Black Beauty

Cinematographer Rachel Morrison, ASC and colourist Maxine Gervais collaborated to create indelible scenes in Black Panther that viewers have come to associate with Marvel productions

- Vinita Bhatia

There are many reasons why Marvel forged into new territories with Black Panther. For starters, it is radically and racially different. It features an almost all-black cast who reside in the fictional country of Wakanda. Secondly, its cinematographer, Rachel Morrison, ASC, is a rarity in her male-dominated domain and is the first woman ever to be nominated for the Academy Award for cinematography.

While the movie has been wowing audiences and breaking box office records, some of the credit for it success can be given to colourist Maxine Gervais of Technicolor Los Angeles. She was charged with creating an eye-popping look as the movie jumps from conventional cities to the isolated, yet technologically advanced, Wakanda. To handle the huge workload, her team utilised a network of six or more Baselight colour grading workstations simultaneously.

“We knew that this was a fantasy movie with big themes and a strong story,” Gervais said. “Approaching it was exciting: it was not an established franchise but a completely new departure, so it gave us all more creative freedom.”

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