Alexandros Angelopoulos Apostolos

I asked above: isn't he the man in the white suit? :) Is this Woody's first film shot digitally?

:lol: Is this light producing a fake sunset effect? http://www.comingsoon.net/movies/news/474971-kristen-stewart-photos-from-the-set-of-the-new-woody-allen-film#/slide/19

Is the man in the white suite Vittorio? It seems so. http://www.woodyallenpages.com/2015/08/bruce-willis-leaves-woody-allens-2016-film/

Have you read that Vittorio Storaro is the next cinematographer to work with Woody Allen? One Web site says "reportedly": http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/legendary-cinematographer-vittorio-storaro-reportedly-lensing-woody-allens-2016-film-will-be-set-in-1930s-20150807 the other one seems sure that it is the case: http://www.woodyallenpages.com/2015/07/legendary-cinematographer-vittorio-storaro-joins-woody-allens-2016-film/ As always with Woody Allen's films, and many others, little is known about the film. It seems it will be set in the 1930s.

:) Thank you, Satsuki. Key discovery is lens diffusion for me. I saw that there was some fair amount of blur, but didn't know what it was. Strange that it's used for a news programme. Sounds like something I would say or mandate. I'm actually quite surprised that women look best with a chin shadow. :blink: I actually hate that. But while we're at it, I might as well use this opportunity to ask: why is it that so many people prefer actors and models to be backlit? Why is that of higher artistic value than frontal light?

I now see these images above don't exactly do the phenomenon justice. Don't you just love it? The glow around Claire Chazal is magnificent. Here are a few recent screen captures:

In on of the interviews, Robert Richardson was asked about "luminous golden color" in many scenes. He replied this way: What was the purpose of the look-up table? And what does he mean with that line about adding colours and if it was going to be white or warmer than white? What did that refer to?

These films indeed had a very nice budget: $17 million each. I wish I could decipher what scene is it that they're shooting in that photo. That would explain a lot. I'm intrigued about what those big lights are doing in a daytime scene. I have another question. This is what Darius Khondji said in one of his interviews: I know of a few meanings of the phrase "big guns", but what does he mean here?

I see. Thank you very much.

What do you think it might have been used for here?

Satsuki, you cannot believe how grateful I am for your post. I just love it. It is precise, with just enough detail, and to the point. You told me exactly what I needed to know about three things I have been asking about since the beginning: the inherent looks of the films used and the colour scheme. Of course, I am thankful to David and Mark as well. I don't think this is right. Somehow, I keep going in circles for reasons unknown to me, but I don't think it is my fault. I wasn't asking about that much detail as I think you're implying. I was just looking for some pointers about what David thinks might have been added to the shadows, for example. I guess I've made a mistake in believeing that a cinematographer's / DP's education includes certain amount of colour-correction training. I knew the bit about the DP sitting behind the colourist. I even think that both Darius Khondji and Woody Allen spoke about working with the colourist of both films. Also, somehow, it flew past you that we are now well beyond colour correction and that I have now shifted the discussion to lighting with my question about the specific lights used on the set I don't think were mentioned in an interview with Darius. Where did you see me ask the same thing again? I asked about the films and the colour scheme three times, but that is because it wasn't answered and because that is something a cinematographer knows, and it was important to me to see how much of an effect the films might have had on the looks. As I suspected, pretty much nothing dramatic. Though, I should say that I think there is some lovely graininess to be seen when watching Midnight in Paris on Blu-ray. Have in mind that I was also under the mistaken belief that colourists – and not only cinematographers / DPs might visit a subforum dedicated to colour grading, which is why I ask this here. There is probably also the thing that I think these two films look like no other whereas the two of you don't think so and aren't at all that impressed. Now I was thinking about asking again about that light seen in that MovieStillsDB photo, and I was going to post a scene where it was used, but I'm afraid I might annoy you too much. Or I could again ask you about the shot on the bench, but then, you not replying already might mean that I shouldn't ask you again. I was just surprised how huge that bounce panel (or what I think is a bounce panel) might be. Or the blob of orange light? No one is asking you to know exactly, but some thoughts about it are more than welcome. This I knew. This, surprisingly, I kind of didn't delve into too much so I didn't know. With this topic, I have basically started my quest to become cinematographically literate, and I would have a few things to ask you about some of the techniques you mentioned above and that were used in the films.

Could you explain where what is in this case? Is the light between the subject and the wall or is the wall on one side of the subject?

David will probably get mad at me again for asking this for the third time, but I just have to. I would like to know two things. First, how would you two describe the colour scheme of Midnight in Paris? Second, what are the properties of the film used (Kodak Vision3 200T 5213, 500T 5219) and how did it affect colour, if at all? Let’s get that straightened out first. Yes. A lot of that was done here. I talked about what Darius Khondji called “cloud balloons” (I called them “cloud mattresses” above; there is a picture of them somewhere online, but now I can’t find it), made by a firm from Milan, that was used for certain outdoor scenes in Rome. For example, this one: There was also a lot of backlit shots. Some I liked: Some I didn’t (I found the subjects too dark and the sky overexposed, which was to be expected and probably an intentional thing): I much preferred the direct-sunlight shot at this location (check the Movie Tourist blog). I really must learn to love backlit photography more. It sometimes seems as if nothing else is even to be considered. I think that David and I are probably misunderstanding each other is that I wanted him to describe the approach to colours in both films as something else other than “warm” and that I wanted him to tell me what he thinks might have been done in the various options, tweaks, and settings in a colour-correction program. By that I mean stuff like expecting him to say that maybe they added red to shadows or changed the tone curves in a certain way and things like that. Obviously, without ultimate precision, because, as he himself say, there are various ways to achieve it. I was just interested in the possible thought process involved, approach, and what they ultimately wanted from these colours. Another thing is that, it seems to me, David isn’t really thrilled with the way these two films look while, on the other hand, I’m almost extatic. I also wanted to know if you can colour sunlight. Many of these scenes seem to have been shot in white sunlight, but they ended up as if being lit by a red star. That brings me to the following point: Of course, when I asked about shooting in awful light and not worrying about it because colour-correction will solve everything, that was a hyperbole. I am glad that David mentioned that rule about “garbage in, garbage out”, which is valid not only here but in so many other endeavours as well, something the two of you also know. Darius Khondji talked in one of his interviews about a lot of things that you mentioned above. However, I don’t think he mentioned this light source http://www.moviestillsdb.com/movies/midnight-in-paris-i1605783/7687ac01 Is that some kind of LED panel? Darius did mention Kino Flos, however, and this panel looks sort of similar to them. I can post a screenshot of that scene if you want. The shadows are in the opposite direction of the one expected from the placement of that light source there. Here is how that scene with Carla Bruni and Owen Wilson ended up looking: He also said nothing, I think, about these lights: http://www.afcinema.com/IMG/arton7908.jpg What are they? What I also have as an impression, and it might probably be wrong, is that I know that while filming they wanted to eliminate this and that and achieve this or that, but that ultimately they didn’t know with certainty that the films looking the way they did. It was, ultimately, a process of exploration, and a very successful one. You can do a lot of preparation to meet certain preconditions in order to get as close as possible to what you want to achieve. Another very important thing: Take a look at two screenshots on Movie Tourist blog – first, the Sabatini café one, with Leopoldo and his lady friend, and the one in Via Vittorio Veneteo, with Leopoldo and his wife. There are also a few other scene with the similar phenomenon I will try to describe. It is as if there are there irregular blobs of light over the frame floating around. Take a look at that orange-ish patch around the middle of the frame or the orange-ish reflection on the street and the building across the street in Via Vittorio Veneto. It looks like some sort of reflection or something like that. I wonder if that was intentional.

I was thinking about what you said previously today, and I think that what I find most astonishing and what I would like to know is how they managed to turn such unflattering light into what one sees in the films? Does that mean that you can shoot in whatever conditions you wish and with simple colour-correction trickery you can turn it into whatever you like to turn it into? Why are then those attitudes about golden hour so unflinching? I bumped onto this photo of the behind-the-scenes state of affairs on Midnight in Paris: http://www.zimbio.com/pictures/VNng8xUcPW_/Carla+Bruni+Set+Midnight+Paris+2/Q2_1yGTgagJ/Woody+Allen and I was wondering if you could tell me why is it that they felt the need to put that huge source of light there (does it have a precise name), together with that diffusing panel and the huge bounce one? What does it achieve there? If one looks at the scene in the film, you can see that the side of the faces nearer to the bounce panel seem to have more shadows. This was the colourist for both films: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0310695/?ref_=fn_al_nm_1

Oh, I’ve made you angry, haven’t I? I don’t want this to sound blunt and confrontational, because it isn’t intended to, but let us remind ourselves that you talked about production design in a subforum dedicated to colour correction in a topic about the specifics of colour correction of two films. I asked twice about the film. You haven’t replied. You’ve now listed the features of a colour-correction program. I ask to tell me the specifics. Have in mind that I am not only talking to you, but that I think that perhaps some other people, too, will chime in. When someone want to create all these very popular pastel images, one can type it into Google, for example, and get a full tutorial on how to do it. This isn’t something I was going for on in here, but I was, to use one of the things you listed, expecting you to say: Look at this parameter and try to change it this way. Or something like that. All you listed is very general and unspecific. However, I am very thankful to you. Mark, here is something for you: quite by accident, looking for something else entirely, look at what I bumped onto! http://www.zimbio.com/pictures/guq4I2AYmbv/Allison+Pill+Flavio+Parenti+Judy+Davis+perform/kD9bO7SsA51/Flavio+Parenti http://www.zimbio.com/photos/Flavio+Parenti/Allison+Pill+Flavio+Parenti+Judy+Davis+perform/PGKxxAQRyQJ http://www.caughtonset.com/flavio-parenti-sexy/?full=true http://www.dromemagazine.com/woody-allen-to-rome-with-love/ http://www.zimbio.com/photos/Flavio+Parenti/Allison+Pill+Flavio+Parenti+Judy+Davis+perform/8TsFHqeO5x2 http://www.zimbio.com/photos/Woody+Allen/Flavio+Parenti/Allison+Pill+Flavio+Parenti+Judy+Davis+perform/0s5BsUZugoD http://www.zimbio.com/photos/Flavio+Parenti/Allison+Pill+Flavio+Parenti+Judy+Davis+perform/Nd7eHONH8JA http://www.moviestillsdb.com/movies/to-rome-with-love-i1859650/d807f417 Take a look at that last one. There you go. I know the colours of Italy, but those are not these colours in the film. And the geography is simple. If you look at that scene, the buildings you see from your left to your right are the ones I listed, in that order.

Has anyone here watched French TV news bulletins? No matter which channel you pick, TF1, France2, or any of the news channels, such as BFM TV or i>Télé, they all beautifully light the newsreaders and guests in the studio so that the skin looks great. I’ve never really seen any other TV channels anywhere else do it that way. (Perhaps in Belgium, but I’m not sure.) I was wondering if anyone could tell me how do they do it?

As I said previously, that's exactly it! Colour correction! This is what I was hoping to find out: how they did what they did. And, obviously, I didn’t expect to find exactly how Allen’s team did it, but to find out about some possible pointers, tricks, and streams of thought as to how they achieved it. I have to point out – and I hope that Mark reads this, too – the links I’ve told you about aren’t tourist shots. At least, not all of them are. I specifically listed the Web sites that contained the images shot by a photographer on set. Take a look at the image of Woody Allen directing Alison Pill and Flavio Parenti in front of the Fontana di Trevi on The Cinescapader’s Web site. Or all of the images on MovieStillsDB.com. When I mentioned white balance, I meant correcting it in colour-correction software. That surely can be done? I was expecting someone to say that. How would you achieve it? Sure, if you check where the Capitoline Hill stands and how it is positioned, it is clear from the scene that the Sun was in the West. However, take a look at how orange the Santa Maria in Aracoeli, Palazzo Nuovo, Palazzo Senatorio, and Palazzo dei Conservatori are. It helps that the façades are orange, such as those of the Capitoline Hill palazzi, or brown, such as the one of Santa Maria in Aracoeli. Even the shadows and the pilasters of the palazzi are orange. How did they manage to that, for example, and not ruin the sky and the foliage? There is another scene, the one where Milly (Alessandra Mastronardi) gets lost in Piazza del Popolo, with the famous 360° shot, and there if you compare the photos from the film’s photographer, you will see how harsh the light is, even though, again, the Sun is setting. Or the scene in Villa dei Quintili. How do you make non-magic-hour light orange? What about Paris? How does one achieve that yellowish cast? And to ask again, how did the Kodak film used affect the colours, if it did at all?

Yes, that is precisely what I meant. I want to know how they might have corrected the colours. How might they have warmed the images? Did they change white balance? Did they fiddle with the red channel? What did they do to the shadows? Take a look at this image of Rome's Capitol: https://filmsatmidnight.wordpress.com/2013/01/18/the-cinematography-of-darius-khondji/

Yes, another thing I keep forgetting about: How much of an effect did the film the two films were shot on have? Somehow the message board shortened my title, but it doesn’t matter.

Thank you, David. Yes, Woody Allen talked in one of his interviews how he likes to dress his characters in autumnal colours – brown, beige, gold – and how he has a great tolerance for red. He joked that his character's skin makes it all look like a Matisse painting. Obviously, there is a lot of shade and diffused light (achieved with special “cloud mattresses” in Rome), a preference of both Woody Allen and Darius Khondji. However, if I compare the photos of the behind the scenes of the films, for example the ones in The Cinescapader blog post or MovieStillsDB.com, the light is very harsh and white and not at all as beautiful as in the film. He somehow made it red for the Rome film and there is a sort of yellowish glow over his Paris imagery. Here is the opening montage of the Midnight in Paris (available in HD):

Hello! I was wondering if any of you could tell me how do you think the colours of Woody Allen’s films Midnight in Paris and To Rome with Love were achieved in postproduction? How would you define the look and the colours? I'm particularly interested in what you think was tweaked, if there is anything that you recognize that might have been fiddled with right away. Here are some Web pages with screenshots from the films: http://www.thecinetourist.net/an-american-tourist-in-paris.html http://thecinescapader.blogspot.com/2014/11/visiting-filming-locations-of-to-rome.html http://movie-tourist.blogspot.co.uk/2014/04/midnight-in-paris-2011.html http://movie-tourist.blogspot.com/2013/01/to-rome-with-love-2012.html http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film3/blu-ray_reviews55/midnight_in_paris_blu-ray.htm http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film4/blu-ray_reviews_58/to_rome_with_love_blu-ray.htm http://www.blu-ray.com/movies/Midnight-in-Paris-Blu-ray/26512/#Screenshots http://www.blu-ray.com/movies/To-Rome-with-Love-Blu-ray/58388/#Screenshots Have in mind that the Movie Tourist screenshots look different than the films themselves.