This book took a huge amount of effort and contribution by people other than the author. First, I must acknowledge the persistence, gentle guidance, and eagle eye of my original editor, Dorothy Cox, as well as the rest of the staff at Focal Press, especially Carlin Reagan, Melinda Rankin, Dennis McGonagle, and Paul Temme, who worked to make this a great looking and accurate read. And thanks also to my knowledgeable, meticulous, and enthusiastic tech editor, Jeff Greenberg, for keeping me honest and for keeping you, the reader, in mind at all times.
I must thank Bob Sliga, who started me down this road of color correction knowledge and who helped me with many elements of the book. I also owe a deep debt of gratitude to the rest of the colorists who contributed greatly by allowing me to interview them and watch them in sessions: Pankaj Bajpal, Greg Creaser, Terry Curren, Janet Falcon, Bob Festa, Larry Field, Pete Jannotta, Neal Kassner, Craig Leffel, Robert Lovejoy, Mike Most, Mike Matusek, Chris Pepperman, and Stefan Sonnenfeld. It is from their wisdom, experience, and skill that the reader of this book truly learns something valuable. And thanks to all of the employers of these colorists for allowing me free access to these busy and talented employees. Also, for providing an insightful interview on the viewpoint of the director of photography, thanks to David Mullen, ASC (American Society of Cinematographers).
Thanks to the many manufacturers and their representatives who provided invaluable assistance with their products: Roland Wood, of Silicon Color, for enabling many of the sessions with colorists around the country. Also from Tektronix, Steve Holmes, Leigh Havelick, and others for their support and knowledge in the field of monitoring. Thanks to Martin Euredjian for his use of his HD monitoring system, eCinema Display. And to the DR Group in Los Angeles for their support while doing the sessions in Los Angeles. Also Grady Sellers of Eastern Group for his help. Thanks to John Ladle and AJA for their gear and support, as well. To Avid for their Avid Artist’s series Color Panel and to Black Magic Design for the DaVinci Resolve software and hardware. Also to Tangent Devices for the loan of a CP100 system and later for the Tangent WAVE. And to noted guru Gary Adcock, for helping with HD enlightenment and for the use of his Panasonic HVX-200. Also thanks to the folks at DSC Labs for their fantastic camera charts and to Eastman Kodak Company and the assistance of Carolyn A. Delvecchio for providing several film examples provided in the book.
There are many great examples of beautiful footage provided within these pages and on the DVD that were donated from several talented individuals and companies. Thanks to Artbeats and Julie Hill for providing several of their fantastic HD images for use by the readers and the colorists. All of the colorists were impressed by the quality of the color correction of the shots from their stock library. To three good friends, and fantastic cameramen, who are confident enough in their considerable shooting skills to let me use their footage for use in the tutorials: Rich Lerner, Randy Riesen, and Charles Vanderpool. Trying to find anything that needed “correcting” from the stuff they shoot is a difficult task.
Also, thanks to Barry Gilbert of Seduced and Exploited Films and his DP, Robin Miller, for the use of footage from his trailer for Kiss Me in the Dark. And through the kind assistance of Kyle Jackson and the folks at Tunnel Post for arranging permission to use the Chasing Ghosts footage. Also, thanks to the director and DP of Chasing Ghosts for the footage from their film.
To my family: my grandmother, Florence, for putting me up and keeping me company during my Philly/NJ/NYC sessions. And to my parents, Bill and Sue, who have always encouraged my writing, film making, and other creative pursuits, and taught me that you can do anything if you take it one step—or one page—or one turn of a bicycle wheel at a time. And of course, to my children, Haley and Quinn, who gave up their dad for the good part of a year and to my understanding wife, Jody, who has always been the quarterback of the family and had to take on far more than her share of the parenting as I wrote this book. I love you.