Wicus Labuschagne October 24, 2016 Share October 24, 2016 Hi all I've been asked to help develop a Colour Grading curriculum at a film school. They have Resolve on a bunch of good iMacs and a few students are genuinely interested. I would really appreciate any input on topic suggestions I could cover. Is there anything specific that irritates you about new graduates? What do you wish they knew? Thanks everyone. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites
Tom Evans October 24, 2016 Share October 24, 2016 Restrict their access the first months to density controls and RGB offsets only. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites
Bruno Mansi October 25, 2016 Share October 25, 2016 15 hours ago, Wicus Labuschagne said: would really appreciate any input on topic suggestions I could cover. Is there anything specific that irritates you about new graduates? What do you wish they knew? Forbid them from using 'look' LUTs that promise to make you into a top colourist with just a few mouse clicks! 4 Link to comment Share on other sites
Joseph Owens August 4, 2017 Share August 4, 2017 If you subscribe to an "apprentice" training approach, think about how colorists were introduced and progressed into the craft while the position was being developed. Before you were allowed into a suite with a paying client -- and touch the controls -- for the first couple of years you were responsible for loading the film, fetching craft services, and listening carefully. And keeping it zipped. After that, depending on the facility that was essentially fostering/subsidizing the training, a promising candidate who seemed responsible enough to make a decision, not pirate the footage, or destroy it, was allowed to join the "dailies" fraternity. Churn through thousands of feet (every night for a few more years), sync sound, log camera reports, spot issues, report sensitometry... using RGB only, no secondaries. One-light, best-light.. timed dailies... on-time, under-budget. Figure it out... now. And have an answer ready for when the phone call comes in from the DP later that day, while you were out shopping for groceries after 8-10 hours of midnight shift and a 3 or 4-hour nap. Kind of like ER intern, except with fewer fishhooks-in-the-eyes and gunshot wounds. Then you are assigned to transfer some lab-timed IP's... should be one-lights, but because we are now looking for perfection, usually some scene-to-scene trims. And if you can get through the feature in a couple of days and no melt-downs, great, candidate is approved to progress to some soft-ball no/lo budget student/indie shorts... and that's where a candidate starts gaining some traction... the palette starts to develop, a flair for a bit of innovation may emerge, some word-of-mouth starts getting around... something that happened at 3 AM, 4 years ago happens again and you just deal with it on the spot... a client starts thinking you are some kind of wizard. There you go, because you are. Current grade/colour applications are so highly evolved now, that it is very difficult to isolate fundamental principles of the craft. In the end, it is still one of the most fascinating areas; a curious blend of artistic and technical manipulation. It is far and away not just a matter of being able to achieve a white balance / grey-scale knob/ring solution with a video game controller. A sensitive colorist eventually develops a hue/contrast understanding of imagery the way a skilled musician can blend music theory -- mixing major and minor scales, improvising rhythms, adjusting tonalities -- that will affect an audience on a much deeper level than what they see and consciously process. jPo, CSI 5 Link to comment Share on other sites
