From 1950-2000 not much changed in feature film grading. A lab color timer graded from film in the laboratory. We watched movies projected from film that were shot on film. In the TVC/TV world between 1985 and 2005 not much changed we graded mainly film negative in a high end grading room.
The TVC grading rooms of the early 2000’s would have set you back over a million dollars. Clients would come into my room in London and say “I have always wanted to work in one of these rooms” with a sort of strange star struck look in their eyes. The work was high end Commercials and Drama, no Reality TV or grading for the internet. A documentary only got graded if we were slow and music videos occupied the small hours for a reduced rate. Everything was shot on film 16mm or 35mm and not a tape or digital file in sight.
Jump to 2013 what has changed?
Today far more people are grading. Directors of Photography, Editors, VFX artists, and Directors are joining the existing band of Colorists.
Computers have consistently got faster, storage cheaper, and digital cameras have taken over from film. In 2007 Apple purchased the previously named “Final Touch” grading software and released it as “Color”. It came bundled with Final Cut Studio, costing around $3000. It had some technical issues in the early days, but the software had enabled thousands of people to get their hands on a real Color Corrector. Because of this, lots of smaller shops appeared due to the cheaper entry price. In 2009, Blackmagic Design purchased DaVinci and in 2010 a $995 fully featured Mac version of Resolve was released. This was swiftly followed by Adobe announcing Speedgrade as their Color correction solution in 2011, meaning that anybody could possess the tools of a colorist. Editors who had been previously eyeing off two days money for coloring a documentary were suddenly very keen to join the grading club. They could now get the tools to grade their show rather than handing the show over to the big Post House. Other new users are DPs sick and tired of handing rushes over to editors, having to constantly explain why their LOG pictures looked flat.
So what affect has cheaper coloring systems had on the industry?
Advantages.
Reality TV and documentaries that previously might have had an editor twisting sliders on editing software until he or she got lucky are now being graded with Color correction software on a grading monitor in a grading suite.
The DP can now do a simple grade on his rushes before handing over his media to editors and producers, who are very keen to make early judgments on color and contrast.
An increase in freelance Colorists on the market. This gives producers more choice, you can now choose your colorist and not be tied to the staffer at the big Post house.
Remote grading, meaning I can receive a HDD or download a file from anywhere in the world and start grading. The clients send reference images or watch and review my work when finished. We communicate via phone or Skype, and I don’t have to dress up. This does open up lots more grading opportunities.
Disadvantages
The downside is the quality of the grading seems to have gone down.Shots do not match within a sequence. I am seeing it all the time in TV Drama, Reality, short films and even features. It is relatively easy to create a nice look on a single shot. I always tell my students when teaching, “You can sit in front of a grading system and given time twiddle the balls and get a nice look, but in a month you still won’t have matched the rest of the scene properly. Grading is difficult, especially the art of knowing why shots do not match, then knowing how to go about fixing them.
An increase in freelance Colorists on the market. This drives down freelance rates as newer graders want to get a foot on the ladder and build a reel so will work for a lower rate.
Never has so many programs, shows, TVCs been graded by so many “Colorists”…………… or people using Color correction software.
Warren Eagles
http://www.warreneagles.com.au
