Jason R Moffat - Colour Grading

Thinking about colour 24/7

Where it all started

It would be fair to say that I'm a little obsessed about colour, a long time prior to studying photography and design in Cape Town, South Africa, I 'made movies' using a torch and tinted clear film and projecting it on the wall for my own amusement, I'm not sure how long I did this for, probably to my parent's relief, until I got interested in music and girls.

After arriving in the UK in 1993 I spent several years involved in colour restoration of fine art scans from bad or damaged originals through to producing colour work on fashion and natural history images for books and magazines. This was punctuated by a period of working in Soho, London - compositing - as the digital age took hold on the moving image. This is where my beady eyes were opened to the opportunities of combining my love of working with colour and the moving image in the emerging world of Digital Intermediates and Digital Colour Grading, what could be a more perfect vocation? So here I am now, creating what I hope is visual harmony for the silver screen, and some smaller screens too.

It's a privilege to do what I do, I'm constantly aware how much work goes into producing visual art, every step of the way there is a team of creative people, filming, set-dressing, designing, directing, acting, editing, all gearing for that first screening where all the hard work comes together and they all feel it was worth it... No pressure then....

A final thought:
From the days of technicolor to the orange faces and black/blue hair in the modern blockbuster (check it out), it's all good... Great colour on screen is almost always planned and while the digital age has made this process easier, its no substitute for a good story and great photography. We often forget that some of the most celebrated films never touched the digital world, so it's easy to think of what happens in the studio, surrounded by monitors and control surfaces is where it all happens, well no, it all happens before it gets here, this is where you get excited about it again.

© 2019, Jason R Moffat
London, United Kingdom
Telephone: +44 7961 108 962 or +44 (0) 20 7978 7575  | E-mail: enquire@jasonrmoffat.com