WHY THEY WON | FEATURE
ABOVE Panavision’s DXL2 digital camera with award-winning LiColor2 on-board. Below is the company’s new Link HDR, launched at Cine Gear
PP: The reference and idea with colour was to be inspired by (not emulate) three-strip Technicolor film. So, colour manipulation was very important. Get rich, saturated colours without making them feel garish. We had a beautiful LUT created by Joe Gawler at Harbor and when we got into the colour grade, we had a lot of leeway to play with. Midsommar is very rich, but the skin tones look amazing and the green looks really great. I only mention this, because I feel that green grass is really difficult to get right on digital. Using LiColor2 on-set makes me confident to push the boundaries, knowing I will have what I need in the grade. I can see clearly the richness in the colour rendition.
DEF: How do you think LiColor2 will evolve and could it replace certain
– from photography to editorial and final colour – I found myself in the position where the director and studio were on-board with matching the final grade to the dailies. As I mentioned earlier, I do very little manipulation to the LiColor2 at all when I’m on-set. For me, it’s not specifically about a film stock simulation, or nailing a look on-set as opposed to a DI. The fact that the LiColor2 really fits with my photography is like finding a film stock that I truly understand. I can shoot it in multiple situations and trust it. But that ties in with my whole approach to lighting, colour and, of course, personal preference. So much so that when I shoot with the Alexa or Red I have a LiColor2 LUT that simulates the LiColor2 in those sensors, and it works really well for me. Panavision LiColor2 has allowed me to create a look on-set that carries over into the final DI.
grading processes?
BP: I don’t think the LiColor2 will replace any specific grading process, but in it, I have found my ‘favourite stock’. Ian shows me constant tweaks he is making to it, in ways it handles colours and highlights, and it’s really exciting to see it develop and evolve. Interestingly enough, I think the evolution for me and LiColor2 in general is the ability to have a LiColor2 toolkit. Each evolution will be a better version of the last. But there are great things about each version. And to potentially have a family of colours to use on a given film gives me more confidence in each situation. I’ve pushed the LiColor2 pretty far in the DXL and the results honestly blew me away. What Ian, Michael Cioni [co-founder of Light Iron] and the team at Panavision and Light Iron have created fills a spot that I was personally searching a long time for.
DEF: Is using LiColor2 all about film stock simulation/rendering on-set BP: Using LiColor2 was the first time that, throughout the entire workflow
and not through a later DI?
AUGUST 20 1 9 | DEF I N I T ION 49
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