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40 C I N E M O N T A G E T E C H By Jennifer Walden T he final cut isn't final picture un- til it's been through color grading. An essential part of the art of film- making, color grading is more than color correction. By manipulating saturation, contrast, and color palettes, colorists enhance the emotional aspect of the film- maker's vision. Color creates mood, sets a tone, and communicates a feeling that's not always easy (or necessary) to put into words. Deliberate color choices can speak to the audience on an unconscious level. (In fact, there's a specialized field of psychology called color psychology that studies how colors and hues affect human behavior, mood, and perception.) Colorists can create a look that's hard and intimidating, feel soft and intimate, or convey wonder and awe. Since color is so connected to human emo- tion, color grading is an art that requires a human touch. H e r e , s u p e r v i s i n g c o l o r i s t s M i t c h Paulson and Nat Jencks talk about using the tools of their trade to bring a natural, balanced look to the image through color grading, to adjust the vibe of the visuals, and to enhance the feel or mood of scenes through creative choices in color. SUCH A COLD, COLD TOWN Th e g ray a n d g r i m l o o k o f t h e Pa r - amount+ series "Mayor of Kingstown" (created by Taylor Sheridan and Hugh Dillon) is impeccably consistent across every episode, every season. The limited color palette conveys the bleak reality of the town's inhabitants. It's not a warm and welcoming place. "We actually have a joke that the sun never comes out in Kingstown," THE RAINBOW CONNECTION TOOLS THAT HELP CONVEY MOOD THROUGH COLOR GRADING said Paulson, who is employed at Picture Shop in Los Angeles. Filmed mostly in Pittsburgh, Pennsylva- nia, and occasionally in Canada (especially Season 1), it's fair to say that the sun does come out on set. "But anytime there's a shaft of sunlight, I'm taking out all the warmth," noted Paulson. "Balancing the scenes shot outside and keeping the cold look of Kingstown can be a little challenging sometimes. With that said, the main DP on Season 4, Michael McDonough, did an amazing job shooting it, so it made my life pretty easy." Paulson won a 2021 HPA (Hollywood Professional Association) Award for color grading the theatrical feature "Jungle Cruise" and earned three other nominations for color grading the theatrical film "Gretel & Hansel," the animated feature "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem," and Taylor Sheridan's Paramount+ series "1883." Paulson often collaborates with Sheridan and Sheridan's longtime DP Ben Richardson, who shot the pilot episode of "Mayor of Kingstown." Paulson said, "After Taylor and Ben discussed how 'Mayor of Kingstown' would look — drastically dif- ferent from 'Yellowstone' — Ben and I sat down and created the show's LUT, which is very filmic and natural-looking. [LUT (Look-up Table) is a mathematical formula that acts as a color grading tool, transform- ing input color values from a camera into desired output values.] It doesn't push any- thing too far from where it's shot. It gives me a good range to be able to make things cooler and lean into the look of the show." He's color graded all four seasons of "Mayor of Kingstown" and is now getting involved with Season 5, which began film- ing in Pittsburgh this past March. Paulson said, "The DPs switch out season to season, and since we have a defined look for the series, I'll go over that with the DPs and talk to them about what I've seen in previ- ous seasons." One defining aspect of the show's look is its cool color tone. So if there's a bright yellow bridge in the background, as there was in Season 3, Paulson said, "I'll change that to blue or another color that doesn't scream 'Pittsburgh' since the show is set in the fictional city of Kingstown, Michigan." Paulson color grades "Mayor of Kings- town" using Blackmagic Design's DaVinci Resolve. While Picture Shop keeps Resolve up to date with the latest version (v20.3 as of early 2026), Paulson notes that he doesn't often explore its newest tools for TV work. "We have to move a little quicker than when I do a feature. I don't want to Mitch Paulson.