The market here is very competitive because in the last few years the pricing across the whole industry in Germany has been decreasing constantly. So every post house is fighting to get the jobs. Personally, I have friends in other post facilities and I also share knowledge and experience with other colourists. I would actually love to see more exchange and some community building. How about a Postproduction-Association for Germany?

I mostly work on feature films and TV series. I would split it 80% feature films, 15% TV content and 5% in restoration. Even if my daily business is focused on feature films, it is also fun to work on restoration from time to time. When working with old film material, I am really impressed with what you can get out of the footage, whatever the period.

Last year, I had the chance to work on the remastering of The Neverending Story. We did a completely new scan of the original negative film in 4K for a UHD-HDR remastering. It was a real pleasure to grade this beautiful 35mm film, shot by Jost Vacano.

One of the main challenges was to keep the original intention while transferring the film to the HDR colour space. I did a lot of testing with the material to find a way to keep the feeling of a 35mm film but at the same time pushing the film, so that it will work in HDR.

Another big challenge was the old VFX shots, because we only have dupes and not the original negative. The VFX shots in particular have to look very good to be able to immerse yourself in the world of Phantasia. To achieve this, many layers with keys, masks, tracking and effects were necessary, since the foreground and background sometimes behaved completely differently. The stacks were quite big in the timeline but it was not a problem to handle this in Baselight.

For this project it was not only about grading but also a lot of texture work. Therefore the Base Grade tool and the Texture Equaliser were really helpful. I worked in T-Log/E-Gamut and that was very helpful when creating the different deliveries.

Last December, a friend of mine, who is studying cinematography at the well-known Ludwigsburg Filmakademie, asked me if I could grade the short film ELLI. After I watched the rough cut I immediately answered yes. The film was shot with a Sony Venice and an Alexa Mini in 4K with Zeiss anamorphic lenses, but the delivered format was in 4:3. We tried to achieve a very cinematic, gritty look. Such an interesting concept and also really fun to grade!

Last year, I also graded the drama I was, I am, I will be from the Student Academy Award-nominee Ilker Catak. The film takes place in Turkey and Germany and is about the pilot Marion and her younger Turkish lover Baran. It was a very intense creative process and we tried a lot of things in the grading, especially with grain. In the end, we got a very filmic, natural look with original 35mm grain on it. For us the original grain felt more natural than the digital. The film won a Bronze Lola for Best Picture this year at the German Film Awards.

When I saw Chernobyl, I was really impressed with the look and texture of the pictures. The look perfectly conveyed the unpleasant atmosphere. In a positive way, it felt really uncomfortable while watching it.

Like I said before the Base Grade tool was really a game changer for me. I am so much faster with it and it feels so natural to use. I also really like Texture Highlight, Texture Equaliser and the Texture Blend mode.

But maybe it is the combination of the tools available that allow us, as colourists, to give each project its own character.

For most projects, we are involved from the very first camera test to the final DCP/Mastering.

A common workflow here at Cinepostproduction is that the rushes from set are sent directly overnight to our storage via our very fast fibre connection. From there we do an LTO backup and our dailies. colourist can start immediately the next morning with grading. So no one has to wait until the hard drives arrive from set, the files are copied and only then do you starting working. This connection to the lab is a very effective and secure method for the overall dailies workflow.

When finally the DoP and I get the chance to have a few hours to play around, we develop a LUT for on set and/or for our dailies workflow. So our dailies colourists are already in the right direction for the look. The dailies colourist is in contact with the DoP everyday while shooting. If my time allows, I make the dailies myself, but unfortunately this is not always possible. After the shooting is over, we will be involved again when the editing is complete; we do the conforming and then the final grading. We can offer all kind of deliveries in-house. At the moment we are experimenting with BLG workflows to explore the potential we see there.

When I’m not sitting in the dark all day, I love spending time with my wife and my three year old daughter. I’ve just become a father for the second time, so I’m now starting a new family, a new dynamic.

Four years ago, I was hooked by CrossFit and that is a good balance for me.

For the past year, I have been diving in Frithjof Bergmann's social and economic philosophy New Work, cloud-based communication tools and collaborative work. This is a very exciting field and I think it will change the way we work in the future.

Maybe it would have been easier for me if I had a senior colourist sitting at my side all the time when I started. So my advice would be to find a company with an experienced colourist, who is willing to share his or her knowledge. Also, be open-minded and have no fear to try new things.

For me as a colourist, it is important to constantly challenge myself and not to get stuck in my comfort zone. At the moment I’m not sure what’s next in the grading arena, but I’d be interested to see how AI could support the grading process.