How to Choose a Reference Colorist
Are you looking for a reference colorist but don't know who to trust?
Here are no less than 7 tips I feel like giving to anyone who is looking for a reference colorist:
1. Avoid handymen
This first step is really simple: choose a "pure" colorist and avoid the handymen.
Why?
I am in no way against handymen, but let's be clear... a handyman can never have the experience of a professional colorist who has decided to specialize exclusively in color correction and color grading.
A handyman lives and works by what he is asked to do by clients.
If you're hired one month to shoot some footage, the next month to edit some videos, and the month after that to create some vfx, in a year how much time will you actually manage to devote to studying and practicing as a colorist?
A professional colorist studies and works with color every single day.
An example I often bring up is: Pretend you need heart surgery. Would you rather have surgery done by a general surgeon who performs a different procedure every day or by a surgeon who specializes exclusively in heart surgery?
I'm seeing more and more profiles of 20-something year olds calling themselves "Filmmaker/Video Editor/Colorist/Vfx Artist/Colorist/Sound Engineer"
The question I keep asking myself every time is, if each of these specializations requires years of study and experience, how are these guys PROs in all of these fields at once in their early twenties? Your answer.
2. Verify credentials
Unfortunately, the world is not a perfect place and not all people tell the truth.
Does this person claim to be a colorist? Check his credentials.
How?
Google is your friend!
Type the colorist's name into google and see what comes up.
If you can't find any website, showreel or social where you can view his work, forget it!
3. Preparation
Make sure the colorist has a good technical/theoretical foundation that will support their artistic side.
I believe that a strong theoretical and technical preparation is essential to have a clear starting point, the point of arrival and choose, consequently, the most suitable workflow for each project.
When I talk about preparation, I'm clearly not limited to knowledge of the software you're working on.
To bring you a practical example, one fine day I decided to delve into all that was behind the human complexion.
To do so, I asked my ex-girlfriend to lend me some of her medical books and spent days studying the conformation of the human complexion from a purely scientific point of view.
Now, I fully realize that the percentage of colorists who take this approach is really low and that mine is a huge obsession with knowledge.
My clients, however, know that every change I'm going to make to their image comes from a deep knowledge of the subject.
4. Professional Instrumentation
There's no point in skirting around it: to manage a project professionally, you need solid workflows and high-performance machines.
I know, it seems really obvious, yet I keep seeing "professionals" who:
-don't have a solid workflow that gives confidence to the customer
-work on computers without the minimum requirements to manage a project
-use monitors that are not suitable for color correction
-work on uncalibrated monitors
-work directly on the customer's hard disk
-work in raid 0 without any backup copy
-buy Dropbox storage space on Chinese sites shared with perfect strangers to save money
and so on...
Imagine all the consequences of working this way.
I also recommend reading: Low-Budget Color Grading: Are You Really Saving money?
5. Mutual esteem
Choose a colorist who values you and doesn't just see your projects as a source of income.
Why do I say this?
We're human, we can't like everything and we're inclined to give our all in the things we're most excited about.
What does it mean?
If the colorist doesn't hold you in high esteem and isn't enthusiastic about your project, rest assured that he will treat your project as "one of many".
So find a colorist who understands your vision, values you, and can't wait to get their hands on one of your projects.
6. Things in common
Those who know me know that I am a big fan of American football.
With some clients I get to talk for hours and hours about the Patriots, Tom Brady, Super Bowl and everything that gravitates around that world.
This clearly has nothing to do with color grading but, you can't imagine how useful it is in all color sessions.
In addition to being a great glue, it helps to distract, relieve tension and humanize that encounter.
I have witnessed very long color grading sessions where both the colorist and the client maintained a religious silence.
A color session set up like this is sure to become torture.
7. Understanding
Another aspect not to be overlooked is the understanding and flexibility of the colorist.
Many colorists try to impose their personal style on every single job, regardless of what the client wants.
In cases like these, you may find yourself in serious trouble.
A professional colorist should certainly be free to give directions and propose changes, but always keep in mind that the project is not his or her own but that of the client.
The colorist must be at the service of the project, becoming an extra weapon in the hands of the client and not an impediment.
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