OmniScope Featured Artist:
In this edition of our artist interviews, we spotlight Jeremy Sawyer, a veteran colorist with nearly 30 years of experience in post-production. Throughout his career, Jeremy has worked on numerous acclaimed TV series and films, including The Walking Dead,Mr. Mercedes,American Horror Story,Better Things, and many more.
Jeremy’s journey has taken him from Massachusetts to Hollywood, where he has lent his expertise to top studios like Company 3, Light Iron, and MTI, where he currently serves as a senior colorist. We had the pleasure of speaking to gain insight into his deep understanding of the unique challenges of coloring episodic television.
Can you tell us a little bit about yourself and how you got started in color?
“Sure, my name is Jeremy Sawyer. I’ve worked in post-production for 28 years, with 25 focused on color correction. I grew up in Boston and started out working as an intern at a small editorial facility that cut and finished TV commercials for Boston-based agencies. About one year into my internship, the company decided to build a state of the art telecine bay to do color. As the only intern, I was asked to assist the chief engineer in wiring the bay to the existing machine room. That year, I gained extensive knowledge about the mechanics of video and audio, as well as telecines and film. When my internship was over, I was offered a position to be the assistant in the room. I jumped at the opportunity and have been in color ever since.”
That's quite an early start. Were you interested in color before this?
“Actually before this, my background and interests were in photography. I was very into dark rooms, black and white film, and color enlargement. As I was learning, I did some work for some local Boston photographers. The darkroom experience taught me a lot of general principles, such as burning and dodging, that carried through to what was happening in telecine. It seemed like a good fit. Granted, color correction and grading was very different back then. It was really more technical than creative. However, in late 90’s and early 2000’s colorists really began to step up creatively and show what they could add to projects.
You’ve worked on many well known projects. What are some of your favorites?
“I’m proud to have been a part of the first 7 seasons of The Walking Dead (74 episodes). At the time, the show was still shot on 16mm film and we had a lot of challenges. However, I’m probably most proud of work that most people have never seen… the small independent short films, TV pilots and music videos… Many of these projects have a different level of passion and allow for more of a personal connection with the people involved. For me, it’s not just about the work—it’s about connecting with the people who create and being of service to their vision.”
Is there much of a difference in color grading a TV series compared to a film? A show often has different directors across episodes or seasons. Does this in any way factor into your role?
“TV series that have multiple directors and DPs are at a different tempo than a project with just one director and one DP. The schedules tend to be a bit more compact and DPs have less involvement with the final product. This definitely puts more on a colorist's shoulders regarding the final look and tweaks. For a show with one main DP and director, there is usually more involvement and more of a hands-on process. That said, showrunners and executives have the final approval before the show airs.”
What’s the most challenging thing that you come across as a colorist?
“Every show or project is going to have its own unique challenges. I think it changes from show to show. It could be a personality conflict, it could be a non-standard production technique, it could be a lack of communication, or a particularly compressed schedule. It's hard to say one thing is the most challenging.
I think if a colorist is totally proficient with their tools and can do whatever is asked of them, they can get through any of the other challenges.
What do you enjoy most about your career in color?
“This has changed over the years. I like collaboration and being of service to someone else's vision. If you can give someone exactly what they were looking for, that's pretty rewarding. I’ve been enjoying getting into the technology, imaging aspect, and color science part of my job the most lately. Anything to help a DP take ownership of their images. I enjoy assisting with pre-production workflows through creative color science, enabling DPs to maintain control over their on-set look.”
We always ask.. what are the favorite tools in your suite?
“I’m a Davinci Resolve user currently. I really like the simplicity of Resolve and the fact that you can make your own tools (via .dctl). I love my OmniScope, and it's not a color bay without great monitors. I'm currently using Sony x310 and x300’s. There aren't that many other peripherals I rely on for color work. A solid and fast machine, a fast network, the best monitors you can afford, and either Resolve or Baselight. These days, video scopes are the only peripherals I truly need. I am so happy to have found Nobe OmniScope!”
How did you find out about OmniScope? Were you replacing a hardware scope?
“Of course the industry standard for many years was a simple waveform and vectorscope — as stand alone external hardware. 6 or 7 years ago I tried Resolve’s internal scopes on a second monitor. While they weren't very customizable and not great scopes, I immediately saw the benefit of a software based scope on a computer monitor. They were super easy to read and I feel like I got more info out of them (compared to the small white or green phosphor external scopes that were/are ubiquitous in color bays).
I first used the OmniScope OFX plugin within Resolve. I kind of fell in love with it!
Then a few years ago I must have been watching a YouTube video that mentioned OmniScope. I looked it up and immediately bought a license for my home machine. I first used the OmniScope OFX plugin within Resolve. I kind of fell in love with it! So, I had MTI build a dedicated Windows machine and run Omnicope externally. We now have 3 dedicated OmniScope machines and will slowly be replacing the hardware scopes in our other suites as well.
What is your favorite OmniScope feature?
“I would say just generally, the customizable nature of them. Every operator can make their own layout based on what they want. The sheer amount of feedback and tools available is awesome. Some colorists just want a waveform and vectorscope. Others, like me, want a lot more. The more feedback I can get about my images the better. Especially when working in HDR, being able to know and see everything about that PQ signal is unmatched. My current layout utilizes a couple different vector scopes, histogram, parade, waveform, a CIE graph, False Color (for luminance) and audio meters. Throughout the day, I frequently switch between SDR and HDR, and it’s incredibly simple to adjust the scope layout as needed.”
Thanks Jeremy. To wrap it up, why would you recommend OmniScope to other colorists?
"Software-based scopes on a dedicated monitor can’t be beat—they’re easier to read, more customizable, and provide much more detailed signal feedback than traditional hardware scopes. “
“The key reasons I recommend OmniScope:
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