Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1151096
BITS & PIECES www.postmagazine.com 6 POST JULY/AUG 2019 CUT+RUN EDITS CARDI B/REEBOK SPOT FOR VB+P SAN FRANCISCO — Cardi B stars in Nails, a Reebok spot that's part of the company's "Sport The Unexpected" campaign by ad agency Venables Bell & Partners. The agency recently teamed with Cut+Run's editor Ben Campbell and Biscuit di- rector Andrea Nilsson to create an eye-popping celebration of the stylin' collaboration between the performer and brand. The artist has been nothing short of a trailblazer since her debut album Invasion of Privacy released in 2017. Her musical accolades include the woman with the most simultaneous Hot 100 entries, while her resume and influence goes well beyond the music. In other words, she nails it. According to Campbell, the main challenges for the :60, :30 and :15 spots, which were cut on Avid, "came with finding the right music and with The Mill's complex task of getting Cardi's nails to look right. Tricky bit of post. The reaction shots were a bit of a talking point. Having two older gentlemen having their hair done in the salon confused a few, but we felt that they were justified in being there. They look so damn natural! We were looking to amuse, provoke a wry smile, show a little of hidden slice of life." EFILM BRINGS NEW VIBRANCY TO NETFLIX'S STRANGER THINGS HOLLYWOOD — The third season of Netflix's beloved sci-fi series Stranger Things finds the town of Hawkins, IN, enjoying the summer of 1985 and the opening of a new mega mall, at least for a brief while. Series creators Matt and Ross Duffer reteamed with Efilm senior colorist Skip Kimball and cinematographer Tim Ives in setting the look for the latest installment, which features both familiar and new territory. "Skip's been with us since the very beginning (Season 1). He's responsible for helping design the look for the show," explains Matt Duffer. "The previous two seasons of Stranger Things had muted palettes and were more foreboding. We begin Season 3 with bright, fun and disarm- ing colors, but as we all know, not all is right in Hawkins," Kimball says. "We had a wider gamut to work with since the world is more vibrant and alive this time of year, and the kids spend time at the new mall, so there are lots of neon signs and energetic colors everywhere. We really embraced a saturated color palette." Part of the charm of Stranger Things stems from its nostalgic aesthetic, influenced by the iconic works of Steven Spielberg and John Carpenter, which are evoked in Seasons 1 and 2. With the core cast growing older this season, visual references leaned more toward the look of Fast Times at Ridgemont High and mid-'80s MTV programming. Kimball completed the color grade at Deluxe's Stage One in both HDR and Rec709 SDR. A wide color gamut pipeline was maintained from acquisition to final delivery, with footage principally shot in 8K with Red Monstro VistaVision cameras, and all footage processed in RedWideGamutRGB color space using the Log3G10 transfer function. "Working at Stage One was also great since the Duffer brothers, who are a joy to work with, were able to do their sound mix just down the hall," says Kimball. "That allowed them to jump between color and mix without having to drive across town. My goal has always been to offer the most creatively- conducive and convenient environment to my cli- ents. That's why Stage One is designed the way it is; it allows for a one-on-one boutique experience while being supported by a world-class facility that can scale to tackle any challenges that come our way." "I don't know how we would have finished a show this complicated without the convenience of being able to jump between sound and color like we did," adds Ross Duffer. Final episodes were delivered in Dolby Vision HDR in UHD, using the latest generation Dolby Vision toolset to maintain the Duffers' creative intent across HDR and SDR devices, especially considering the broad reach of Netflix and the way its content is consumed via many different types of screens. Kimball concludes, "Each episode of Stranger Things can have upwards of 1,000 cuts per episode; that's a lot of fast-paced action and I'm thankful for my excellent team for keeping us or- ganized and on-schedule. The technical wizardry of finishing artist Tashi Trieu, my partner in crime, kept us nimble and responsive, and enabled us to accelerate our work in Dolby Vision, and our pro- ducers, Patrick Allen and Hershel Cohen, paid attention to the smallest of details and were very proactive, which is so important on a big project like this with so many moving components and layers of complexity."