Coloured by Seamus O'Kane

I first became acquainted with this spot on the morning of the first grade session. This is a fairly typical situation for a busy commercials colourist and especially where the shoot is essentially narrative based rather than a technical basis for a complex VFX heavy spot. 

Despite the increasing collaboration across all departments, it is still difficult to fit pre post-production meetings into everyone’s calendar and ,therefore, we learn to ask the necessary questions and get up to speed on a project quickly. This process is obviously helped by the strength of the relationships we have with our clients. In the UK, the strongest relationships exist between colourists and directors.

A colourist needs the ability to listen. The ability to concentrate. The ability to be impressed

- Seamus O'Kane -

In this instance, I am fortunate to have worked with Director Sam Brown on previous projects and therefore can relate to his sensitivities and ambitions for a film with minimal questions.  

The Director of Photography, Franz Lustig, has also worked with Sam before and he sent an excellent breakdown of his thoughts and intentions on a scene basis. He also used stills to illustrate his points. Whilst this gives me an insight it is not prescriptive and I never feel restricted by such input. The inspiration for any image comes from the photography and it is always good to have the Director of Photography’s thoughts. 

The essential vision for this spot was to celebrate the scale of the piece but retain a naturalness to each scene.

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