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From the Publisher |
Happy 2014!
James Wicks, the Tao Treasurer and I
hope you all had a safe and happy holiday season! All three of us want to thank you, our loyal readers, for a great 2013.
We hope this newsletter is bringing the color grading community together; allowing each of us to turn on the lights in our dark, neutrally color-balanced workspaces and discover,
"Hey–I'm not alone in this craft!"
If this newsletter is any indication, the color correction community IS growing every year. And with that growth - through mediums such as this - we will eliminate the scourge of ugly, un-graded or un-considered images from the airwaves and intertubes. Our
audiences–and clients–deserve nothing less.
About this Issue
This is the Best of 2013, Part 2 newsletter. Twice a year the Tao Treasurer and I scour the logs from the previous 6 months of newsletters. We pull together the three most read articles from each edition and put them here for you to enjoy.
Are you new to the Newsletter? This is a great wrap-up of the most valuable content we've recently published... as voted by the actions of your peers.
Are you a Newsletter old-timer? Then you know this is a great Sunday to
catch up on the stories you may have missed but shouldn't have.
Either way, enjoy! The Tao Newsletter Team will see you next week with a full, new and jam-packed edition of the Newsletter.
Happy Grading! |
Winners: Newsletter Treasure Hunt |
In the previous edition of this newsletter I ran a Treasure Hunt: One person per hour - for nine hours - won a copy of Alexis Van Hurkman's 'The Color Correction Handbook, 2nd Edition'. I want to thank EVERYONE who played along! If you didn't win, better luck next time. Here are the list of winners: And two special winners... - the contestant with the OLDEST Twitter account: @editblog
- the
contestant with the NEWEST Twitter account: @spskayashea
If you were one of our winners and haven't been in contact with me, reply to this email
with the details I requested in the last issue and I'll send the book off to you! |
The Craft, Part 1 |
- Keeping 'The Godfather' Look - DP Gordon Willis created a dark and unique look for the Godfather trilogy. This is a blog post by a young filmmaker trying to
replicate that look for his film based on Willis' own descriptions of his thought process. Click through to read what the young filmmmaker discovered is the key to creating 'natural looking' Looks. (officialtombennett.blogspot.com)
- Grading Wide Shots - The opening line in this blog post sums it up nicely: wide shots are tricky. And a great point: grade for the central focus of your wide shot and ignore what happens elsewhere in the image... you can deal with those problems separately. A great Craft blog post. (blog.iseehue.com )
- Triad Color Looks - Colorist Aaron Williams walks you through the process of choosing a color scheme based on 3 colors. Click through for all the details. For this demo Aaron uses Colorista Free in FCP 7. (aaronwilliams.tv )
- Splice Community: Craftsman on their Craft - BlackMagic Design quietly launched a new website a few weeks ago. It's dedicated to filmmakers and the people who toil on
those films. Other than a small logo, you'd have no idea this site is supported by BM. Surf the site and then visit back every Tuesday as it gets refreshed with new profiles. (splicecommunity.com)
- The Art of Color Grading - An oldie but a goodie. A short primer on color grading. Fast, easy read. (digitalproductionme.com)
- [Podcast] An Interview with the Colorist for Elysium - Canadian Colorist Andrea Chlebak, based out of Vancouver, breaks down her ACES workflow. She describes her techniques for staying focused while working on the blockbuster and much more . . . (Coloristos.com)
- [Video] Color correction vs color grading - If your friends and family ever ask you 'what is it
that you do for a living, exactly?' you might want to show this video. The 30 Second Film School's short primer on the difference between correcting the look of a film and grading it. (youtube.com)
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The Craft, Part 2 |
- [Video] Are you sure you can trust your eyes? - A short 2 minute video that highlights the Munker-White Illusion. This is something that every Colorist should know by heart. (youtube.com via @graymarshall )
- [Video] Introduction To Color In Digital Filmmaking - I LOVE this video so much, that I'll be showing it to my college students on Monday - where we meet for the 2nd time this semester. John Hess really manages to drill in the point of where Digital Color Correction REALLY begins. And where is that, you ask? Refresh your cup of coffee, click through and watch this well produced Intro to Color. (filmmakeriq.com)
- Breaking color - The symbolism and meanings behind the colors used in the TV series, Breaking Bad. Series creator and EP, Vince Gilligan, says color plays an important role in foreshadowing and to indicating a character's state of mind. (ibtimes.com)
- [interview] The color of blood - Colorist Natasha Leonnet's talks about how she became a Colorist and how she achieved those killer looks for her latest film, Robert Rodriguez's 'Machete Kills.' It's a great read. (library.creativecow.net)
- Stylized flashback look - UK-based Editor/Colorist Andrew McKee shows you how to create a fluid flashback look in DaVinci Resolve by applying a shot as an external matte. (pixelwizard.net via @jonnyelwyn)
- Creating vintage looks - This is the final part of a 4-part series by Colorist Aaron Williams on creating a vintage look. If you're wondering how colorists build their node trees in DaVinci Resolve, this is a good example. (aaronwilliams.tv)
- Understanding Color Gamuts - Do you know what color gamut is? If you're a Colorist, you absolutely should know. A good article that provides a basic introduction. (redsharknews.com)
- Workflow: Deep Water - Aussie-based Colorist Juan Melara walks you through the grade he created for a new short
film. Juan used a Kodak 2393 LUT on Alexa LogC ProRes. He provides good workflow information, including his color inspiration and provides numerous photos. (juanmelara.com.au)
- On being the junior - interesting article by Aurora Shannon on what it's like to be a Junior Colorist (assisting Colorists like Stephen
Nakamura on Quantum of Solace, no less). Good read. (networkninenews.com)
- Creating analog magic with digital - the black and white film, 'Nebraska' was shot on an Alexa after film was ruled out. If you want to know why, read on. Very interesting story. (theverge.com)
- Ten Lessons From A Maker - David Hieatt makes jeans. What do jeans and color grading have in common? Quite a lot, as you will read in David's top 10 list of things he has learned along the way, (theholbornmag.com via 99u)
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Current Colorist Control Surface Drivers |
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The Tools |
- Resolve: Basic Node Structure and Order
of Operations - Australia-based Colorist Juan Melara, lays out his general node structure - and why order of operations is important to your grades. (juanmelara.com.au )
- [download] Light Leaks for the low, low price of FREE! - A compilation of 121 free film grain
& light leaks for film and video editors from a half-dozen different venders. Yours to download for free. Nada. No charge. (vashivisuals.com via @vashikoo)
- [review] The color interface Apple should have designed - Final Cut Pro users were disappointed to see the Color Board as the replacement for the color wheel when FCPx debuted. A new color app is now available as an FCPx add on for a decent
price, $49 US. Oliver Peters has a review with plenty of links that you should check out. (digitalfilms.wordpress.com
)
- Digital Cinema Demystified - Filmmaker Richard Lackey goes in-depth to try and demystify color bit depth, dynamic range and linear/logarithmic scales. (dcinema.wordpress.com)
- Muscle-memory, control panels, and you - Swedish-based filmmaker, editor, Colorist, and friend of the Tao, Nikolai Waldman, goes in-depth on control panels. He brings up one of my pet peeves in DaVinci Resolve: inefficient control surface layouts. (niwa.nu )
- DCP roundup - Film editor and friend of the Tao, Jonny Elwyn, has a post that is a trove of info about Digital Cinema Packages. From free up to $999US, this post covers it all. Includes video embeds, links to pdf downloads, and more. This is one of those posts you'll love to get lost in. ( jonnyelwyn.co.uk)
- Why Mavericks' movies may not play properly - another annoying Mac OS consumer 'feature' that will be a headache for post-production professionals. (macworld.com)
- Know your waveform! RGB va Luma in the field - DP Art Adams delves into the mechanics of television signals, the difference between RGB and Luma waveforms and why he doesn't rely solely on RGB anymore. As a colorist, much of what he says resonates with me. (dvinfo.net)
- 7 Productivity Boosting Keyboard Shortcuts Every Mac User Should Know - because the computer is part of your toolset.
(lifehacker.com)
- Colorist Glossary: Updated - over 600 terms are now listed. And the pdf download is over 60 pages. The glossary is offered elsewhere but the most up to date version can only be found at Kevin Shaw's site. (finalcolor.com)
- Shooting In The Dark - "which gamma curve should I use?" This is a DP oriented website, but this article offers GREAT insights into Log recording. Colorists will do well to get the DP's perspective on the post workflow - if for no other reason than have an intelligent discussion about these choices. (alisterchapman.com via @tparish )
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The Business |
- Apple's Evolving View of Pro - "In recent years, many pros have started feeling like Apple's jilted girlfriend. Through no fault of their own, the love just seemed to fade. Apple might claim otherwise when confronted, but the telltale signs have been hard to ignore." Click through to read the thoughts of a Creative Director (who sat in meetings with Steve Jobs) about Apple's current relationship with its Pro user base-and where it might be heading. Or not. (kensegall.com)
- [video] Color my world - What is the color palette of a movie? Roxy Radulescu knows. She is the creative driving force behind the popular website, MoviesinColor. Roxy talks with Colorist Tom Parish about why she created the site and how she creates the color pallets. ( tomparish.com)
- How To Break Into A Computer (and Prevent It From Happening To You) - Now you can't say you didn't know. ( lifehacker.com)
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Edumacate Yer'self |
- Color Correction Handbook, 2nd Edition -
Alexis Van Hurkman has updated his Color Correction Handbook, which has set the standard for learning all things color correction. (amazon.com)
- Color Correction Look Book - A companion to the Handbook, this book moves beyond the core skillset of
balancing and matching shots. It moves into the realm of stylizing our images. This is a great book on which to spend some of those Amazon.com Gift Cards! (amazon.com)
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Getting Ahead |
- Making a Demo Reel that connects - Colorist, and friend of the Tao, Juan Salvo, recently
released his new Colorist showreel. It got noticed. As a demo reel it breaks the mold, and is a creative standout because it communicates with the viewer in a unique way. Juan opens up to Screenlight about how he came up with his novel approach. (screenlight.tv)
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Th- Th- That's ALL Folks! See you next week. Happy Grading!
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Published by:
Patrick Inhofer: Photon-Wrangler, Fini.tv | TaoOfColor.com | MixingLight.com
patrick@taoofcolor.com
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