Hello from Finalcolor,

I hope everyone is doing ok under the current crazy conditions. Please stay healthy - I know it can be frustrating for many stuck at home without much work or support.

It looks like the world is not going back to normal anytime soon, and maybe it will never be the same again. So I have been thinking about what I can do, and as a start I’m going to run free ‘Color Clinics’ where I’ll attempt to answer any questions or problems people have about color grading. Please come along and have a chat! If you’ve a question or are stuck, please register and send me your questions ahead of time and I’ll try to cover it. Some issues I may not have answers for but we can help each other out and talk it through. The first Color Clinic will be May 18th at 12pm (London time). We will have a poll to choose the best times for the following Color Clinics. Register now to save your spot.

It’s also frustrating to suddenly have time on your hands, but - for many - not have the cash to take advantage of it. If you are keen to take a class right now, but cashflow is a bit tight, message me and we’ll chat about online classes coming up.

Here’s a few things I’ve been working on, I hope you find something interesting or useful amongst them. I plan to send one of these newsletters out every couple of months. I’d love to hear what you are working on and discovering - please get in touch and let me know. Otherwise, I hope to see many of you at the Color Clinic webinars and a few of you in my new live online virtual classrooms.

Stay safe, use your time well

Kevin Shaw

 

3 ways Japanese woodblocks inspire my grading

Japanese woodblocks artists created iconic images that stood the test of time - and they did it in a collaborative process, of which color was a specific controlled step. So there’s lots of inspiration to draw on from this art form for modern film.

I am often asked what inspires me and in this article I suggest three things we can consider applying from these striking prints to film grading, as well as going through modern examples from Star Wars to Blade Runner. What inspires you in your work?

 

Free Colour Clinic - the colour doctor is in!

Join me to troubleshoot your grading problems, ask those questions you’ve always wanted to ask, or have a conversation about an industry issue on your mind. We start May 18th at 12pm (London time) when we will discuss displays and calibration. Register to ask me your questions ahead of time.

If you have a more in-depth problem, I also offer online consultations.

 

Dolby Vision HDR grading: an interview by Dolby

I sat down with Dolby to discuss HDR in general and the benefits of the Dolby Vision content creation tools and workflow. Watch the video to learn more about these tools. You can watch Part 1 here and Part 2 here. If you want to study HDR further take a look at the live online class below:

 

Upcoming classes

I’m running a series of live online classes so people can keep upskilling at home and from iso. The virtual classroom will be in session May 20-22. I am starting with the most popular class I run, the HDR Color Masterclass.

The class will run in a Zoom meeting environment with all participants online, visible, and able to share their screen. Each participant will have a short pre-flight check with me before the first class to test and configure settings.

The class covers the misunderstandings surrounding HDR, as well as a detailed discussion on how HDR displays are changing our viewing experience and workflows. If you think HDR is just another format, think again. The class is popular with cinematographers, DITs, VFX, editors, games developers, directors and producers as well as colorists.

These will be livestreamed interactive classes only available in real time.

 

Bulletin board: 3 interesting things I’ve seen

  • Read it here: The truth about Sir Isaac Newton’s prism experiment: beautifully brief and strangely fascinating

  • Watch it here! 62 million hits has to mean something: this great little vid shows that music videos can be simple and still mesmerising

  • Did you know? Asus ProArt PA32UCX displays are now Calman Ready and can be calibrated under direct Calman software control. Get the firmware update for this and other goodies