Major Production - Contacting Colour Graders - Matthew Troughton

I contacted several colourist's, with the mindset that I won't hear back from all of whom I opened communication with, but I was fortunate to receive some dialogue back from Matthew Troughton. In contrast to my research & questions to the cinematographers I reached out to, I decided to change the questions to cater to each colour grader, as some of them had worked on some really visually interesting projects, so it just made sense to do it like this. 

Matthew Troughton

Head of Picture Post and Senior Colourist, Creativity Media, London

Matthew Troughton joined London post-house Creativity Media two years ago. He has shaped the look of a wide range of award-winning films including I Am Not A Witch, which won the 2018 BAFTA Award for Outstanding Debut by a British Writer, Director or Producer.

ANALYSIS OF THEIR WORK - 

I decided to look to watch and critically ayanslis from a colour grade perspective the film that Matthew worked on, I Am Not A Witch. It is a film that explores witchcraft and tourism in the modern Zambia. I've selected some frames to try and pick apart, in terms of the colour grade and talk about how the colour within them is supporting the story's overriding tone, amplifying it if you would. 

This close up shot, used to bring out the emotion of the character and lock the audience into the reading of her face, has a very washed out look in terms of the colour grade. the colours are slightly filtered out and there is one overriding tone brought to the surface. It's like its trying to emulate another period of time, or it's suggestive that even though we're in the modern in Zambia, we still see that the country is very traditional and for that purpose the colour tone is quite dull, washed out and gives a feeling of a vintage feel to it. 

The next shot here is once again using that same colour palette, with the greys, light blues, teals, hazelnut green, basically a lot of desaturated colours within this. I believe this is the desired colour aesthetic because it reinforces what the narrative is all about. It gives a sense of the what is going on in the narrative, that this particular group of people are very traditional and have their own ways, but also that it's a film about power and liberation. So the limitation of colours within this piece is also quite thought provoking as it is a clear indication to the fact that the focus isn't on the surroundings but within the psychological states of the people. 

Once again we have a close up similar to before using the exact same colour pallete, obviously the consistency is to add to the authenticity of the piece, and by sticking to one set palette it allows the audience to be sucked into this world that they're watching. It's a very good technique and one that I will be applying to my own piece once I begin the colour grade. Also with the desatured colour scheme that it presents, it's used to bring to life the harshness of the landscape that the characters are within. It has almost a documentary feel to it as the colour palette is so realistic but then also not as to create the period/traditional feel to it by using the desaturation technique. Overall I believe the colour scheme throughout this film has heightened the themes tackled within this film and therefore will enhance the viewers experience. It accentuates the narrative by adding an extra layer to the characters and their surroundings within the film by linking the films narrative cores with the colour grade by it's suggestive colour scheme. It ultimately gives off the traditional, washed out greys, blues and browns, linking it back to the narratives tone. 

Q1. HOW DID YOU GET INTO COLOUR GRADING?

I started out just as DI and digital grading was becoming a thing. At the time, I found that the people who knew how to wrangle the (often less than reliable) technical side of the machines also got the chance to get in and develop their creative side. I knew how to manipulate the buttons and cables, so I got to stand on the launch pad a lot quicker than I think I would today. That mix of creative and technical still hits the spot for me now, and means I never get bored.

Q2. DO YOU PREFER GRADING ON YOUR OWN OR WITH A DOP OR DIRECTOR? 

The whole process is a hugely collaborative thing and the route to the best result is always to be spring boarding ideas – fighting it out if necessary! Everyone wants to watch the final film, be it on a cinema screen or an iPhone, and know they did the best they could. We always try to be involved from before the shoot – so working with DoPs, especially with references, style-finding grades and LUTs created for on-set are all a big part of it.

It’s also critical, however, for the team to be able to have a perspective – to leave the suite and come back fresh – so I think it’s always important to not slavishly have anyone stuck in the suite. Normally we will have a patch of time where I flesh out some reels and then we review, which I find can help a lot of people get where they want to go quicker. It’s easy to get snow blinded quickly. I always take peoples’ first reaction as vital on reviews as well. Too many times you can go back to a shot that jolted someone and have them say, “oh, maybe I was imagining it” when they see the clip repeated 20 times upon investigation. But it’s all about the run - if it felt odd having watched the previous five minutes it will be there the next time you see it.

Q3. YOU'VE WORKED ON A FILM COMMISSIONED BY NETFLIX CALLED MERCURY 13. WHAT WAS THE PIPELINE LIKE ON THIS PROJECT? HOW WAS THE OVERALL EXPERIENCE? 

Netflix has some very forward-looking and rigorous requirements across the board, from acquisition formats and colour management all the way to final delivery, and it’s great to see such value and confidence placed on the content they make. We worked natively at 4K in Baselight with all the input formats, which ranged from Sony and RED cinema cameras all the way down to restored Umatic archive and stills scans. With a documentary film holding such an eclectic mix of media it was great to be able to engage with Netflix in such a dynamic way, as their team was able to find a path that got the best results but still came in on budget.


Q4. IF YOU WERE NOT A COLOUR GRADER, WHAT WOULD YOU LIKE TO BE? 

Maybe be born a couple of decades later and get some of that Mars mission action.

WAS IS THIS USEFUL AND HOW IT WILL BE APPLIED TO MY WORK

I found this conversation and analysis work of his extremely useful and I will most definitely be applying this to my own work in some degree. I like how the colour palette was very indicative of how the modern day Zambia is still using traditional practices, that you'd associate with the past, but the colour scheme is significant in showing this. Not that i'm thinking to use a desaturated colour palette but it's illustrative on how powerful colour can be and how powerful it is in film and TV, so I need to think carefully about how I approach my own colour grade as I'll want to heighten the tone of our piece through the colour grade by making it a surreal yet authentic colour scheme which'll have to balance narratives overriding theme of the surreal.