[Tig] career path

[Martin Parsons]

Christopher Stack wrote:
> any advice or information is greatly appreciated!

Hello Christopher

Here's a few observations and some background. I work at a facility that has
a large VFX division, DI grading facilities as well as a commercials
department (with HD video TK grading).

I'm guessing that on the VFX side you'll be used to grading short VFX shots.
Your client will probably be your VFX supervisor who sits with you a while
and then goes off on other duties to return later. The equipment and
software will be low-to-mid range (in monetary terms that is - this is no
criticism as it is most suited to a large, distributed VFX workflow) and the
ambient lighting is probably controlled but not as controlled as in a DI
suite. Finally, the shots you grade will subsequently be reassessed - and
probably regraded - either digitally in a DI session or chemically at the
lab. Finally you won't have been asked to edit and conform your VFX shots.

(I'm making a lot of assumptions here)


On the DI side you'll be grading the whole movie. You'll sit in a suite that
costs millions, with a top-of-the range DCI compliant projector. This will
be checked and recalibrated on a daily basis. The ambient lighting will be
carefully controlled. You will have more than one client attending -
director, editor, producer, hopefully the DoP - and they will be with you
all the time. You will be grading the shots for the final look - no regrades
later. You may have assistants to conform your shots from an EDL - or you
may have to do that yourself.



These two scenarios are clearly different. But you have some things going
for you already, that another person trying to become a colourist from
scratch won't have.

You know about colour, how it works, how to describe it. And have some
appreciation of different colourspaces and their limitations.
You'll know about data and data formats and you'll know how to manage and
move this data. You'll know about VFX shots. This is very important as VFX
shots are now getting dropped straight into the DI session as data without
having to hit film first.
You'll understand about deadlines too.

What will be different is the length of the project. The number and
importance of the clients - and the fact that they are with you all the
time. 
The fact that you are at the end of the chain and not the somewhere near the
beginning.
You'll also have to get your head around conforming from an EDL rather than
a scanning sheet. And you'll have to deal with audio (as a guide if nothing
more).

The grading side will be more advanced and I guess that you'll be doing a
lot more secondary colour correction as well as windows/shapes/masking for
selective grades.


So what you need is a break. If you play up your data, VFX and what grading
experience you have, then some knowledgeable person or company out there
will give you that break. And try and hook up with a manufacturer as they
should always have one eye on the VFX side.


I wish you all the best

Martin

Martin Parsons
Head of Imaging
MPC
Soho, London, England