What can a Colorist Learn from a Director of Photography? Interview with Ellie Anne Fenton

Color Talk with Tom Parish

In the next conversation of this mini-series on "What Can a Colorist Learn from a ...?" I speak with Ellie Ann Fenton, a Director of Photography in Los Angeles. Lucky for me she was in Austin working on a film. She called asking if she could bring the scriptwriter, the editor, and others on the team over to the studio to see some test clips on the large screen. Needless to say, I was delighted. We all met and talked about the feeling of the movie and how light and color will be used. This led to a technical conversation over what color space to shoot in with the Sony F55 and what LUTs to use. Then we did some testing with DaVinci Resolve. As the colorist for the project, I was thankful to have an opportunity to contribute early in the process as this will lead, I believe, to a more creative look because there will be fewer color correction issues. During this interview Ellie and I discuss how the cost of digital filmmaking has dropped dramatically (even 4k productions are doable), so what is the secret to doing this well with tighter budgets? What makes one indie production stand out over others when all are using the same gear and software in post? Surely it’s not just about more gear, or higher-resolution cameras, or finding cheaper actors or better scripts. Why not leverage the creative flow across the entire digital workflow production and post process, including inputs from distribution? How about expanding the creative uses of color and light in the process of telling stories? Bottom line – you want to spend less money fixing problems in digital filmmaking and get more emotional impact out of a budget all the way through the distribution step. Great gear without creative collaboration yields average, at best, results. Average is over. So listen in and let me know about your experiences around the collaboration process.