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A whirlwind of color | 舞动色彩

Vincent Taylor

Vincent Taylor is obsessed with color. The corner of his eyes sparkle when he talks about color; its varied hues, its degree of brightness, the way it shades, adds texture, and can darken or lighten the mood of each film he applies it to. Taylor has worked as a colorist for seventeen years. His last three years he has held the title of Senior Colorist at MPC in Shanghai. It is time for him to move on from China but before leaving I had a chance to sit down with Taylor in his plush MPC color grading studio where he reflected on the good, the challenging, and the memorable parts of his time at MPC in Shanghai.

Vincent Taylor对色彩如痴如醉。一说到调色，他的眼角都会放光，各种各样的色调，不同程度的亮度，明暗交替，色彩文理，这些都可以改变每一部片子带给人的情绪变化。Taylor已经有十七年的调色经验了，近三年来，他在MPC上海担任高级调色师一职，现在他即将离开中国，开始新的征程，我很荣幸能有机会在他离开之前，来到他在MPC的豪华调色室，听他讲讲自己在MPC上海的美好难忘时光和曾经面临的重重挑战。

Taylor started his career as a cinematographer. This background turned out to be an excellent foundation for understanding lighting and color and helps him better appreciate the creative process in its entirety. At a time when he was practically the only freelance colorist in Australia, he was invited to come for a three week project with MPC in Shanghai. When the project finished there was an opening for him to stay on as the Senior Colorist. Taylor was at first hesitant but with the enthusiasm and support from his wife, the couple took on the challenge, packed up their two year old son and decided to move to Shanghai for this opportunity with MPC. “We made the move and came to China, and what an incredible adventure it has been”.

职业生涯之初，Taylor是一位电影摄影师。这样的角色正好为灯光和调色打下良好基础，也帮助他能更好地品味创意过程的完整性。他曾经一度是澳大利亚唯一一位独立调色师，那时候他有一次来到MPC上海参加为期三周的项目。机会随之向他敞开大门 – 继续留在MPC担任高级调色师。Taylor最初还犹豫不决，但是他对这份工作充满热情，再加上妻子的支持，于是，夫妻二人决定迎接挑战，带着两岁的儿子来到上海，加入MPC。“我们启程动身来动中国，开启了不可思议的奇遇”。

While walking down the bustling streets of Shanghai is a far cry from the less populated, calmer cities in Australia, “the work is familiar” Taylor tells me, slightly adjusting the laces on his fashionable high top basketball shoes. He has several deep blue-grey tattoos etched on the underside of his forearm. “Here in this studio we could literally be anywhere in the world”. Indeed perched on black, glossy leather couches where we were chatting just behind machines, monitors and computers, we could have been in a world class studio in LA or London.

上海的喧嚣跟人口稀少又安静的澳大利亚大相径庭，“但是工作却是我熟悉的领域”，Taylor一边调整自己的高帮时尚篮球鞋的鞋带，一边对我说道。他的胳膊内侧有几处色彩很深的蓝灰色纹身。“在这里，感觉跟世界任何一个地方都有很大的融合”。事实却是如此。我们坐在豪华光亮的黑色皮沙上聊着天，后面就是各种机器，各种显示器和电脑，感觉跟在洛杉矶和伦敦的顶级工作室没什么区别。

“The way you deal with clients and the content is what changes over here” Taylor continues. Adjusting to the Chinese work flow has come with its fair share of frustrations for Taylor. “This [lack of respect for the creative process] is a real struggle because you always want to provide the client with what they want but when it goes against your own aesthetic it’s hard”.

“这里的不同之处就是如何跟客户打交道，还有如何处理内容”，他继续说道。对他而言，适应中国的工作方式着实让他有些挫败感。“（创意过程迥然不同），又要满足客户的需求，又不能太违背自己的审美，这确实很难，也确实让人难以取舍“。

China is certainly not the easiest work environment, with notoriously long work hours, demanding clients, and hierarchical societal norms that can sometimes stifle the creative work flow. “It comes down to a respect for the process and a respect for all artists and creators involved in the process. And there’s a reason for this process.” He hasn’t been called to a pre production meeting in China because color grading is usually ignored until the final stages.

无疑中国不是轻松的工作环境，不仅加班巨多，客户要求超高，而且层级制度明确，这一点有时候也会遏制创意。“关键是要尊重创意过程，尊重所有的艺术家和创作者。创意过程总是有它的道理的。”在中国，他在制作之前从来没有参与过前期会议，因为不到最后阶段，他们是不会看重调色的。

Vincent Taylor

Taylor recalls a project where the product and the talent’s jacket were supposed to be the exact same color blue. It wasn’t until the project reached post production that the team took the time to notice that the hues of blue were completely different and so Taylor had to go frame by frame adjusting the color tone of the talent’s blue jacket to match the product. If the color direction was considered from the start, the talent could have simply been given a blue color jacket that corresponded to the product, saving hours for everyone by the time it went into post. “There is an incredible amount of working hard, not a lot of working smart”.

Taylor回忆道，曾经有一个项目，要求产品跟演员的外衣是一模一样的蓝色。但是，直到后期阶段，团队才注意到两种蓝色完全不同，Taylor不得不一帧一帧调色，把演员的蓝色外衣调成跟产品一样的蓝色。但是如果最初就考虑到了颜色的问题，大可以为演员挑选跟产品一样蓝色的外套，可以为后期制作的每个人省去好几个小时时间。“大家工作都很勤奋，但却不是都知道如何用巧劲”。

This is not to put Taylor’s experience in a negative tint. He has worked on numerous projects in China that bring him to the edge of his seat sharing about how positive the experience was and how pleased he was with the end result. He grins like a little boy recalling the exhilarating moments when the whole team was in the room discussing a project, playing with the nuances of the color direction and then they all finally reaches that ah-ha moment. “I love the collaboration, that ability to get an idea out of peoples’ mind and put it on the screen for them. We really elevate the quality of the final piece when working together like that”.

但是，这不意味着Taylor在中国的经历很不愉快。他也参与过好多项目，都给他带来了愉快的工作经历，他不禁从椅子上微微抬起，讲述他对成果有多满意。他就像个小孩子一样笑着，回忆令人兴奋的时刻，整个团队都在探讨项目，调整颜色的细微差别，最后大家终于茅塞顿开。“我喜欢大家的合作，让大家发挥自己的想法，在屏幕上把想法呈现出来。大家紧密合作，确实能够提升最终作品的质量”。

 

Agoda Landivers
Taylor’s work he is most proud of over three years in China
三年以来，Taylor在中国最引以为傲的作品

He couldn’t have been happier to be part of MPCs team in Shanghai. “I wouldn’t have lasted three weeks without their support”. Working with such an experienced and international team was one of the highlights of his time in China. Before working at MPC, Taylor had only color graded a small number of visual effects focused pieces. It was highly rewarding for him to work with such seasoned visual effects professionals on a range of high caliber projects. “The show reel I am walking away with is certainly more than I could have achieved in Australia”.

能够成为MPC上海的一份子，他非常开心。”没有他们的支持，当初可能三周我就走人了“。能跟这么有经验的国际团队合作，也是他来到上海工作的最喜人之处。加入MPC之前，Taylor只做过几部专门以特效为主的作品的调色，而在这里，他却有机会跟一众经验丰富的专业特效人士合作，完成各种高标准的项目。”在这里我所积累的作品，肯定比在澳大利亚多。“

While he will miss the MPC team, he is ready for a new kind of adventure. “I liken it to splashing cold water on your face” Taylor tells me. Perhaps he has become an excitement junkie like the many expats before him that have fallen victim to that daily does of adrenaline you get from living in the unexpected and unknown. Living and working in China Taylor admits has helped him and his family grow as people. “We’ve met so many lovely and incredible individuals. Shanghai really is a sort of hot house, incubator that brings people together”. His contract has finished with MPC and he has already lined up a new opportunity in New York that will start at the beginning of October.

尽管非常舍不得MPC团队，但他还是要整装待发迎接新的挑战。“还是要保持清醒的头脑”，Taylor如是说。就跟很多老外一样，他也在每天的不期而遇和未知中找到兴奋点。Taylor坦言，来到中国体验工作和生活，让他和家人都有很大的成长。“我们遇到了很多可爱又很棒的人。上海就像一个大暖房，就像一个孵化器，把人们聚集在一起。”与MPC的合约已经到期，10月初他将前往纽约，迎接新的机遇。

His advice for foreign colorists considering work in China is first and foremost to be patient. While pushing back a loose curl that had snuck out of his tightly pulled back bun, he jokes “I am a Jedi master in patience now”. Taylor has also become acutely aware of what the day to day reality of working in another culture entails. “Be prepared for a different way of working, take a deep breathe, and be very patient. Understand that people do things different and that’s okay. If you have suggestions make them in a gentle way, don’t just try to ram your ideas down peoples’ throat. At the end of the day remember it’s not your country”.

对于想要来中国的调色师，他的首要建议是要保有耐心。他一边捋这自己松散的卷发和发揪，一边开玩笑说道，“我现在就是一个很有耐心的绝地大师”。而且他也非常清醒地意识到在不同的文化中的日常工作到底是什么样的。“要做好准备，别人跟你的工作方式是不同的，深呼吸，耐心点。要理解，别人的处事方式不同，要接受。想提意见，要客气一点说出来，不要把你的想法硬塞给别人。说到底，毕竟你是在外国”。

Vincent Taylor

As a colorist, Taylor specifically hopes the industry will keep growing and that “they will start to appreciate and see more value in [a colorists’ role]”.   The fact that everyone thinks they understand color makes respect for the profession slightly tricky.  “Color is easy, we all know what green grass is, what the color of someone’s skin is – but that’s precisely why it’s deceiving.  Color is complicated because of its subjective nature”.  If Taylor’s four year old son can understand what his dad does for a living then surely any creative can weigh in on what the color of that red door should be in the background, right?

作为一名调色师，Taylor非常希望整个行业能继续发展，“人们能更懂得欣赏理解（调色师这一角色的）价值”。事实上，每个人都觉得自己对调色都懂一些，所以要想对调色师这一职位保有尊重还有点难。“色彩很容易理解，我们都知道绿色玻璃是什么，也知道人的肤色是什么样的 – 但是正因如此，调色才不像表面看起来那么简单。色彩的主观性使调色变得很复杂”。如果连Taylor四岁的儿子都能明白爸爸维生的技能，那么任何一个创意人士都应该知道如何权衡调色的重要性，对吧？

Color grading and color correction are not as simple as they appear though.  This is what keeps the blood running through Taylor’s veins.  “I just remember how much I love it.  How exciting it is to keep evolving and keep playing, it’s a very satisfying process.  Every job in the end really is different and I just love that because you are always learning, always growing, and if you work together you can create something truly amazing”.

调色和校色并不像表面看起来那么简单，这也正是Taylor对这一职业抱有热情的原因。“我知道自己多爱这个职业，不断调整不断播放，这是一个非常有满足感的过程，非常兴奋。每个职位都各有不同，不断学习，不断成长，大家携手合作，就能打造出真正了不起的作品。”