After weeks of hard work, the color grading for Depleted: Day 419 is now complete. Normally, color grading is performed after final special effects have been laid in. However, with DP Nate Eckelbarger about to move to Austin, TX, we proceeded on to the color grading as soon as picture was locked. (Despite the relocation, we are happy to report that Eckelbarger is slated to return as the DP for the Depleted feature in 2011.)
As I really like to give my visual department the reins in the final look of the film and only get in the way if things are diverging from my overall vision, I was happy to let Nate’s keen eye take lead on this journey. (Interestingly, despite our access to a number of different plugins, we ended up using Magic Bullet Looks almost exclusively, as we continued to discover more and more ways to tweak our image in the most organic and believable way possible.) The final look is gritty, stylized, and tight, bringing up memories of films like The Terminator and The Thing. From here, we move hard into final audio, score composing, and effects!
