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DPS AND COLORISTS www.postmagazine.com 35 POST MAY 2016 page. Keeping an open line of communi- cation is very important." "Todd has colored 20 episodes of the show, so he knows what we're doing," says Grady. Bochner works unsupervised until Grady has finished shooting on location and is back in LA. Then they can spend time in the color suite during the fine cut. "We'll refine things together," Grady ex- plains. "I watch everything Todd has done, then we color through and watch it again. We stay pretty simple, though; we don't maximize the potential of Resolve. But Resolve is great for its speed — I remem- ber rendering time — and efficiency, its tracking and Power Windows." Bochner's color grade gives a natural, "almost tungsteny feel" to the foot- age, the colorist says. He typically uses Power Windowing to enhance the eyes of characters beyond Grady's own eye lights, which illuminate many close ups and conversations. Bochner enjoyed coloring last season's 10-minute segment set in 30,000 BC. He gave the caves' firelight "a really warm and textured look with film grain. You can't throw too much grain in," he laughs. Bochner, who is also the colorist for Madam Secretary, Jane the Virgin, The Family and History Channel's new Navy SEAL drama Six, finds that "a lot of DPs embrace color sessions today. They often have a vision of what they want to do but can't achieve it all on-set. They know they can come in here and do anything — it's almost scary!" DP JOE ANDERSON & COLORIST SAM DALEY Like Bosworth and Franko, and Grady and Bochner, DP Joe Anderson and senior colorist Sam Daley from Technicolor PostWorks New York (www.postworks. com) enjoy a close creative collabora- tion. They recently reunited for Christine, director Antonio Campos's new film about a Florida anchorwoman who took her own life during a live television broadcast in 1974. The feature, which stars Rebecca Hall and Michael C. Hall, was screened in competition at Sundance earlier this year. Anderson and Daley had previously worked with Campos on his 2012 film, Simon Killer. While Christine tells the story of a young woman's descent into loneliness and de- spair, there are upbeat moments and even humor as Campos explores the complex personality of his central character. Visually, the film also does not look bleak. Anderson used warm light and a deep color palette to capture the spirit of the times. "It was a tricky movie to make because the subject matter — suicide — is challeng- ing," says Anderson. "It was also interesting because most audience members will al- ready know the ending. So we had to play against their expectations. We wanted to show that this was a woman who had fun, was happy, was alive." In preparing to shoot the film, Anderson studied vintage news broad- casts and researched cameras and light- ing equipment used by television news organizations at the time. Documerica, a 1970s photographic project sponsored by the US Environmental Protection Agency, provided visual inspiration. Anderson, who shot on Arri Alexa, also tested various camera and lens configurations and, with Daley's help, experimented with a variety of post finishing techniques to arrive at a look that worked. Among other things, Anderson and Daley tried recording Arri camera files to outdated video formats: VHS, Betacam and ¾-inch. Then they digitized the material and graded it. In another experiment, Daley tested a 2K scan of a print made from a DCP; he and Anderson wanted to see if it was possible to pre- serve the physical properties of the print in a digital delivery. Daley also tested renders using different codecs and reso- lutions as a means of softening the digital qualities of the image. In the end, none of these techniques was wholly satisfactory, but Daley insists they were useful. "We ultimately settled on a more traditional approach, but our work was better informed by those tests," he says. "The finished product has the intent we were going for with the crazy experi- ments but without the technical sacrifice." Once Anderson settled on a basic look for the film, Daley prepared a Rec. 709 production LUT for use on-set. The same LUT was applied to dailies and editorial media, and became the starting point for final grading on Resolve V.12 Studio. During color sessions, Anderson and Daley quickly realized that the look needed further refinement. "Once we got it onto the big screen in the DI theater, it didn't quite hold up," Anderson recalls. "It was a little rough around the edges. The first day, Sam and I spent hours auditioning differ- ent looks using pre-set LUTs, but nothing seemed quite right. Then Sam tried a print emulation that we developed for Antonio's previous film Simon Killer. That was a very different movie, but there were things we liked about the look. We ended up com- bining the Simon Killer look with the on-set LUT and ended up with something that worked perfectly for Christine." Daley says that sort of trial and er- ror approach is typical of his work with Anderson. "Joe is very deliberate in describing the look he wants and what he doesn't want," he notes. "We rarely have a look book. Instead, we come up with a look that feels like it was tailored to the movie and the way Joe shot it." The impetus for the creative experimen- tation ultimately derives from Campos, who took part in many of the grading ses- sions. "Antonio always pushes for visual ex- perimentation that aids in the storytelling," Daley says."Joe and I embrace that. The three of us maintain a 'checks and balanc- es' environment in the theater." Anderson notes that the cinematogra- phy perfectly complements Campos' understated direction. "We took a compli- cated artistic approach," he says. "As a result, we had to spend a bit more time in DI to get it right. Luckily, everyone hired on this show — from the gaffer to Sam — was willing to put in the extra work. We were creating something new from scratch." DP Joe Anderson (top) and colorist Sam Daley collaborated on the indie film, Christine, also shown on opening page.