Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1545125
41 S U M M E R Q 2 I S S U E T E C H experiment with some of the new tools because if they don't work, there isn't time to fix it," he said. However, there are new tools in Resolve that Paulson consistently uses on the show, like Beauty FX and the AI-powered Face Re- finement tools for corrective beauty work. "So, say someone has bags under their eyes, instead of having to define the area and then track something to it, the algorithm just knows what a face is, and where the bags would be. I can just remove it with a slider. Normally, those shots would have to go to visual effects, which would cost much more to fix the issue. Now, I can just do it in Re- solve. It's quicker, saving time and money," said Paulson. But it's important to understand the story context when correcting under-eye bags, since in Season 4 of "Mayor of Kings- town," people often tell Mike McLusky (played by Jeremy Renner) how terrible he looks and that he should get some sleep. "That is something we do have to consider: keeping him looking rough, but not too rough," noted Paulson. "I've worked on oth- er shows where the opposite was needed. Sometimes the beauty work done in visual effects has gone too far. It's just too obvious that they're doing it. So I have to tell them to pull it back. I'm the last person to see everything, so I think they rely on me to catch that stuff." Paulson's other go-to effect for the show is the third-party OpenFX (OFX) plugin LiveGrain, which adds realistic, multidi- mensional film texture to digital footage. "When we shoot digital, it's totally clean. It feels weird because we're not used to seeing images so clean since we've looked at film for so many years. LiveGrain, in my opinion, has done the best job of replicating film grain. It has tons of different settings and options to play with, so we can customize the effect to get exactly the texture we want. We use LiveGrain on all of Taylor's shows, and 'Mayor of Kingstown' probably goes the heaviest with it," said Paulson. SERVING LOOKS The Sundance Film Festival empowers filmmakers looking to flex their creative muscles. That's one reason supervising colorist Nat Jencks, at Postworks New York, grades a few films for Sundance each year. "Everyone working on these films cares so much. They often take years to develop, and the key players — directors and producers — put everything into them and often have a lot riding on the film. I'm someone who sweats the details, so I love it when people meet me at that level and are just as enthu- siastic and appreciative of the fine details as I am. Because of that level of care, we often try to spend a little extra time on look development," he said. Jencks, who color grades a wide range of projects from large studio features to indies, worked on three films for Sundance this year: director Ramzi Bashour's "Hot Water" (U.S. Dramatic Competition), di- rector Josef Kubota Wladyka's "Ha-Chan, Shake Your Booty!" (U.S. Dramatic Com- petition), and director Josephine Decker's "Chasing Summer" (Premieres). "Ha-Chan, Shake Your Booty!" (winner of the Sundance 2026 Directing Award) is a story about overcoming grief and finding renewal through ballroom dancing. "Hot Water" is an atmospheric drama that fol- lows a mother and son on their road trip out West. While they're quite different in their aesthetics, Jencks noted that both share the filmmakers' appreciation for visual language — what can be conveyed through mood rather than plot. "In the world of filmmaking, you often hear, 'It's all about story.' But I don't think filmmaking is all about story. Story is the framework, but filmmaking can be much more when the elements that are NOT story are elevated; that's all the intangible parts of creating mood, feeling, and emotion Nat Jencks. CHANGING COLORS: In "Mayor of Kingstown," a yellow bridge was turned blue.