossy product ads (given source footage that is from the same lighting and production design universe, at least).

9. Software is important, but all of the above can be achieved simply with After Effects or Photoshop. DaVinci Resolve is obviously the thing to get now.

10. Don't listen to all of those folks who tell you that you can't do anything without an expensive calibrated monitor. Of course it's important. Still, do big-budget movies look good on your cheap monitor? Of course. If you can color-correct footage so that it looks as good on your cheap monitor as the big budget movie does on your cheap monitor then you're most of the way there from a skills point of view IMHO ;)

OK, who's next with advice?

Bruce Allen
www.boacinema.com
 
Wow, Mike and Bruce have really nailed this…Please tell me of any other forum/blog that has this level of talent, giving real advice… It’s no wonder people think they can just jump right in and do it!

With this tread, a good pair of Eyes, a Mac, Resolve, a control surface and Bruce’s tutorial…………………… a smart person can go farther than ever before at a never before seen price point.
This is without a doubt a AAA+ thread!

The remaining question is …Will Resolve have a Windows version?

A device that makes R3D's,(Red One, Epic, Scarlet) + CS5 + Redcine-X + Resolve + control surface...A very Big bang for your buck!

Cheers
Dave
 
Not necessarily a tool for learning to become a Colorist but Kuler's an interesting colour resource app to play with when grading, plus it's free: http://kuler.adobe.com

Try feeding in some stills from grades in your favourite films to get the base colours used etc.

What is Adobe Kuler?

 Adobe Kuler is a web-hosted application for generating color themes that can inspire any project. Whether creating websites, interior designs, scrapbooks, fabric patterns, graphic identities, or any other visual, you can experiment quickly with color variations and browse thousands of themes from the Kuler community. Designed both to stand alone and to complement Adobe Creative Suite® software, Kuler uses Adobe Flash® technology to bring you online tools for color theme creation. And developers can use the Kuler APIs to bring color themes to any application.
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As a sketch tool, I still find Photoshop to be an effective analysis tool for color. It's very easy to grab a handful of key screen grabs. Very quickly one can nail down the overall color pallete and get a look, in addition to creating quick mask needed for color isolation.

Internally these can give a good reference point and also a effective way to talk to the client or account person(s).
 
But I still agree with Post #3. That to really raise your game, you will need to get in the ring with established professionals. Clearly knowing or aiming toward an existing standard will get you closer to a point of confidence in the field. No need to reinvent the wheel. Learn quickly what's make a successful creative/color technician. If you will be color grading for living or will offering grading as a paid service, you will need to get your fight weight up by testing yourself in a competitive post environment.
 
I've put out some feelers locally on trying to get an apprenticeship with a colorist! I'll report back if something comes up. Really excited to learn more about this stuff.
 
One thing I'd like to poinit out if you are just starting. Many times, real color correction, I mean the beautiful art stuff, begins not with what you do with the computer, but what the production designer did with the set, wardrobe, etc. Then the DP helped with the lighting. IMHO the beginning of color correction and it's art begins there, not with you. So keep this in mind when you are trying for a certain "look" remember that if the image was not designed that way to begin with, things may not go the way you want them.

It's a square peg round hole kind of thing.

Look at the image you want to work on and try to let it take you where it wants to go, then nudge it over to where you'd like it to go.. Hopefully it will agree. Also something a DP told me: Take it to where you want it, the go to 50% of that.. That's usually where you want to stop!

Jay
 
Jay A. Kelley said:
One thing I'd like to poinit out if you are just starting. Many times, real color correction, I mean the beautiful art stuff, begins not with what you do with the computer, but what the production designer did with the set, wardrobe, etc. Then the DP helped with the lighting. IMHO the beginning of color correction and it's art begins there, not with you. So keep this in mind when you are trying for a certain "look" remember that if the image was not designed that way to begin with, things may not go the way you want them.

It's a square peg round hole kind of thing.

Look at the image you want to work on and try to let it take you where it wants to go, then nudge it over to where you'd like it to go.. Hopefully it will agree. Also something a DP told me: Take it to where you want it, the go to 50% of that.. That's usually where you want to stop!

Jay
Click to expand...

Jay- this is awesome, and exactly why I want to get into color grading. As an aspiring cinematographer, it seems invaluable to have an artistic understanding of what elements of a scene will serve the final look, whether it's wardrobe, color temp, set design, whatever!
 
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