Interesting question! Colour grading is a job that includes both a technical dimension and an artistic dimension that interact with each other. Every colourist places the cursor where he wants to but without technical knowledge, you limit your possible paths, and without instinct you don’t get very far. 
As far as I’m concerned, I would say that it is 50/50. Probably my background in mathematics has helped as I like it when there is logic in what I build, but it doesn’t prevent me from expressing my tastes. A good technical know-how allows you to propose more ideas in a given time, too.

I like it a lot. Working on different genres keeps you open-minded, and prevents you from maybe always doing the same things the same way...

Recently I worked on the commercial for the last Dior campaign, with Charlize Theron and directed by Jean-Baptiste Mondino. I also worked on the restoration of King of Hearts (1966), directed by Philippe De Broca. The latter is a feature film that is still little-known in France, but became a cult movie in the US in the 70’s. In addition I worked on the feature film Gauguin, directed by Edouard Deluc, with Vincent Cassel in the leading role. The film will be on screens in September 2017, and was mainly shot in Tahiti.

To answer your question, from a technical aspect, no. For the creative aspect, however, I try not to do an “anachronistic” grade! I don’t “modernize” the image, with masks that did not exist at that time in post-production.

That being said, there are exceptions: for example, during the restoration of La Vie De Chateau (1966) from Jean-Paul Rappeneau, we graded a sequence shot in day for night, using tracking and masks to enhance the aspect of a night shot. It was, in that case, the wish of Mr Rappeneau to use the tools available now to get a result that was impossible to obtain 50 years ago.

What I really appreciate with Baselight, is that you never get bad surprises: colour treatment is amazingly subtle, and allows you to create an assembly of layers very efficiently, that are either more or less complex. That’s what I try to do on every project: I like to determine an architecture of layers, that will on the one hand enable me to be creative, and on the other hand remain coherent all along the project. Baselight is the ultimate product for that. Then, within this structure, I can create and propose different looks: you can then keep ideas the client likes, and remove or modify others.

If I emphasised one function, I would also say I’m a big fan of the Curve Grade, its accuracy, and the way you can use it with the colour panel.

The initial grade is fundamental. I want to make this analogy - to me, colour grading is like modeling clay. I need first to “manipulate” the image that’s given to me: find a centre of gravity in the balance of colours; test its elasticity through density and contrast; look at how it reacts; and try to understand what I will be able to do with it and where can I take it to. All of this obviously depends of the specs of the given file, the camera and the chosen workflow. So there is definitely a period of ‘taming’ the image.

Baselight’s Film Grade is the perfect tool to explore these characteristics precisely, and then set a strong initial grade. The more your starting grade is clean, the more you will be able to try different looks, adding secondaries and matting, while keeping smoothness in the overall result. In that sense, I would say that the initial grade corresponds more to the technical aspect of colour grading, when secondaries and matting add the creative dimension.

As a colourist I had the chance to meet Pierre Lhomme, one of the greatest French DOPs, with whom we already graded seven films. His advice on how to handle light really helped me to blossom in my work. I could never thank him enough. Otherwise, back at home, I like to look at photography books. I recently bought Gordon Parks’ Segregation History. His work is amazing.

Gauguin traces the first Tahitian period of the artist’s life. It’s the second feature film I’ve graded with Pierre Cottereau, the DoP. Pure enjoyment!

We already worked together on the Baselight system. For this film we wanted to provide a real identity in the grade (shot on the ALEXA) from the dailies onwards. So we created our LUTs for on-set, knowing that 75% of the film would be recorded in ProRes. Night scenes were shot in ARRI RAW.

Baselight, particularly working on blending parameters, allowed us to create variations of LUTs, meeting technical but also strong aesthetic criteria. For example, for night scenes that were lit by candles, we wanted to show a pleasant golden look but Roger Deakins trying to achieve that with the ALEXA was not the easiest thing. This very thorough preparation gave us a nice-looking offline, but above all, serenity in the final grade.

On the human side, I would say be patient, because the know-how is acquired over time. Stay humble because you keep on learning, and because the colourist should be more an artisan, when the DoP is the real artist. Anyway this is how I see it.
 Also be calm, because spending hours and hours in the dark remains something special!

Lastly, on the technical side, train again and again, and first try to do something just with RGB!

To complete a two-week project with my right hand in a cast (I’m right-handed). It was an experience.

More seriously, every project is a challenge in itself, because at the end the client should be happy and nothing is guaranteed beforehand. There are sessions that are easier than others, but I always have the same determination, which helps me in not being stressed too much.

First of all, I go back home on my bike. It seems silly to say, but I really appreciate that moment to help me de-stress. Then I enjoy spending time with my kids, playing tennis at least once a week, or looking for the next music album I’m going to buy; oh and I forgot... heading out from Paris!

I’m going to continue to work on different genres - and I look forward to playing with Baselight’s next release!