American Tintype: Coloring at EFilm

While I was mixing American Tintype at Skywalker Sound, I was also on the search for a good colorist. I decided to call up EFilm, a place I only knew about because Roger Deakins, one of my all time favorite cinematographers, uses them for the color grading of all of his films.

For a small project like American Tintype, approaching post-production houses that normally deal with large Hollywood films isn't always easy. EFilm, however, was an absolute joy to deal with. I looked at EFilm's roster and was interested in a colorist named Andrew Francis. Andrew was an assistant colorist on some of my favorite recent films, and recently made the transition to lead colorist, having just colored the brilliant sci-fi film LOOPER. I called them up and had a great meeting with Andrew's producer Mike Dillon a few days later. 
Working with Andrew on the film was an absolute joy. He's an immense talent, a great collaborator, and just a wonderful guy to hang out with. As I'd experienced before with this project, Andrew was committed to getting things done right, not just done quickly. With Andrew's keen eye and talent, we were able to really bring a great look to the film. I was self-conscious about being a cinematographer on the project by necessity, but Andrew really made the images shine. 

Still image from American Tintype before color grading.

Still image from American Tintype after color grading.

Harry's interview before color grading.
Harry's interview after color grading.

I can't say enough about the people at EFilm. Everyone was incredibly friendly. I loved hanging out in the kitchen with the two lovely Cynthias, who help make delicious snacks for everyone, and mingling with the other folks who work there.

You are guaranteed to leave EFilm with a great looking film and about five extra pounds.

We ended up running into some delays and tech issues (most of which were my fault), and the producers' commitment to the project never waivered. They always had a can-do attitude, which I really appreciated. This isn't always the case with such small projects.

Mike Dillon (now at Technicolor) sorting out technical details.

I'm honored to have been able to work with everyone at EFilm, and can't wait to return again, if only for the snacks!Thanks again to Andrew Francis, Mike Dillon, Brandie Konopasek, and Chris Taft.

-M