We have our first correction here at Movies In Color and it came as a very pleasant surprise. Jean-Louis Bompoint (cinematographer for The Science of Sleep, New York I Love You, Grace is Gone, and The Thorn In The Heart among others) was kind enough to email and point me in the right direction concerning color and grading on The Science of Sleep. He provided me with the correct still and color chart, and I’ve used it to replace the old one. I also wanted to post some of the insights he shared with me about the film as well as color grading in general. An excerpt from his email is below.
Concerning the shooting of The Science of Sleep, you have to know this…
On this film, I was the first DoP in the world to have used 35mm - FUJI-500 ETERNA film stock for the first time.
Film lab was ECLAIR and my color grader was Khadija Fatmi. When I met Khadija for the first time I said to her:
1) Telecine Operators/Color Gaders will not have to judge by themselves how to grade the picture from the original 35mm negative film to video/digital file.
2) They MUST only follow every color chart which will be shot at the beginning of each scene.
3) Following this methodology, 2 rules must be followed by Telecine Operators/Color Graders to obtain a correct color grading:
Obtain the most perfect BLACK color from the color chart.
Obtain the most perfect WHITE color from the color chart.
Adjust the CONTRAST until obtaining pure BLACK & WHITE from the color chart.
4) By this method, all the other colors of the spectrum will follow naturally by themselves and we only need to do a “one light" positive Telecine with a perfect color grading.
5) Every color chart of every chosen scene for the final cut must be kept in memory by the Telecine Operator for a last adjustment on the final grading with the Film Director & the Director of Photography.
NOTE: If these technical requests are not respected, the photographic style of the film will be destroyed and injured. Added color and grading corrections must only be requested and confirmed by the Film Director and the Director of Photography.
Khadija Fatmi has followed my instructions and did very good work on my pictures. I continue to thank her for her wonderful collaboration with me. She is the best color grader in the world!
I consider the new “Y” color grader’s generation as dangerous. Trusting only curves and other gadgets and less the original picture well-exposed & lighted by a director of photography. You have to know I never have quite any color grading on all the pictures I have shot during my 30 years’ experience as DoP.
Some very detailed and great insight on an amazing film! I really appreciate the attention to detail as well as the effort to capture a well-exposed and well-lit image. Especially with such original production design, both the production designer and DoP have to work together to accurately place you in the world of the film.
A huge thank you to Jean-Louis Bompoint for writing in and sharing his process!