[Tig] Fwd: suggestions for becoming a colorist

[Rob Lingelbach]

On Feb 8, 2007, at 4:16 PM, Rob Lingelbach wrote:

> David, my short reply is that you read the FAQ on the TIG WIKI at
> http://tig.colorist.org/wiki3/index.php/FAQ

>>  My name is David and I'm 16 years old.

by the way, nice to meet you David and now we're going to have to  
have a contest to see who is the youngest subscriber, and who is the  
oldest.  You may win the former prize.

Hollywood, which is more a state of mind than a place, puts a huge  
premium on "difference" and particularly, youth.   By "difference", I  
mean that it
becomes very important to the community how you differentiate  
yourself from the "crowd".   Examples:  a foreign accent is worth at  
least 20% more
salary per year; a peculiar mannerism or appearance perhaps 10%;  
experience, -20% (that's minus 20%); youth, according to a scale yet  
to be
devised, is among the most desirable criteria.   So your age has a  
lot going for it.    (in the above paragraph "experience" equates to  
"age")

Where are you studying-  what school and what city?

>>  Also, is it more important to have good grades or is it really  
>> the showreal that matters?

well, I think university is very valuable for reasons other than  
working in "the business."   I know people who never went to college
and are very successful and respected artists in color correction,  
animation, editing, and special effects (2d, 3d).  If you have the
chance now to complete university-  the financial means-  my advice  
is don't stop, do it, and if possible attend an arts school like
the North Carolina School of the Arts, California Institute of the  
Arts, NYU Film School, USC, or UCLA.   No doubt Steve Bradford is
going to mention his institution when he reads this :)

>> What do you think I should work on when I have extra time from  
>> school? Pictures? Editing videos? Finally, is there any software/ 
>> hardware you would recommend me to use?

the answers to these questions I may leave to others, and I certainly  
hope there will be responses (your plea is at the heart of the TIG's  
existence)
....I think you should learn either Final Cut Pro (with Final Touch)  
or Avid, as they have color correction components in their software,  
and allow you
to get a feel for editing as well as color treatments.    Otherwise  
even Photoshop and Gimp are great tools to work on still frames to  
experiment with
color.

regards
Rob
--
Rob Lingelbach
http://www.colorist.org/robhome.html