tones. Some projects may not al-
low for time to properly light the
subject, so a colorist can use pow-
er windows and keying to isolate
the subject’s skin tone and make
the necessary adjustments. For
example, the spill of fluorescent
lights can make a person’s skin
look sallow and green, but in the
color process the hue of skin tone
can be shifted to bring warmth
and life back to the subject.
A colorist can also assess
clipped highlights and crushed
blacks to see if any detail can be
retrieved. When highlight areas
such as a bright afternoon sky are
clipped, there is no detail present
in those areas of an image. Blacks
may be crushed in locations like a
dark, shadowy alleyway, limiting
the detail in those areas of the
image. If the project was shot
LOG, the chance of restoring
detail to these areas is greater
due to the high dynamic range of
the original image file. Even if the
detail is unable to be restored, acase, the colorist is able to create
and present various “looks,” giv-
ing the director and DP choices
that may appear different but are
all grounded in the emotional
response they hope to achieve.
This is one of the most crucial
responsibilities of a colorist and
what makes the process one of
trust, respect, and collaboration.
During production, circum-
stances may lead to lighting
mishaps or color temperature
imbalances, but colorists have the
ability to smooth out these imbal-
ances during post. For example,
if a camera’s white balance was
improperly set to tungsten for a
daylight scene, it’s a simple fix in
the color session. The tungsten
setting will give the image an or-
ange tint. Color theory teaches us
that orange and blue are comple-
mentary colors and, when mixed
(paint-wise), they create a neutral
gray. Colorists know that shifting
the white point toward blue for
a daylight image that was set
to tungsten will help neutralize
the image and allow for a better
starting point.
Another example involves
movement between areas that
are lit differently, like following a
subject from indoors to outdoors,
or from a brightly lit area to a
shaded location. During the color
process, exposure shifts can be
keyframed by marking specific
moments on the shot where the
shift happens. Colorists set an
adjustment for each marker to
help smooth the intensity of the
exposure shift. This keeps the
viewer engaged in the story and
not distracted by the darkening
or brightening of the image.
Just as a good DP should know
how to create a lighting setup
that allows for varied skin tones
to be captured equally, a good
colorist must also work
within a spectrum of skin
39THE LUSH PALETTE OF
IF BEALE STREET COULD TALK
WAS SO IMPORTANT TO
DIRECTOR BARRY JENKINS
AND DP JAMES LAXTON
THAT COLORIST
ALEX BICKEL CAME ABOARD
IN PRE-PRODUCTION
GLOSSARY
TINTING AND TONING
In painting, you tint a hue by adding
more white and tone a hue by adding
more gray.
WHITE BALANCE
The process of adjusting the white
point and removing unnatural hues
so an image appears natural to the
environment you are capturing.
COLOR TEMPERATURE
The spectral properties of a light
source measured in Kelvin units. A
low color temperature is warmer
in tone, while a higher color
temperature is cooler.
POWER WINDOWS
A tool that masks an area of an image
to isolate an adjustment. In digital
color correction, power windows
come in many shapes and can be
tracked against moving parts of an
image.
LOG FILES
A format used in digital cameras that
allow the sensor to capture the highest
dynamic range of an image. It appears
flat and desaturated when viewed on
a monitor.
LUT
A Look-Up Table is a mathematical
specification that takes the RGB
values of a flat LOG image and
transforms them into the proper color
space for specific displays.
DIGITAL ARTIFACTS
Pixelation or banding resulting from
pushing an image past its range. A
common occurrence when trying to
brighten an underexposed image:
When there isn’t any detail present
in an area of an image, pushing the
brightness levels will begin to break
the image apart and create artifacts.
CLIPPED HIGHLIGHTS
When the highlights of an image
are overexposed and contain no
information or detail.
CRUSHED BLACKS
When the shadows of an image
are underexposed and contain no
information or detail.
SOFT CLIPPING
A tool in color correction that
reduces the intensity of the clipped
or crushed areas of an image.colorist can lessen the intensity
of clipped highlights and crushed
blacks through soft clipping. All
of these little tricks are specific to
a colorist’s skillset, making them
the go-to consultant for a movie-
maker’s visual problems.
Technological advances in the
post-production process may
seem to allow for more on-set
mishaps to be corrected, but
there are limits to the magic col-
orists can perform to a problem-
atic image. Sometimes the image
is just too underexposed to bring
back detail without introducing
digital artifacts and noise in the
blacks. And although colorists
can shift the white point of an
image, improper color tempera-
ture settings on some camera
models will not allow for the full
color gamut to be restored in
post. A colorist knows how much
they can push an image before it
begins to break apart, and they
will let moviemakers know when
they’ve reached their limit. So
even with all these tools and the
artistic and technical know-how,
a moviemaker should never rely
on a colorist to fix an issue that
can be easily resolved during
production.
Alongside the director and
DP, a colorist is the last person
who touches the film with their
technical expertise and creativity.
They understand how certain
hues will read on screen and how
those hues will make viewers
feel. Whether it’s a simple adjust-
ment or a full-on stylistic choice,
the colorist’s work is to fine-tune
and reinforce the moviemaker’s
message. The relationship be-
tween a colorist, DP, and director
truly represents the collaborative
effort that moviemaking re-
quires, and with proper planning
it should be a creative and excit-
ing experience for all. MMCOLORIST CAITLIN DÍAZ
WORKED ON THE RESTORATION OF
BELLADONNA OF SADNESS, THE 1973
JAPANESE GEM WHOSE VISUALS
CONSIST MOSTLY OF STILL PAINTINGS“
A COLORIST’S JOB
IS TO TAKE
REFERENCES AND
CONVERSATIONS
WITH MOVIEMAKERS
AND INTERPRET THEM
USING THEIR
KNOWLEDGE OF
COLOR THEORY AND
COLOR SCIENCE.
”