Color Grading

Tower 3, a new documentary short from Irish filmmaker and artist Marcus Robinson, commemorates the massive construction project behind the latest addition to New York’s World Trade Center site, an 80-story structure that is now the city’s fifth largest building. Commissioned by Silverstein Properties for ribbon-cutting ceremonies marking the building’s completion, the five-minute film was produced by Robinson with technical and creative assistance from Technicolor PostWorks New York.

Swapnil Patole is senior colorist and digital intermediate head of department at Famous Studio in Mumbai, which opened in 1946 and has become one of the finest post-production houses in India. Since starting his career 14 years ago, he has graded a long list of commercials in all genres and for brands such as L’Oreal, Garnier, McDonalds, Honda and Nivea, to name a few. He has more recently worked on feature films, festival short films and music videos, including a project for Sony Music India. Digital Cinema Report recently spoke with him about his career and how evolving technology has changed the work of colorists around the world.

The second series of National Geographic’s popular series Genius focuses on the extraordinary life of painter Pablo Picasso. Colorist Pankaj Bajpai at Encore in Hollywood was charged with creating the look that evoked the time and place as well as the art.

Manuel Canchola is a freelance colorist based in Mexico City. He works on a mixture of commercials, television and film and uses this variety to continuously improve his skills as a colorist. Canchola, a passionate advocate for new technology and, in particular, high dynamic range, recently spoke with Digital Cinema Report about his career and his work in color grading.