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

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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.