Colour And Creativity

Christopher Ray, colourist at Picture Shop, on his collaborative work with Maxine Gervais, senior colourist, Technicolor, for Albert Hugues’s epic adventure –Alpha

You worked on set for Alpha doing colour. Can you describe your role and how you started to work with Albert Hughes and his team?

Ray: My job entailed setting the looks for dailies – the deliverables sent to editorial each day for online review. Working on a large production, it is extremely important to have a solid idea of what the overall look is during the early stages of the project as the typical editorial process can take around two years.

I was brought on board about a month before the principal photography was established. This gave me ample time to develop a fluid workflow that could accommodate the demands of the feature.

How did you prepare for the project, and how do you typically organise a dailies session for a feature film?

Ray: My first step is to always read the script. That way, I’m able to concentrate on the narrative – the most important part – from the start. I was lucky enough to stumble upon an extremely detailed ‘look book’ in the production office. Between using both the script and the look book, I could visualise the desired pallet and tone of the project before we even shot a single frame.

I had the pleasure of working with Maxine Gervais, senior colourist, Technicolor. She’s really dialed into the demands of our industry. She flew to Vancouver for a few dayswhile we were shooting the hair/makeup tests, which is how we were able to form in-person communication. We sat down and discussed creative approaches to the feature right away, which I appreciated as I’m the type of person that likes to dive right in.

I worked very closely with our technical engineers to develop a workflow that could handle a project of this calibre. With the Alexa 65 being the hero camera, it was important to design the workflow around its needs.