Spring Studios, one of Europe’s premiere photographic studios, has purchased a Baselight colour grading system from FilmLight as part of its ongoing diversification into motion imagery.
Located in Kentish Town, Spring Studios is a Mecca for fashion shoots, providing stages, casting facilities and related photographic services for such brands as Giorgio Armani, Benetton, Chanel and Vogue. Recently, as many of the top photographers who use its studios have segued into motion imagery, Spring has supported them by adding such services as digital camera rentals, DIT technicians and editorial. The studios’ new Baselight extends that support to high-end color grading.
“There has been a growing trend toward multi-platform advertising, particularly in the fashion industry, and as a result many top photographers have begun to work in motion. Many of them have asked us to support them by facilitating everything from the shoot to the final grade,” explained Tonia Arapovic, director of Spring Studios’ Spring Fashion Film and Spring Capture units. “Spring is a brand that they trust.”
Grading is particularly important in fashion advertising, where every detail of the recorded image has to be perfect. “We’ve developed an international reputation for excellence in retouching print photography through our division Henhouse, and Baselight can take us to that same place in motion imagery,” Arapovic said. “It allows us to apply the same sensibilities and aesthetic values to motion as we do to print.”
Spring Studio has already used Baselight to grade a number of high profile projects, including the New York Times’ “Fourteen Actors Acting” video gallery where noted Norwegian fashion photographer Solve Sunsbo recorded improvised performances by James Franco, Natalie Portman, Matt Damon and other contemporary stars. Spring also graded a commercial for Armani and Reebok that was featured on the world’s largest billboard in Red Square, Moscow.
Spring Studio reviewed a number of grading solutions and made its choice based on creative flexibility and image quality. “For me, coming from a stills background, it was about how the tool reacted to the raw files,” observed Arapovic. “There is a delicacy to the way Baselight manipulates colour. I sat at other systems, but when I sat in front of the Baselight, I knew it was the tool for us.”
