Odd Hours, No Pay, Cool Hat
Documentary, John Deere and Vignette Creative
I had the pleasure of color grading this documentary in early 2023, with Vignette Creative’s team Cameron Zohoori, Gary Matsoso, and Louise Colette. With a fine cut of the film in hand, the Vignette team discussed ideas about what they wanted the color to feel like, and having spent more than a year on production, shooting on Canon cinema cameras, the team was wanting a look that supported the footage and gave it a realistic, timeless quality.
In the grading process, we adopted a live-remote workflow, me color grading with the clients across the US - I was in Charleston, SC, while they were at Formosa Interactive’s office in Seattle, WA. We reached our milestones by twice a week grading 15-20 minutes of footage together per session. In the early stages, however, much discussion was had over the gamma levels, the color space, and the file codec to use when reviewing files, along with how Apple's ColorSync system interpreted files in Quicktime/IINA and on the web. After the technical aspects were resolved with mutual brainstorming, we dove back into the grading process and created an absolutely beautiful film.
I greatly enjoyed getting to work on this project because of the team mentality of the filmmakers. This is a 90-min documentary with multiple storylines across the US, showcasing the many facets of he volunteer fire service. “At a fragile and fractured point in American history, the film is entertaining, hopeful, and optimistic. It suggests that when it comes to the most desperate and important moments of our lives, we will drop everything and come together to help our neighbors.”
