The late post-impressionist painter Paul Cézanne once said “Light is a thing that cannot be reproduced, but must be represented by something else – by color.”. Galileo recently had the privilege of traveling from our Boston, MA and Albany, NY/Saratoga Springs, NY offices to the rich, colorful city of New Orleans with Axogen to tell some incredible stories. We also had a chance to utilize the newest member of our cinema family; the Canon C200, and really capture the warmth of these individuals through the power of color.
As storytellers, we know that the individual letting us into their world is just as important as the story they are telling. That’s why we always find time to get shots of our subjects being themselves. Showing us who they are as people (and occasionally, we join them). Each person has their own distinct color palette that describes and brings out their personality. Their skin tones, the patterns in their clothes, the color of their eyes and hair. It’s a big part of what makes a story special. It is our job to make sure that these colors are represented to the fullest when we film them. Since this was our C200’s maiden voyage, we saw no better choice to help paint their live’s pictures.
Canon has always been pretty spot on when it comes to preserving skin tones and the C200 follows in that tradition. The more impressive part is how well the C200 can retain information. Even in the darker and brighter environments we shoot in. With only minor adjustments to the exposure and a little bump in saturation, we get a very warm, welcoming and true to life shot. This adds to the story of who we are seeing on screen, both aesthetically and emotionally.
It is worth noting here that the C300 Mark II is still a great choice for the interview portions of our shoots. Whether it be a boy who can continue living his life the way he wants, or a woman being able to provide for her family, color should be used to best represent the vibrance of these stories and paint them in the best light possible. One frame at a time.
