Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/983981
www.postmagazine.com 28 POST MAY 2018 DP/COLORIST RELATIONSHIP a way that didn't call too much attention to it- self. Andrea's a true artist; I saw right away that she wasn't a technician applying stock looks but was eager to engage with me on a higher level." Earl and Chlebak spent a long time developing the look of the forest. "The green moon revolves around a gas giant that reflects orange light so through the phases of the moon it gets a more progressively orange look. The final daylight scene is very orange," he explains. Although the moon appears to be "a lush, alive planet" it's inhospitable to humans because of the toxic dust in the atmosphere. Earl staged practical dust effects shoots to generate dust plates to layer over exteriors in post. Then he and Chlebak devoted hours trying different hues for the dust before deciding on a "warm and subtle pink," says Earl. "Pink dust was a good counter- point to all the greens and yellows." "We played off the color and level of dust," Chlebak says. "Would it be more pink and visible in this scene? How would it look at night with no light source? We did more custom grading on those scenes so it wouldn't just look like a layer of pink was placed on top of the film." Chlebak uses FilmLight's Baselight system at Umedia; the post facility also performed the con- form and mastering for Prospect. She put both the Baselight Two system in the theater and the Baselight One in the broadcast suite to work on the film. A long-time Baselight user, she likes its "more straightforward and intuitive interface and ability to play back two streams of 4K at the same time." She also says she enjoys the "streamlined, client-focused grading environment" it offers by virtue of her working directly on the theater screen. "Everyone is looking at the same image live on the big screen," she says. "It's like there's no layer between me and the DP. They see me work in a much clearer way." Chlebak was an early adopter of ACES (the Academy Color Encoding System) and worked in the ACES color space for Prospect. She and Earl found it valuable to spread the color grade over three different runs, which gave them time to come back with fresh eyes and "a clear head for the final polish," he reports. "It was very important to get some space. I don't think it would have been as strong a piece if we did one big push to finish." SAM DALEY/ALEXIS ZABE — THE FLORIDA PROJECT; TYREL Colorist Sam Daley has done two feature films with DP Alexis Zabe: the highly acclaimed The Florida Project and the Sundance 2018 pick Tyrel. Both projects were graded at Technicolor PostWorks in New York. For The Florida Project, which netted Willem Dafoe multiple best supporting actor nomina- tions, including an Oscar nomination, director and co-writer Sean Baker hired Daley and Zabe trusted Baker's choice. "I strive to create a calm, easy atmosphere — there's not a lot of stress, ego or pressure," says Daley. "Alexis is like a Zen master. He knows the essence of what's needed and how to achieve it, so we meshed nicely in the DI theater." "It was a great pleasure working with Sam on both projects," says Zabe. "He was amazing in the way he handled the creative and technical aspects of color, and he managed to create a very harmonious dynamic in the grading room with all the social interactions with the director and the producers. It was all very peaceful and calm, no rush, no hurry — it was about doing things right not at a forced pace." Daley notes that the two features "couldn't have been more different" in their image capture although Zabe shot both films ana- morphic. The Florida Project was shot almost exclusively on 35mm film, "with a combination of very composed shots and Steadicam for static images and fluid motion," Daley says. Tyrel, directed by Sebastian Silva, is the story of an African-American's awkward weekend with a friend's all-white buddies in a Catskills cabin. It was shot largely handheld with a Sony a7S DSLR camera. "It was a pleasant surprise to get a film job," Daley says of The Florida Project. "It was beau- tiful film, too; Alexis shot low-ASA Kodak film so all the bright sun of Florida in summer really saturated the Prospect was shot on Red Weapon 6K and Helium 8K cameras. Sam Daley The Florida Project was graded at Technicolor PostWorks in New York.