Technicolor Montreal introduced its first FilmLight grading system to the facility in 2013, with the installation of Baselight equipped with the Blackboard 2 control panel, increasing both the capacity and future scope of work the post house can support.
The colorists at Technicolor Montreal attract work from the international market as well as the local Quebec industry. Head colorist of the digital intermediate division Nico Ilies recently completed Henri Henri and the Hollywood movie, Serena with Jennifer Lawrence and Bradley Cooper. He just finished The Girl King, which paints a portrait of the extravagant Kristina of Sweden.
“For Serena, I met the director and DP in London to decide the look of the movie,” explained Ilies. “The conform had been completed in Montreal, prior to my journey to the U.K., with the RED RAW files de-Bayered into DPX. Due to Baselight’s ability to work with native RAW footage and camera colour spaces, I could access the original files in real-time. This was a huge advantage as it meant I was not limited to working with just the DPX files.”
Ilies just finished grading the BBC television co-production Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, a seven-part adaptation of Susanna Clarke’s novel set in the Napoleonic Wars.
“Baselight to me is the best grading system in the market,” he said. “Not only does it perform well, it allows each colourist to personalise their system, so you always feel you have a logical, intuitive, creative way of working. The OpenEXR format read natively in Baselight has also considerably improved the workflow with VFX companies and helped unify both worlds.”
Ilies’ colleague, Anne Boyle, colorist and workflow specialist, joined Technicolor recently and was integral in the setup of the overall DI workflow and Baselight integration within the Montreal facility. “The support we receive from FilmLight goes above and beyond solving technical issues,” she commented. “It’s like having access to a huge variety of industry experts, always on hand to guide and advise.”
Boyle is currently working on season 2 of Helix, a U.S. sci-fi thriller TV show distributed by Sony Productions on SyFy and Showcase.
