Color Pallets; More Metaphysical Than You Think

Here's some stills from one of the (many) projects that I've had the pleasure of coloring. This film, titled KEEP ME AT BAY, takes place in both China and the US and has two very different and contrasting pallets that tell their own story.

Using references given in the Press kit, I developed a look similar to that of Amelie, but fit it more for the story. However, what I realized in the process was just the beginning. The Color of Amelie is intricate, and altogether contrasty (Luminescence wise and also color wise)! Using green mid tones and purple highlights and pushing color into the shadows (while keeping the black point black) seems to be the setup for a SAW esque film, but interestingly enough… the pallet does the opposite.

What we know about color is far different than what we are perceived to know. There’s a metaphysicality present, where specific film looks stay in our brains and define the genre; but Amelie’s look is counter to that, A dark pallet offsets Amelie’s vibrant and intimate tone.

EZRA In Exile; You’ve Worked Hard, Now It’s Time to Work Smart.

There’s something to love about the Ursa mini 4.6K’s pure flexibility! The ability to come up with a look, take that look make it into a LUT and then apply that LUT into my camera then shoot monitoring it is truly amazing and makes the color correction and grading process take a third of the time. Shooting RAW also made it so much easier to “choose as I go” and determine whether I’d like a cleaner shadow look, or a more atmospheric look. Using the RAW capabilities in Resolve, I could choose between both and decide with relatively no issue.

However…
There’s been a bit of an uproar about the removal of Cinema DNG (raw) and replacing it with Blackmagic RAW, but there was also a big “uproar” about BMD’s low light of the Ursa mini; and as we all know, that’s moreso how the tool is used than the tool itself.

PHALLON BECKHAM’S IMAGE OF BALTIMORE

A few stills from a documentary I had the pleasure of being cinematographer for. I wanted the images, both still and in motion, to reflect how gripping the vision from the fantastic director I worked with! There’s something beautiful and genuine about the setting of East Baltimore and the spiritual, mental and emotional labor of Blackness and Loss

Stay tuned!

KIRIKOU and Identity as Color

After being recommended this film, I finally watched Ocelot’s animated masterpiece, KIRIKOU AND THE SORCERESS. I was skeptical at first, but this film so eloquently and poignantly weaves culture through such a specific animation style and such a specific color pallet that it brought me to tears. Wise beyond his years, Kirkikou’s represents a Messiah; yet unlike overt religious tropes, Kirikou’s identity is flawed and, as old as he may get and as wise as he is, still barred by an inert childishness.

That, however, isn’t a negative trait but one that brings the film and the tale it weaves into a space of its own. Ocelot’s use of color, shape is so familiar to me, and is reminiscent of the drawing style of Black illustrators such as R. Gregory Christie. There’s a link there that I wish to so much more investigate in “identity-pallets”!

Michel Ocelot’s KIRIKOU and The Sorceress (2000)