Basher Films Color Correction Blog

Act of Valor - Grading Real Navy Seals in Action

2012-01-10T17:43:00.000-08:00

Happy 2012 to everyone! The New Year has come and I found myself dumbfounded that somehow another year has passed us by and a new one is beginning. A cliche' to be sure, but it never ceases to amaze me how fast time flies when your busy! And 2011 was a busy year for myself and Basher Films to be sure! Full of projects both big and small and clients old and new, 2011 turned out to be busiest year I've seen to date, which bodes well for a supposedly "recovering" economy!

As is always the case, many of the projects that were graded last year won't be released or seen until this year, so I've had to hold off on commenting on them on the blog. But the time is finally arriving (to brag a little of course)! One of the first projects in line to be released this year is the Bandito Brothers / Relativity Media Production of "Act of Valor" releasing nationwide in theaters in February. I had the privilege of serving as an additional colorist on this project, picking up where Company 3 lead colorist Stefan Sonennfeld left off on the initial grade early in 2011. I spent about two weeks late in the year tweaking and re-tweaking a number of sections of the film with Cinematographer Shane Hurlbut (Terminator Salvation, Drumline) updating some additional new scenes and building on the initial grade. The film is quite unique in that it was shot primarily with the Canon 5D Mk II camera as well as 35mm film and a few other HD cameras as well! Mixing formats and footage proved a unique challenge, that was resolved with specific color treatments on each format and the removal and addition of uniform film grain across the entire piece. Check out the trailer above to get a taste of some of the incredible visuals in the film... and see if you can tell what's 5D and what's film... you might be surprised!

Crashing Through Walls and Spinning Death Defying "Donuts" with BMW

2011-10-01T14:09:00.000-07:00

Here's a fun spot that I colored a few months ago with Culver City based production/post-house Bandito Brothers for BMW Canada. The spot features the brand new BMW 1M sedan flying through concrete walls out in the desert. All I can say is... I want one... and in the snappy "Valencia Orange" option for that matter... that is one good lookin' car with some really good lookin' moves.

Here's another spot featuring the 1M circling on top of LA's highest man-made structure, with a beautiful "dusky-gold" look to it. I really enjoyed how pushing some gold tones into the mids and highlights to bring out the sunset really ended up played nicely with a bit of blue punching through in the shadows... and of course all playing second fiddle to that iconic orange and red of the 1M!

Anatomy of a Grade - Episode 08 - Digital Re-lighting Part 2

2011-09-25T21:25:00.000-07:00

Well its been a few months but I've finally gotten around to posting the 8th installment of the anatomy of a grade web series. My apologies to everyone who's been asking for this sooner, but work has kept me ridiculously busy (and for all you fellow freelancers out there, you know how grateful we are when that ACTUALLY happens).

This Episode focuses on a tough "pickup shot" from the Bollywood feature film "Chittagong", that was shot well after principle photography (by a completely different crew). The closeup shot had completely mismatched lighting from the wide and required some serious "digital re-lighting" to accomplish the task. Once again, a combination of basic primary color correction and some animated "power windows" did the trick and allowed the shot to fit in nicely with the sequence. Take a look: (please note, the shot in question is rather dark and contrasty so be sure your monitor isn't "crunching your blacks" and heightening contrast too much, in order to properly view the layers of the grade)

Yokohama Tires Duck Duck Goose Commercial

2011-06-08T18:09:00.000-07:00

So this is a 30 second spot I graded at Bandito Brothers a few months ago for Yokohama Tires. The spot features off-road racing star Cameron Steele along with his wife and fellow off-road racer Heidi Steele in a spirited game of duck, duck, goose using some sleek transportation (all sporting yokohama tires of course).

This was a really exciting piece to work on from a color correction standpoint as the client was willing to go for a really aggressive look featuring bold saturated colors on the car with a high contrast black and white background around them. It makes for a really "punchy" look with the bright colors of the cars screaming around a stark monochramtic background. VFX rotoscoped the horizon and the skies and also gave me some really useful alpha mattes of the cars in each shot. From there I used a combination of power windowing, and selective chroma/luma keying to achieve the look (and of course do some enhancement work on product logos, tires, etc, its a commercial after all). This was by far one of my favorite color grades this year; its always a pleasure when clients want to push the envelope and really commit to and embrace a sylized look like this.

And if you'd like a little behind the scenes on the "on-set" production of the spot check out this great video:

Just for Fun - Hot Wheels!

2011-06-03T09:48:00.000-07:00

So the past few months have been a whirlwind of commercial work. I really enjoy working on short form content as the visuals need to be Hight Impact and memorable if you've only got the viewers attention for 30 seconds. For a colorist that's like getting handed the keys to the kingdom to "go to town" and give everything a little bit of extra "pop". Here's a little teaser I did as part of a larger Hot Wheels campaign, the final piece culminated in a 22min special after the Indy 500, but this is a taste. This particular project involved a lot of mixed footage: 5D's, Super 16mm, little Go-Pro cameras, amongst other HD sources, and was shot at completely different times of day. Needless to say, visual continuity was not the main thrust here, instead, high impact compositions and heightened colors was the idea for a "child-like" visualization of a very real stunt!

Anatomy of a Grade - Episode 07 - Sunset Grad Filter

2011-06-02T17:28:00.000-07:00

Well its been a while since my last post; between a flurry of work and travel I haven't had the time to sit down and do one of these since February. None-the-less I finally took some time to examine one of the classic color grading techniques that I get asked to do quite a bit, the "Sunset Grad Effect." This technique is pretty simple and straightforward but can be used in an infinite number of ways to get varying effects. Essentially we're replacing the need to place a graduated filter on the camera (for color effects, exposure is a different story), as we can achieve the same result in color correction. Take a look!

Although this technique can be used and abused depending upon the project, its one that really can save an otherwise uninteresting shot and give it a bit of life! The trick is to use it sparingly, and hopefully, tastefully... although this is of course always in the eye of the beholder!

Anatomy of a Grade - Episode 06 - Day For Night

2011-02-24T08:39:00.000-08:00

Ahh, the infamous "Day For Night" effect. It has many forms, many variations, and is often the brunt of many a cynically charged diatribe by cinematographers and colorists alike. But ultimately, the "Day For Night" look is a powerful tool that can be utilized in post production in the right circumstances and in the right hands.

The following episode demonstrates a dramatic example of a shot that wasn't supposed to be a night scene... and ultimately became one!

Now there's obviously some serious tracking going on in this shot and some color correctors aren't capable of this degree of accuracy with their trackers. So not all grading suites would have this capability (but most do now-a-days). AND, one must always remember that shots like this do take a bit of time, so if budget is an issue and you're "on the clock", then you might not be able to give the same "tender loving care" to every shot like this one. However, the point I'm trying to make here is, its possible! One doesn't need to do everything in a compositing program to achieve looks like this anymore.

Anatomy of a Grade - Episode 05 - "Digital Re-Lighting" in Color Correction

2011-02-23T14:41:00.000-08:00

Ok, so I know its been a while since the last episode in this series; but what can I say its been a bit busy around here. Regardless, I finally found some time this week to pull together some new material for a couple of demos and here's the first of two!

Episode 05 is taken from a documentary feature that I've been color correcting and on-lining over the past month. The particular shot that the episode focuses on is a standard "talking head" interview setup with a "mixed" lighting scenario. In this case, the filmmakers had very few tools at their disposal for lighting (and very little time with the subject). The result was the subject's face had two very different light sources on either side creating some dramatic color and luminance contrast across it. However, with a little "Digital Re-Lighting" in the color suite, we were able to achieve the filmmakers "single-source/soft-lit look" after the fact! Take a look:

How To Prep a Final Cut Pro Sequence for Color Correction

2011-01-27T11:08:00.000-08:00

A number of clients have handed me projects over the past few months that have involved A LOT of prep work to get them into the DaVinci Resolve system here at the Color Suite. So... I've finally made a "how to" video on getting your finished Final Cut Sequence ready for Resolve. Prepping a project for color correction in DaVinci Resolve involves making your project "EDL" compliant. What's an EDL you might ask? Good Question. Check out this video and take a look!

Also, check out the official Basher Films Final Cut Pro Project Prep Specs in the previous post below (or click here).

Official Basher Films Final Cut Pro Sequence Prep Specs for Color Correction

2011-01-26T17:02:00.000-08:00

Here they are, the official Final Cut Pro project Prep Specifications for Basher Films. I've included a link below to download the PDF directly as well. Take a look, as these specs will greatly aid in getting your FCP project smoothly in to DaVinci Resolve quickly and easily (saving you TIME and MONEY, and me a HEADACHE).

Official Basher Films Final Cut Pro Spec Sheet PDF: http://www.basherfilms.com/pdfs/Basher_FCP_Project_Prep_Specs_2011_PDF.pdf (right click and "save as" or "save target" to download)

Also be sure to check out the "how to" video made by yours truly, found here: http://www.vimeo.com/19235313

COLOR CORRECTION PREP SPEC SHEET FOR FINAL CUT PRO PROJECTS

1. BACKUP YOUR PROJECT - Please make a backup copy of your original final project and your final sequence and keep it somewhere safe (as in don’t bring it to basher films!).

2. CONSOLIDATE VIDEO TRACKS TO A SINGLE TRACK USING - Take your new copied project and/or sequence and consolidate all your video tracks down to 1 VIDEO TRACK with any extra media such as stills, VFX shots, text generators, etc, on TRACK 2. Please be sure that all your master media for color correction is consolidated down to these two tracks as it greatly aids in preparing your sequence for color correction. (if you’ve used superimposition effects or have layered video effects you may leave those on Track 2 if consolidation down to 1 track is prohibitive). Please be sure that you’re final sequence is “EDL compatible” and uses CUTS AND DISSOLVES ONLY (try to change any opacity transitions to cross dissolves as those translate better for color correction). Please see a “how to” video for this process made by Chris at: http://www.vimeo.com/19235313.

3. NOTE ALL FILTER EFFECTS , SPEED CHANGES, AND STILLS - Please make a not of any shots that have a Final Cut Pro video filter on them (including simple size changes, etc) as well as shots with any speed changes or still images. Ideally these shots would be re-export as consolidated quicktime files by using the “export – quicktime movie” command and then bringing the new “flattened quicktime back in to the final cut sequence and replacing them in to track 01. Regardless, any shots that are not re-exported in this fashion must be made known to Basher Films.

4. TRANSFER PROJECT TO EXTERNAL HARD DRIVE - Please take this new consolidated sequence and all its referred media and transfer to an external hard drive (NO USB DRIVES PLEASE, either firewire 400/800, or ESATA) for delivery to Basher Films. Please refer to the media manager instructions in step 5 for instructions on how to do this.

5. USE THE “MEDIA MANAGER” FUNCTION - Please use the “MEDIA MANAGER” function in Final Cut Pro to media manage your final sequence (and only your final sequence) to an external hard drive (please do not use USB hard drives as they are notoriously slow, firewire 400, firewire 800, or ESATA will work much better). Select “copy media”, use 2 second handles for your clips, and direct all the new files to the external hard drive.

6. DOUBLE CHECK MEDIA ON DRIVE - Please double check and make sure that the new project and the project files are both located on the external hard drive that you will be bringing to Basher Films and that all the relevant media is linked to them.

Anatomy of a Grade - Episode 04 - The Ring Halloween Spoof for DisneyLiving.com

2010-10-28T14:05:00.000-07:00

Here it is Episode #4 of Anatomy of a Grade! In this episode I take a look at an online Halloween commercial I recently graded for DisneyLiving.com. The spot was part of a series of 3 others that spoofed famous scenes from Horror Films (namely, The Ring, The Shining, and The Sixth Sense). Shot on the red camera, the original footage had a very neutral look to it and it had to be severely altered to achieve the blue/green high contrast look of The Ring that has become synonymous with the film. Below you can check out the webisode, as well as all three Disney Living Halloween Spots. These were a blast to work on, and I hope you enjoy them as much as I did!

Anatomy of a Grade - Episode 3 - Correcting Underexposure with RED RAW

2010-10-26T10:58:00.000-07:00

Very proud to announce episode 3 of The Anatomy of a Grade Web Series. This episode takes a look at a shot from the feature film "Trail of Blood" directed by Justin and Joseph Guerreri, shot by DP Collin Brink and executive produced by Gremlins Director Joe Dante. This shot was done at the end of the day with fading sunlight, but is supposed to look like it was done at midday with much brighter light levels and warmer tones. Using the power of the raw RED .r3d files we were able to dramatically change the look of this shot and make a seemingly unusable image work well for the film. Take a look!

Also check out the Trail of Blood website at http://trailofbloodmovie.com where you can find out more about the film and view the trailer.

Anatomy of a Grade - Episode 02 - Skin Tone Correction

2010-10-07T14:52:00.000-07:00

Episode #2 of Anatomy of a Grade is up. In this episode we look at a cosmetic color correction from the short film "A Crossroad Called Manzanar" where an actors skin tone doesn't match the "look" we've set for the film. After a bit of primary and secondary correction (along with a bit of tracking) we're able to achieve some subtle yet substantial results! Take a look.

Again, you can check out more from a "Crossroad Called Manzanar" at http://www.acrossroadcalledmanzanar.com

More Anatomy of a Grade videos are on the way! Subscribe to the vimeo channel to be alerted to new ones when they're added at: http://vimeo.com/channels/138648

Anatomy of a Grade - Episode 01 - A Crossroad Called Manzanar

2010-10-05T15:10:00.000-07:00

Well its finally here, Basher Films is proud to announce the "Anatomy of a Grade" web series! In this series we take a look at some of the tools, steps, and decision making strategies behind the color correction process. These videos are intended to give directors, producers, cinematographers, students, and even fellow colorists alike some insights into the often nefarious world of color correction and what's possible in the color suite. This is by no means a "tutorial" on how to color correct, instead this series focuses on specific examples from Basher Films current and past projects to illuminate techniques and strategies of color correction and break down the various steps that are combined to make a "color grade."

Episode 01 looks at a shot from the short film "A Crossroad Called Manzanar" directed by Cindy Fang and shot by cinemtographer Jay Visit. This short narrative period piece (shot on RED) takes a look at the Japanese internment on the west coast during WWII through the eyes of two young girls.

In the first episode we look at a particular shot that needed some signficant primary and secondary correction to achieve a "warm, late-day, sunset look."

If you liked what you see here you can check out and subscribe to future webisodes on the vimeo "Anatomy of a Grade" channel found here: http://vimeo.com/channels/138648

Also to learn more and check out the trailer for "A Crossroad Called Manzanar" visit the film's web page at: http://www.acrossroadcalledmanzanar.com/

"Finding God in the City of Angels" wins Audience Award at Urban World

2010-10-05T14:24:00.000-07:00

Proud to announce that the documentary "Finding God in the City of Angels," which was color corrected at Basher Films, (and involved a bit of DP work by Chris Hall as well) won the audience award at the Urban World Film Festival in NY City last month. Congrats to directors Jennifer Jessum and Simon Joseph! You can check out the trailer here:

And check out the review published in the Huffington Post!
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/stewart-nusbaumer/from-black-panthers-to-fi_b_733530.html

To learn more about the film check out the "Finding God in the City of Angels" Website: http://www.findinggodinthecityofangels.com

Chris Hall Color Demo Reel 2010

2010-07-13T20:35:00.000-07:00

Well its finally up, the Chris Hall demo reel is now online at vimeo. Check it out:

Chris Hall Color Correction Reel 2010 from Chris Hall on Vimeo.

Color Correction Reel for 2010. Projects include RED and HD footage, and were all finished and conformed in 2K and/or 1080P. Please visit http://www.chrishallcolor.com for more info.

The Basher Films Color Correction Blog

2010-06-28T14:54:00.001-07:00

Well it only took me 3 years, but finally I joined the 21st century and started a blog! Hopefully I can keep it up to date with projects, comments, updates, etc and give Basher Films a bit of home on the net! I feel so stuck in the 90's... who'd ever heard of blog in '98... I still had aol on my computer for heavens sake!