Real-Life Communication
Telecine colorists generally work in a solitary environment. Their
domain is the single-person workstation that analyzes film and translates
it into a signal that can be manipulated and transferred to video.
But
they are also part of a team that brings productions to their completion --
directors, actors, sound engineers, video technicians and others rely on the
work of the telecine colorist and vice versa.
As a result, they have
to be able to communicate with people at all levels of the production. That
may include people who don't understand the technical side of your work.
"Your
people skills are crucial to this job," says telecine colorist Kathryn Plousos.
"You've got to be able to make the client comfortable with what's going on,
and make them feel in control while getting them to trust you with your suggestions."
You
are a colorist working on a major motion picture transfer. The technical producer
in charge of video transfer sends you the e-mail below. It contains lots of
industry jargon and professional shorthand. But he also asks you to send copies
of your reply to the executive producers.
You realize that those producers
may have no knowledge of video transfer technology, so you need to use language
everyone can understand. Using the definitions below, respond to the e-mail
in 200 words or less.
Original E-mail:
To: Jane
Smith, telecine colorist
Jane,
Just wanted to ask you to bring
members of the production up to speed on the transfer process. The first dailies
that we reviewed looked great. I think we were right to increase the red tone
in the flight sequence by a half IRE. I think it will make for a better transition
to DSS and other compression formats. I know we are hampered because we are
unable to work with a first gen master, but I think we're well on the way.
Have you encountered any chroma cancellation problems?
Thanks,
Bob
Douglas
Video Production Coordinator
Definitions:
Dailies:
video excerpts of the work in progress
Half IRE: A measurement of color
strength
DSS: digital satellite system
First gen master: First generation
master copy of the film
Chroma cancellation problems: when colors blend
together, as can happen as films are transferred to the more condensed video
format