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    Dale Grahn on Meeting Steven Spielberg

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    While color timing on “Amistad,” Dale Grahn recalls the first time he met Steven Spielberg.

    Check out our entire series of Dale Grahn interviews here.

    Take a look at Dale Grahn Color for the iPad at dalegrahncolor.com to learn color timing from Dale himself.

    Dale Grahn on Creating the Look of “Saving Private Ryan” (1998)

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    Dale Grahn explains how the iconic look of “Saving Private Ryan” came about in a strange manner.

    We have an entire series of interviews with Dale based on his work in the film industry. To check out each of those, click here.

    To see Dale in action, check out Dale Grahn Color for the iPad at dalegrahncolor.com.

    Here it is, Dale Grahn Color for iPad

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    When we first sat down with Dale Grahn, over lunch, we weren’t sure what to make of his idea.

    “All you need is six buttons,” he said. “We can revolutionize the industry.”

    It was a bit hard to believe. Color grading was a highly technical, semi-mysterious science. Power windows, HSL keys, tracking masks, eyedroppers, scopes, giant control surfaces in dark suites – our understanding was that you needed power tools to even play the game. A lot more than six buttons.

    Nevertheless, it was difficult to discount what Dale was saying. Dale Grahn was a color timer – the film world antecedent to the digital colorist. And he wasn’t just any color timer – he had crafted the look of Saving Private Ryan, Gladiator, Munich, and hundreds of other films. When Apocalypse Now needed to be re-timed for Apocalypse Now Redux, they went to Dale Grahn. When Steven Spielberg needed a color timer, he went to Dale Grahn.

    Dale Grahn Controls
    So we put aside our disbelief, and took the plunge with Dale and his six buttons. Over the next many months of working with him on Dale Grahn Color – an iPad app the teaches you color timing techniques – it all began to make sense. Dale’s method – the method of the color timer – was very, very different from what we were used to.

    Dale doesn’t immediately slice up the image and start tweaking it. As a color timer, you don’t have those tools. You have to look at the image as a whole, and work with it on its own terms. It’s an absolutely, fundamentally different way to look at an image. Sometimes, that’s a lot more limiting than working with digital tools. Power windows are handy.

    Dale Grahn Controls
    But more often, Dale’s approach is liberating. With all the tools and gizmos gone, you have to focus on fundamentals. What does early morning light look like? What does it look like when it’s a cold day, and the subject has a darker skin tone? How does that connect to the feeling of the story at that moment?

    Often, the best way to approach these questions is to get back to basics. With, for instance, just six buttons.

    “The goal is to learn how to think color,” Dale had said when we first met. It makes sense to us now.

    This is just our first collaboration with Dale – we also have some some very exciting tools for film and video editors in the works. For now, we hope you enjoy Dale Grahn Color for iPad. With the app launched, we finally have time to site down with a hot chocolate and try to figure out why, in that one lesson, Dale added those two points of cyan…

    To learn more check out http://www.dalegrahncolor.com

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    Introducing ColorKit Suite

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    We are excited to announce our latest set of powerful creative tools, the CrumplePop ColorKit Suite.

    ColorKit Suite features an incredible set of color grades, tools (ColorKit) and the ability to add beautiful texture from lightleaks to grain on to your footage (Grain35, HalfLight, OverLight.) Developed throughout the last year, ColorKit aims to give FCP X editors a simple and easy way to make their footage even better.

    On top of all of that ColorKit Suite is an incredible deal. Purchasing all of the products individually will cost you $446, but snag them together in the suite for $299 and you’ll save $147!

    Check out the videos, links and descriptions below to learn more about the tools included in the ColorKit Suite.


    ColorKit – $149
    ColorKit is a set of 34 professionally-designed preset color grades and three powerful grading tools for FCP X. Just drag and drop a ColorKit grade preset onto your footage to see a quick and beautiful grade. Then if you like, use the extensive built-in controls to dial in the exact look you want.


    Grain35 – $199
    Grain35 is real 35mm and 16mm film grain that you can easily add to your own footage. Just drag and drop Grain35 onto your clips to add the beautiful texture of real photochemically processed film. Grain35 includes the signature grain of 6 different 35mm and 16mm film stocks and is available at both 1920×1080 and 4K resolutions. Grain35 works with Final Cut Pro 7 and X.


    HalfLight – $49
    HalfLight is a collection of optically-captured light leak transitions built specifically for FCP X. Just drag and drop HalfLight onto a clip to add beautiful, organic flash transitions to your footage. An extensive set of controls allows you to customize the color and opacity properties of each transition. HalfLight works with Final Cut Pro X only.


    OverLight – $49
    OverLight makes it easy to apply washed-out glows and lens flares to your footage. Simply drag OverLight onto your clip to add a subtle, organic light texture that is impossible to create digitally. Extensive opacity and color controls allow you to customize each overlay. OverLight works with Final Cut Pro X only.

    Effects Using Apple Color

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    I won’t lie, lately I’ve been on a color correction kick. It’s fascinating how simple footage can become surreal and cinematic with only a few simple steps. Fortunately for me, GeniusDV seems to be in a similar mood and posting some wonderful tutorials on color correction and enhancement. I’ve seen this look all over the place for the last few years. This seems to be a pretty easy method to recreating that feel.I’ve never really messed around with apple color, so this is a completely new experience.

    For more info or other fantastic tutorial videos check out GeniusDV.

    Technicolor Cine Style Explained

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    I’ll admit, last week when Technicolor announced Cine Style I was a bit confused. I wasn’t 100% certain what was being offered. Fortunately for me I wasn’t alone in that and have found a few articles that help explain how and why the whole system works.

    Basically, using Cine Style allows footage to be cleaned up right out of the camera. Instead of having flat visuals when you initially import, using Cine Style you achieve colors closer to real life. To get a nice look at how it all works, Cinema5D posted Johnnie Behiri’s great comparison videos of what exactly Cine Style is giving you.

    Palace vs. Technicolor CineStyle picture profile-split screen from Johnnie Behiri on Vimeo.

    To check out each color profile video individually check them out over at Johnnie Behiri’s vimeo page.