By An Tran, June 9, 2004
For Colorist Steve Scott, whose list of credits includes The Lady Killers and the upcoming Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow, working on Van Helsing wasn't just another day at work. Scott was excited about the collaboration with Oscar-nominated cinematographer Allen Daviau, ASC, on the horror film directed by Stephen Sommers. To create Van Helsing's look, the filmmakers used EFILM Hollywood's digital intermediate (DI) process. At Scott's fingertips were tools he has come to rely on: EFILM's proprietary standalone color correction software, an Imagica scanner, a Barco DLP Mark 7 1K projector and an Arrilaser film recorder.
The colorist began the project by referencing early tests and discussing with the cinematographer what type of imagery Daviau expected from the DI process. "Allen referenced particular movies, like Bride of Frankenstein, which was primarily for the black-and-white footage," says Scott
. "I wrapped my head around where Allen was coming from philosophically and visually."
For a scene in which Van Helsing confronts Count Dracula during a masquerade ball, Scott tweaked the colors to give the sequence a more vivid appearance than the many dark, moody scenes in the film. "It was such a grand-looking sequence that we wanted a Technicolor feel. We gave an overall color correction and isolated the reds, greens and blues. We had a wash of warmth but kept those colors very true. We found we could create a Technicolor vision without sacrificing other colors," he notes.
Even with the capabilities DI allows, Scott does not recommend cutting corners while filming. "Ideally, you want to shoot what you want, and when you go to DI, it's like putting the icing on the cake," he says. "That's when you get the best results. You don't want to be in the position of 'rescuing' your work."
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