What does an audiovisual colorist do?

I’m sure that many of you who are dedicated to these audiovisual things sometimes find it difficult to define your profession to “laymen”. Ah, so you direct films”… “well, not exactly, I’m in charge of the raccord, eh, no, it’s not an animal, it’s about continuity in the film, well, films are not shot in continuity, so…(here they are already looking at you with a strange face) well, look, the truth is that yes, I direct films (and you get out of trouble)”…”.

Or even worse: “No, I’m a focus puller…no, I don’t move focus, no, nor seals, I focus the camera…no, film cameras are not autofocus…. and the truth is that it has a great narrative value because (here again the strange face)… ahem, look, I take the camera from one place to another and that’s it”.

Well, something similar happens to me when I say that I am an audiovisual colorist, here the strange face usually comes almost immediately, and then I usually add to make a quick summary: “it’s a photoshop for video” and usually people exhale an Ahhh as if at that moment they fall into the whole subject, at that moment usually add a “how nice isn’t it?” (the truth is that most people are quite nice) I answer a “well yes, the truth” and we move on to something else….

However, as I’m more talkative today I feel like trying to define the job of a colorist, so following in the wake of great posts like“what is a director of photography? and“the job of a cinematographer” (that one was on purpose) let’s see what an audiovisual colorist is.

Color correction (or color grading) was initially created by shooting with film and performing all the developing and printing processes in the laboratory. No matter how hard the cinematographer tried to maintain the continuity of light and color throughout the film, there were always subtle (or not so subtle) differences between some shots and others, as a result of human error or chemical processes of the film. The colorist’s job was basically to even out these differences so that they were imperceptible to the viewer and did not take him out of the story. This is still to this day the main job of the colorist, to maintain a consistency in color and light set by the cinematographer. Of course in this work there could also be a part of error correction, which has given rise to the, in my opinion unfair, term color correction (I say unfair because it seems that the only thing a colorist is good for is to correct errors or problems that occurred in the shooting).

But of course, it happens that whenever we have technical tools at our disposal we end up using them for artistic purposes as well, and then the colorist begins to make changes in the look of the film, or in other words: instead of doing color correction he does what we could call color and light enhancement, helping the cinematographer to get the results he wants for the film.

With the tools of photochemical color correction almost all the masterpieces in the history of cinema have been made (which proves that in reality we don’t need so many buttons and options but rather taste and photographic criteria). However, the reality is that the multitude of tools and possibilities of digital grading has increased the photographic options of color correction, giving rise to DI or digital intermediate.

The digital intermediate (or digital intermediate) is nothing more than scanning the cinematographic film to be able to put it into a computer and make the digital effects and color correction there, after these processes the digital image is converted back into cinematographic film for its projection in theaters. Of course in parallel this digital color correction could also be carried out for video and television directly.

With digital color grading tools (whether for video or film) the colorist finds himself with a veritable arsenal that allows him to take almost total control of the film image. They can make changes in exposure and color not only on the whole frame but also on specific parts or colors, making it possible in many cases to re-light a sequence.

However, although nowadays the tools allow to completely change the look of the audiovisual work, I personally believe that the role of the colorist has not changed: his job is still to match sequences with continuity differences, solve possible problems in the footage and especially to improve the aesthetics of the work in the same direction of the director of photography. In this sense, the current trend of shooting with logarithmic gamma curves in video to have more dynamic range greatly expands the options in color grading, this process being essential to take advantage of all the photographic possibilities of the audiovisual work.

Another role that has emerged primarily with the advent of digital correction is that of image restorer . As the programs have options that allow drastic image manipulation, they can also be used to restore damaged photochemical or video material. This work is mainly carried out when working with archival material for documentaries or digital mastering.

So, what types of colorists do we find today?

• The traditional laboratory colorist has practically disappeared, at least in its creative and non-technical aspect, having been replaced by the DI colorist.
• The DI colorist is a member of the post-production department who performs color correction at the end of the audiovisual process, once the film has been edited. When doing color grading for theatrical (either photochemical or digital) he works by viewing the image with a projector on a large screen. In addition to color, he can also do certain VFX processes: reframing, noise removal, object deletion, etc.
• The television colorist also works in post production, the only difference with the DI colorist is that instead of using a projector, he uses a high quality television monitor to check his work.
  
• VFX Colorist. Also a member of the post-production department but working parallel to the editing process. Sometimes there are certain shots that require visual effects in which several images are mixed (the typical example would be a chroma or green screen). As part of the process of compositing images and so that the final result “does not sing” a color matching between them is carried out, that is the work of the VFX colorist (which may be the same person who does the rest of the composition or a different one) This colorist would work in communication with the final colorist (either DI or television) so that the composite shot would have a similar look to the rest of the sequence, the last matching between all the shots would be done by the final colorist.
• Colorist on set or DIT: Many times in film, advertising or TV series shooting, we work with logarithmic gamma curves in camera. These curves allow to have more dynamic range (more latitude in terms of classical photography) at the cost of reducing the contrast of the image (it looks like licked by a cow). In order to show a more “correct” image to the crew members: director, art director, etc. it is possible that the DIT or image technician on set performs a color correction (through an “automatic” or manual LUT). This DIT on set is sometimes a member of post production and sometimes a member of the camera department.

It should be said that although the chorus boy works for the postproduction department (even at an economic level) his real theoretical boss is the director of photography (I say theoretical because depending on the project this figure can be replaced by the director, client, agency, etc.) The point is that the colorist follows the aesthetic line given by the head of image, contributing of course his experience and creativity.

And speaking of creativity, what are the qualities that I think a DI or television colorist should have?

• Obviously you must know technically not only the process of color correction or professional color grading programs but also have some experience in editing and vfx. This will help you to be able to coordinate with the rest of the postproduction department, make conforms optimizing time, etc.
• The more color grading programs you know, the more you will be able to use the right one for each project, workflow or process. After all, they all have many things in common so that learning several of them does not take a lot of time once you have some experience.
• Nowadays, with the universe of codecs and formats that are handled every day, you have to have a working knowledge of them, only in this way you will be able to elaborate workflows in which the color correction starts from the best possible material.
• In my opinion, he should have knowledge (if it is practical, the better) of the cameras and lighting elements used by the director of photography. That will allow him not only to know the good and bad of each model and the material they generate but also to speak the same language as the dop and know what he means when he asks for a “no bleach” process, a gradient or a black promist.
• The more you know about calibration and color management processes the better, the more you can be sure that the color you produce will be maintained throughout the entire television or projection process.
• And of course the colorist must have taste and photographic criteria, he is not simply a technician but makes artistic decisions and must propose creative solutions to the director of photography or director. Whether it is to enhance the work done on set by the dop (naturalistic color correction) or to completely transform the original image (creation of looks).

So, following on from this, how can a person train to become an audiovisual colorist?

• It is true that some people have more talent for certain things than others, but it is also true that these talents can be cultivated. In this sense, the observation and curious analysis of different types of images will be useful: cinema, television, photography, comics, theatrical scenery or simply walking down the street observing the wonders that light makes every second are ways to educate sight and taste.
• Read about color and audiovisual correction. Here are some recommendations: As for pure and hard books on color correction you have the Color Correction Handbook, written by Alexis Van Hurkman, regular demonstrator of DaVinci Resolve. The art and technique of digital color correction, Color correction for video, very focused on Apple Color, Color Grading with Media Composer and Symphony 6, focused on Avid editors or Video Color Correction for non-linear editors, which explains step by step the basics of color correction. Unfortunately all of them are in English, so if you know of any in Spanish you can comment it. In the case of books on color theory and its different uses there are plenty, I leave a couple of suggestions: Color and Light, theory and practice by Jorrit Tornquist and An eye for color, by designer Olga Gutierrez. Don’t be fooled, although she is Spanish she lives in New York and the book is in English, although in this case it is a lesser evil as she talks about color combinations that work, a very nice and practical book for anyone who works with color. The one I do NOT recommend is If it’s purple someone’s gonna die, a book that talks about the supposed psychological effects of color in Hollywood scripts and has almost NO VISUAL EXAMPLES. You spend the whole book reading that if the red of such and such a shirt in such and such a movie in such and such a sequence shows how the protagonist wants and cannot reach his goal and on top of that there is not even a frame…in short, for me a waste of money but for tastes….
• Taking photos and videos. We learn not only by observing the light but also by photographing it and seeing its effects through the cameras. This will help us to be able to emulate them later in the color room.
• Practice with the software. Nowadays there is no excuse for not being able to practice independently, you have the DaVinci Resolve Lite program that can be downloaded for free for Mac and PC and is one of the most powerful color correctors on the market. A trick: if you see a movie or photograph whose image looks attractive to you, you can search the internet for a reference frame and try to match the look on your computer. And if you don’t know how to use DaVinci you can download the manual (written by a colorist and extremely useful) or sign up for one of our courses.
• And if you have some audiovisual experience and want to learn the basics of this discipline you can always come to our HD and 4K color correction course and learn the principles of work that are carried out regardless of the correction program used.

Well, I already have something written to show to anyone who asks me what I do for work. I hope the info has helped you, as always if there is something you don’t agree with or if you think I have left something out your comments are welcome!