Poll: Where to sit in the DI theater?

[Guest tylerhawes]

We're finishing off a new DI suite for our new Sunset Blvd. location and a debate has come up about how to arrange the seating.

 

Most telecine suites have the colorist sit in the front with the producer/director/DP behind him on a raised platform, seperated by a narrow producer's desk.

 

Most DI suites, on the other hand, have the producer/director/DP sitting out front theater-style with the colorist sitting behind them at a desk on a raised platform.

 

We have our own opinions and reasons for how we might want to do it, but I am interested in what you all think.

 

So, if you don't mind, would you rather:

 

A) sit out front/middle of theater, nothing but the image on the projection screen in front of you, but be able to talk over your shoulder to the colorist with line-of-sight communication.

 

B) Sit back in the room, the colorist out front where you can make bunny ears behind him and see what he's doing on his interface, etc.

 

If you care to explain why you prefer one or the other, that is helpful too...

[Walter Graff]

B

 

I can talk to him and not to the screen.

[Dan Goulder]

Hey Tyler,

I definitely prefer to sit in the back (whether in a suite or a theater). As long as you're comfortable with having the client behind you, I think that arrangement would be preferred by most clients. Good luck with the new suite. (I hope to check it out in the near future.)

[Doug Okamoto]

B. Sit in the back.

 

That way I can hit the colorist in the back of the head when he falls asleep! :lol: :lol: :lol:

 

Seriously, interaction with the colorist would be easier sitting behind him. Unless you could create a way to communicate easily...

 

Because having that big screen in front of you with nothing in the way is very nice...

 

 

Hey for sitting in front, maybe a tube system like what they used to have on the old big ships for the captain to communicate with the engine room. Of course is the room going to be that noisy that the Director couldn't just talk?

 

Hope things are going well!

[John Brawley]

So, if you don't mind, would you rather:

 

A) sit out front/middle of theater, nothing but the image on the projection screen in front of you, but be able to talk over your shoulder to the colorist with line-of-sight communication.

 

B) Sit back in the room, the colorist out front where you can make bunny ears behind him and see what he's doing on his interface, etc.

 

If you care to explain why you prefer one or the other, that is helpful too...

 

 

I prefer to sit next to the colourist most of the time. Usually because you can have a more direct conversation, and I like to watch over their shoulders to see what it is that they are changing as we go through the grade. Not in an untrusting way, but just for my own interest.

 

I like this way of working because you can usually have more discrete conversations with the colourists about issues, without having to involve others. I find it more collaborative rather than dictatorially shouting over your shoulder to make stuff happen.

 

I prefer a team effort, and sitting next to the colourist is the way to go.

 

I do however, often get up and go for a walk, so im not always cemented in that one position. I usually like to check things this way because there is often a contamination of what you are watching on the big screen by all the computer screens of the colourist.

 

I find it useful to leave the console and just walk around to look at the image by itself when you're about to sign off on a look / scene.

 

But it it really depends on the deliverables, be they TV or cinema.

 

jb

[Michael Nash]

I've never done a DI for a print, but in telecine I prefer to sit right next to the colorist and see the same image, at the same distance, and be able to talk to him comfortably. I know most suites are set up for the client to sit back and up, but the first thing I do is pull up a chair beside the colorist (I always ask if that's okay and doesn't make him uncomfortable). I just prefer to roll up my sleeves and get down into it, rather than shouting commands from a throne. That's just me.

[Jonathan Bowerbank]

B

 

Because those guys work so fast and are so nimble at the controls, if I sat beside them I'd probably get in their way. At least if I'm behind him we're both looking at the screen and I'm not having to turn around to tell him what adjustments to make. They're usually so involved in the controls, that they're comfortable with someone peeking over their shoulder as they work.

[Guest tylerhawes]

To those who said "sit next to the colorist", I know, that is what I like too. But forget that, because either way we setup, there will be extra computer chairs next to us colorists that you can drop into and be at our side. However, we still have to pick whether to put ourselves above/behind, or below/in front of the client... so pick a side! :)

[John Brawley]

To those who said "sit next to the colorist", I know, that is what I like too. But forget that, because either way we setup, there will be extra computer chairs next to us colorists that you can drop into and be at our side. However, we still have to pick whether to put ourselves above/behind, or below/in front of the client... so pick a side! :)

 

 

If it's being projected, then behind.

 

jb

[Satsuki Murashige]

+1 for behind. Although I also prefer to sit next to the colorist. :)