The finishing touch
When it comes to post production your greatest ally as a cinematographer is the colourist.
A skilled colourist can bring out the subtle nuances in an image that the cinematographer may never have spotted.
They can also save you time on set which is always a good thing!
For example, if you need to flag light off of a wall. Depending on the scale of your shoot, to move lights, put the flags up and cut the light where you need might take you 10 minutes… maybe more.
A colourist has the ability to mask and selectively bring down the level of the image in a matter of seconds.
Don’t get me wrong. If you can do it in camera then that is always advisable. But, knowing what a skilled colourist is capable of and using that to your advantage is definitely something to be aware of.
Colourist Thomas Mangham working on a commercial at The Mill in London
THOMAS MANGHAM is a colourist at The Mill, London.
He works on commercials, music videos and other short form content. Thomas has a solid body of work and has coloured some stunning projects.
Click the image below to take a look some of his recent work.
CLIMBING THE RANKS
Thomas talks about his path to becoming a colourist and how he found a home at The Mill, London.
In a similar way someone can climb the ranks of the camera department and eventually step up to Director of Photography, Thomas explains how he worked his way up from a runner to a colourist.
VISUAL CLARITY
We discuss the benefits of creating a dialogue between the cinematographer and colourist early on in a project and how creating a look in pre production can ultimately streamline the final grade process.
RAW to a loose Rec709 look to the final grade by Thomas for a commercial we worked on together
PEOPLE MANAGEMENT
Thomas discusses how the practical skills of being a colourist are only half of the job. When you’re in a grading suite with an entire creative team of different departments (creative director, art director, agent etc) there is always going to be differing opinions.
Thomas explains his process for managing a room and making sure everyone involved is happy and onboard with the final look of a project.
a creative melting pot
Thomas talks about his process for creating a look for a project and how he likes to get everyone involved, in the room together early on. He mentions how he feels like it’s a creative melting pot and always leads to good things.