The Oscars last week were filled with your usual fare of surprising wins and losses, with Guillermo del Toro’s “The Shape Of Water” edging out critical favorite “Dunkirk” (Christopher Nolan) for Best Film and the lion’s share of smaller awards. It also made a little bit of history, with Jordan Peele winning Best Original Screenplay for his film “Get Out” and being the first black writer to do so. However, in my opinion, the biggest snub of the night never even made it to the stage.
There is a secret art in filmmaking that, while it greatly impacts the look of a film and the viewer’s experience, goes sadly unnoticed and unrewarded. It is an art that takes years to perfect and can be the difference between a good movie and a great movie. That’s right, colorists, I’ve got your back.
Ok, But… What Is A Colorist?
If you don’t know what a colorist is don’t worry; most people don’t. It wasn’t until I started studying film in college that I ever considered that this would be a person’s one and only job. It’s a job that we tend to take for granted. After all, how hard can it be? As it turns out, pretty damn hard.
The colorist is in charge of both the color correction and color grading of a film. Without getting too technical, you can think about it this way: Color correction makes the footage look normal, then color grading gives the footage its final look.
Here’s a colorist’s reel that shows exactly what they do to each shot to get the color they’re looking for:
Youtube Credit: Роман Зинаенков
As you can see, a lot goes into a colorist’s job, and their final product is usually a vast improvement over the footage they are handed. Regardless of the cinematographer, a colorist can singlehandedly make or break a movie’s look. Which brings me around to my question:
Why on Earth don’t these guys have an Oscar yet?
This seems to be an odd point of contention for the filmmaking community. “And the Oscar for best janitorial service goes too...” Yeah, I hear this joke just about every time I bring this up. But why are we so opposed to adding this to the awards list?
On the one hand, people tend to see this role as a minor part. I can see why. The cinematographer and director have the final say; their word is law. That being said, they still give an award for visual editing. They even give two awards for audio, both for mixing and for production. So there is definitely precedent for more minor roles that are ultimately governed by the director and cinematographer.
On the other hand, there is the argument that the color design is already factored into other awards. Well, ok. Then what award is it most closely related to? Cinematography? Cinematographers definitely have a vision for the color scheme, and they light the scene for that image, but the actual correction and grading happens long after the footage leaves their hands. Is it editing then? Or, if you really wanted to push the definition of certain awards, VFX? Color Design doesn’t neatly fit into any of these existing categories, so a shared award (such as Sound Production) just wouldn’t feel right.
As digital filmmaking continues to slowly take over Hollywood and the Indie scene alike, the role of the digital colorist will continue to grow. I think that a Color Design category is an inevitability, as it's really the only way awarding colorists will ever feel quite right. Every year we see more and more films that are using color in creative ways to tell stories and convey emotions. I think it's about time we really start to recognize these films.
So why not start right now? Here are my three nominations for the 2018 Academy Award for Best Color Design, for your consideration.
Blade Runner 2049
Mitch Paulson - Supervising Digital Colorist
Baby Driver
Asa Shoul - Digital Colorist
Dunkirk
Dan Muscarella - Color Timer
Walter Volpatto - Digital Intermediate Colorist
