TECH CREATIVE / COLOURIST DIGITAL FILM
STORYTELLING ARTS
2023 Canadian Society of Cinematographers - Technical Award of Merit. An unexpected acknowledgement of value and appreciation and an honour to have received this after so many years in the film industry. I thought about what I wanted to say on this occasion:
"Good evening everyone. Je suis très émue de recevoir cette distinction et de constater, chers collègues, la reconnaissance que vous me témoigner. I am very touched by this acknowledgement and award.
The art and science of image-making/capture is a profound human endeavor. We define our humanity through storytelling. It allows us
to view ourselves from a different perspective. The approach has always been to tell the story without the images intruding on it and
by using the entire toolset in a collaborative manner. Harris Savides said 'it’s not only what it looks like but how it feels.'
It’s been a most incredible journey to work in the film industry, autour du monde, from téléciné to data, learning how different cultures see the
world. Film crews are… FORMIDABLE! (amazing…)" Dedicated to my mother.
2021 'Neptune Frost' Afrofuturist feature film shot in Africa; remote colour grading in Toronto with DP and Director in LA. Too many screens! DI room with daVinci Resolve, Christie projector, Sony HDR monitor and 65” LG.
2021 'Star Trek - Strange New Worlds -Lily and Isaac.' This is what it looks like when you're about to take a photo at the largest surround AR wall in TO and the image drops out... . Fascinating learning experience in shooting with a properly synced wall and gear. Holodeck, here we come!
2020 'I was Lorena Bobbitt' with DP Maya Bankovic on-set. We met Lorena as she was one of the exec producers and were very touched by her grace and
kindheartedness. Glad she corrected the narrative around herself.
2019 'Trickster' DP Dylan Macleod
Dir. Podz
2019 'Akilla's Escape' Dir. Charles Officer and DP Maya Bankovic
2018/19 'The Corporate Coup d'Etat'
Exciting to see one of the more timely and meaningful projects I worked on last year on the big screen at Hot Docs. Final colour on "The Corporate Coup D'État" directed by Fred Peabody, Produced by Peter Raymont at White Pine Pictures. Canadian philosopher John Ralston Saul leads in the film doc and had coined the term "corporate coup d'état" in his 1995 CBC Massey Lecture The Unconscious Civilization. A great lineup of wise men and women including Chris Hedges, Cornel West and Maude Barlow. A must see. Post and colour at Triangle.
2018 'Cardinal' S3 with DP Dylan Macleod
and produced by Sienna Films was a joy to work on.
Dylan's images were inspired. Shot with Red cam, HDRX with multiple streams, beautiful vast drone shots, sophisticated lighting and framing. Full grading on-set: windowing and tracking, keys, dissolves etc. Director extraordinaire @podzz Daniel Grou. An excellent dark tv series.
2017 'The Expanse' DP Jeremy Benning
Toronto: multiple projects, post final
colour and on-set
2009-2012 Mumbai, India
2003-2006 South Africa - Videolab
2001 - South Africa / Australia / South Korea / Bejiing
Mexico City - Virgin Digital Studios
Toronto - Technicolor TO / DKP
Thailand
Toronto - Magnetic North Post
1995 -96 Singapore
Montreal Astral Labs
Montreal National Film Board of Canada
Freelance Film work
2017 'The Expanse' S3
Working with the indomitable DP Jeremy Benning, CSC, was such a treat. Lighting with broad strokes of colour - finessed with attention to detail: gorgeous! A gentle soul who unites his crew for an easy collaboration.
2019 These two! Live-grading on-set 'Akilla's Escape' with Director Charles Officer and DP Maya Bankovic.
Time unfolds as in a dream, we come together and stories are told. Thanks Charles and Maya and the talented cast, including Saul Williams, for an unexpected magical moment. Never have I tested so many black and white and tinted looks!
2001 - Demoing at SMPTE broadcast show in Sydney, Australia.
I find it useful to step back in time to see the evolution of the journey; still one of my favourite gear combos Spirit (2K) with daVinci 2K+ all in realtime, what seemed like unlimited windows (4 power tiers and defocus) & no rendering. You really needed to know what you were doing - couldn't really fake it with film. Lacing up mags 400ft - 1200ft, checking the density of the neg to see what you might expect and to check key code, film stock, etc.; your clients anxiously awaiting in the room watching you through the glass in the best set-up rooms. And then you sat down at the controls and rolled the film, colouring away, always amazed at the magic that we saw, the depth, the texture. Checking to see how far into the film we've gotten so as not to roll it off. Getting up and loading a new roll. It felt more like sitting next to a fire telling stories - well the electronic version of that - but very much an intimate process where we were all very invested in the pictures. I feel very fortunate to have been a part of this process.
When I returned to Toronto from many years of working overseas, a DP friend asked me to work with him on-set, to develop the look for a series. I hesitantly agreed, learned as much as I could about on-set workflows and joined IATSE667 the cinematographers union. My reasoning was that I could work more closely than ever before with the DPs, side by side in helping to hone the look, something I absolutely love to do. The technology now existed - digital had prevailed and new creative workflows could be embraced.
ARRI has been a constantly supportive partner available at all times to answer questions or refine workflows.
I felt that one of the Arri camera luts was popping the reds; we did tests at the Toronto office that were sent to Florian -the main colour person at the German headquarters; he sent me a new lut that had not yet been released that dealt with this and I was able to use it on my project.
I changed my hair colour to red to do these tests! Not really, but it certainly helped.
On August 3rd, 2013, the NMPA brings to Albuquerque two very special guests from Toronto, Colorist Catherine Pantazopoulos and Color Scientist,
Charles Poynton. Charles and Catherine are two of the most sought after experts on color science and color correction for digital film. Charles is a SMPTE Fellow and an expert on colorspace and an author of Digital Video and Color Science books. Catherine is a Colorist, (color artist) with credits in major motion pictures such as Blood Diamond, Interpreter, and Flight of the Phoenix.
'State Like Sleep' shot in Toronto.
Thrilled to hear that 'State Like Sleep' is having its premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival - how wonderful! Had the pleasure of working with an inspiring and fearless group of people. Awesome crew and cast: Director/writer Meredith Danluck, DP Christopher Blauvelt, the great cast including Katherine Waterston, Michael Shannon, Luke Evans and Producers, congrats!
We went dark - very dark with some gorgeous images.
"It's not (just) how it looks - it's how it feels."
This was what the DP and I based our working relationship on.
It's been quite a colouring journey around the world as the industry and gear changed. Some legacy gear to present: Singapore in '95 - Ursa Gold and daVinci; Spirit and 2K in Sydney 2001; NAB - Resolve 2012.
2017 'Shadowhunters: The Mortal Instruments' S1 ABC/Disney
Worked on-set for two episodes setting the look for the series and then did final colour at Deluxe TO. Cinematographer: Eric Cayla
Worked with Resolve Live grading on-set, setting the look for the main sets and locations for two episodes; simplified the complex grades into luts for the Alexa camera; pulled in my complex grades from set (secondaries, keys, etc...) in Resolve for refinement of the final colour at Deluxe. Worked beautifully; best creative workflow I've ever had as you get to work with the DP's intention - right from the start - for the lighting and look.
Invaluable for colourists to know about how cameras and on-set workflows relate and assist advanced post-production work for both technical and creative purposes.
1995 Singapore
The beginning of a twenty year international work and life experience. What better way to get to know the world than through long-term contracts in the film industry at many exciting locations. Sitting in a dark room with the latest technology and interesting people sharing their culture and history; teaching you how to see colour and images through their eyes: a world-class education.
Telecine room. Sure looks like old gear now but at the time - state of the art: daVinci classic, Ursa Gold, router, switcher, sound board, Leader scopes, Sony monitor, etc. 95-96. I think it was a show and tell day for city media therefore the fancy dress code company-wide.
Original film stills from 'Catch A Fire' daily material I worked on with talented DP Ron Fortunato (Elementary; Basquiat; Gossip Girl) and Dir. Phillip Noyce. Shot in South Africa. Great cast in this little known anti-apartheid film.
'Hellions'
IR (Infrared) photography with RED cam. It is always so stimulating and intriguing to work on experimental looks that cross the boundaries of traditional broadcast work: the balance between abstract but believable; a fine aesthetic - not just different without careful thought to the visual/emotional mix contributing to the storytelling and not just taking over with the pictures; in the background, always the tradition and evolution of visual history.
I began by balancing the pictures to as normal an image as IR can be and proceeded from there; various levels of IR were used in-camera. Although I tried dozens of colours and different contrast levels, the blue look has always been one of my favourites. On-set work on Hellions directed by Bruce McDonald.
So proud that friend and great editor Avril Beukes is editing Ava Duvernay's QueenSugar.
I first met Avril in South Africa where she was already a well-known and respected film editor. We worked on Yesterday which was nominated for the 2005 Foreign Film Academy Award. Avril is a talented and important woman in film. These pics are from 'Yesterday', shot by
Michael Brierley and edited by Avril Beukes. Such a sensitive story about the real face of AIDS in SA. The look of the film changes with the seasons as the story progresses.
Mexico City / Singapore / Mumbai.
Experimenting with digital grain texture and digital filters.
Trickster Locations BC and North Bay. Director: Michelle Latimer
Production: Sienna Films;
We made captivating, powerful pics. Looking forward to seeing the series on CBC.
International commercial work from travels: Italian director and cinematographer created sophisticated film images that we graded with only touches of isolated colours and delicate skintones.