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August 2016

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BITS & PIECES www.postmagazine.com 4 POST AUGUST 2016 CAFÉ SOCIETY NEW YORK — Café Society is the 52nd movie directed by Woody Allen, but the fi rst to be digitally captured. The cinema- tographer on the project was three-time Academy Award-winner Vittorio Storaro, in his fi rst collaboration with Allen. Storaro, who was also working digitally for the fi rst time, shot with Sony's F65 and F55 cameras. Helping Storaro translate his vision for the fi lm through post production was Anthony Raff aele, a young colorist at Technicolor PostWorks New York. Working on FilmLight's Baselight system, Raff aele assisted Storaro in setting looks during pre- production and went on to grade both dailies and the fi nal master. Raff aele says that Storaro had precise ideas on how to use color to es- tablish a sense of place and to support the fi lm's story, which is set in the 1930s and follows Bobby (Jesse Eisenberg), a young man from the Bronx, as he seeks fame and fortune in Hollywood. "Café Society has three principal looks," Raff aele explains. "Early scenes set in the Bronx have a very soft pal- ette, soft blacks and soft tone with slight bits of saturation and coolness. Los Angeles is warm, golden. It's a Hollywood thing, the opposite of the world Bobby has come from. It's glitzy, beautiful, oversaturated. "When Bobby returns to New York, his status is elevated. He's running a nightclub, and he's learned about himself since leaving for Hollywood. So, we have a cleaner palette, not too warm, not too cool. The highlights are brighter. It's a cleaner version of his world." Raff aele notes that it was a big ad- vantage to be involved in the project from pre-production through deliv- ery. During dailies processing, he was already familiar with the aesthetic that Storaro was aiming for and so was able to make many subtle adjustments that normally would be left for the fi nal grade. As a result, when they reached that fi nal stage, they were already well along in establishing the look and could focus entirely on refi nements. Working on the dailies also gave him an opportunity to get to know Storaro better. "Every Saturday or Sunday, I sat down with Vittorio, his cameraman, Will Arnott, and the DIT, Simone d'Arcange- lo, and we'd watch the dailies," Raff aele says. "We'd talk about the dailies and the fi lm. I was able to learn a lot about him and what he was looking for." For the DI, Raff aele used an ACES workfl ow. "ACES gave us the greatest lat- itude in color," he explains. "Vittorio liked the look of the dailies, but didn't feel it was strong enough. ACES allowed me do some things to emulate a Technicolor feel. It gave us colors that were strong, true and vibrant, while still providing a great deal of separation." During fi nal grading, Raff aele found himself continually referring back to the original looks set during pre-production and Storaro's ideas for using color to support the story. "You're always ask- ing yourself, does it look good? Does it feel right? Does it fi t the context of the story?" Raff aele says. "As you go through the fi lm, you want to be true to your ideas for the look, but you're also think- ing about moving the story forward. You want the look to shine through the story." POSTING WOODY ALLEN'S FIRST DIGITAL FEATURE Anthony Raff aele FilmLight's Baselight system was used to give F65/F55-shot footage its fi nal look.

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