
The FX original series The Old Man stars Jeff Bridges as the eponymous lead, former CIA operative Dan Chase, whose off-the-grid existence is rudely interrupted when an intruder breaks into his home. The confrontation sets off an epic game of cat and mouse, forcing Chase to go on the run as multiple parties seek to either bring him in or take him down.
Sean Porter served as lead cinematographer for the series' first season and shot four of the seven episodes, with Jules O'Loughlin, ACS, ASC and Armando Salas, ASC handling the remainder. Production on the series began in 2019 but was then delayed first by the pandemic and then when Bridges had to undergo cancer treatment. With the star's cancer in remission, production resumed and was completed earlier this year, in 2022.
Back in 2019, in advance of the original start of principal photography, Porter and series producer Allen Marshall Palmer met with Light Iron supervising colorist Ian Vertovec to establish the look for the show. Sean knew the look he wanted, Vertovec recalls. It was this rich, colorful, natural look, with more contrast than I expected. A lot of our conversation was about finding this dark level of contrast where theres a real richness to this world. We set the look with some camera tests, and then after a week or two of production, Sean came back and we worked on some scenes they'd assembled. Then Sean had to finish shooting, so we stole time together where we could find it. I took Seans concepts and worked with that through the first four episodes, and then we had our first pause.
When production eventually resumed, Light Iron senior colorist Ethan Schwartz picked up the baton, grading the final three episodes and seeing the series across the finish line. Ethan and I have collaborated on a number of shows, Vertovec shares. He colors What We Do in the Shadows now, and I did Season 1. We both colored on the show Utopia. So weve handed off a bunch of times.
Schwartz adds that when he took the reins on The Old Man, I watched all four episodes Ian had colored, which helped me get a feel for the show and understand the story and its emotional impacts. I was able to see how bright or dark Ian was making certain scenes and how he was achieving those luminance levels.
I was using the same show LUT that Ian built in Baselight, where it was broken out into its raw form, which makes it really beneficial when grading, Schwartz continues. It meant that I could turn off specific aspects of the LUT depending on what the scene called for instead of having to find a new LUT. We wanted to keep the skin tones nice and even but also filmic, with a bit more richness and warmth, and the black level at a dark enough place without crushing anything out, so you get really nice shadows and roll-off. The Old Man lives in this cinematic, dark world, but we didnt want it to be muddy. We wanted it rich, with really strong colors, but without it being poppy. We didn't want it to feel like a TV show.
The colors are more natural and less film muddy,' Vertovec agrees. You really notice it when police lights go off. It feels very true and very real, like there's not so much of a look' on it.
One of the series distinguishing characteristics is its pacing, highlighted by the regular use of long, single takes. I was always blown away by the tone and the pacing of the show, Vertovec offers. One of the big challenges of the grade were these long takes that go through the scene and wrap around the action. It can get a bit more complex when you're juggling all these layers and trying to hide transitions of color, tracking windows for minutes at a time with no cuts.
When it came time to begin grading the first episodes back in 2019, the studio wasn't asking for an HDR deliverable. Nevertheless, Vertovec suggested a Dolby Vision workflow, working natively in HDR while simultaneously reviewing the SDR trim. That way we would have both versions, and I actually find it's easier [to grade natively in HDR], Vertovec explains. Now it's more common, but three years ago it wasn't as normal. We were lucky we did it, though, because now they do want the HDR deliverable.
During the grade for the final three episodes, Porter has collaborated remotely with Schwartz, helping to make sure everything's falling in line with the established look, Schwartz notes. The biggest thing is that it needs to feel like you're watching a film, not a TV show. Maintaining the audience's attention and keeping them really focused on the story is the primary goal. That's the goal for almost every project, but particularly this one because of the action. You want to make sure everyone is engrossed when you get to those points, because they're really intense.
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
04/08/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
04/07/2026
April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...
01/06/2026
January 6 2026, 05:30 (PST) Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026
Throughout the week, Dolby brings to life the latest innovatio...
02/05/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
01/05/2026
January 5 2026, 18:30 (PST) NBCUniversal's Peacock to Be First Streamer to ...
22/04/2026
Solid State Logic is advancing its System T platform with a stronger focus on IP...
22/04/2026
From immersive audio to live streaming, Dolby Laboratories is focused on the fut...
22/04/2026
Shallow depth-of-field cameras have taken the industry by storm. Its debut a han...
22/04/2026
Riedel Communications (Booth C4908) announced that Eastern Kentucky University (...
22/04/2026
The NAB Show is in full swing, and the SVG and SVG Europe editorial teams are chasing down the hottest stories from all over the Las Vegas Convention Center. He...
22/04/2026
Blackmagic Design has announced the URSA Cine 12K LF 100G, a new model in the URSA Cine family adding 100G Ethernet for SMPTE 2110 live production output up to ...
22/04/2026
Celebrating its 40th anniversary, NEP is leaning into hybrid production with the...
22/04/2026
NEP VP, Platform Dan Murphy sits down at the 2026 NAB Show to unpack what NEP P...
22/04/2026
Spotify and the New York Liberty are teaming up to give music and basketball fan...
22/04/2026
New 20-minute documentary explores iconic design The Focusrite Room in Mesa, Arizona, where John Aquilino hosts the Studio Console 005.
In 2025, Focusrite co...
22/04/2026
Offers compact wireless solution for pedalboards
Taiwanese audio brand Cloudvocal have announced the availability of a new pedalboard-friendly wireless syst...
22/04/2026
Latest hybrid sampling/synthesis instrument arrives
Arturia's Augmented series offerings rely on a mixture of sampling and synthesis, allowing users to ...
22/04/2026
Combines three distinct analogue EQ emulations
The latest addition to Acustica Audio's ever-expanding collection of analogue-emulation plug-ins combines...
22/04/2026
Final instalment in vintage-inspired instrument series
Analog Empire: Bass & Lead marks the final instalment in Melda Production's vintage hardware-insp...
22/04/2026
Fuzz pedal joins all-analogue Series A line
Given that Strymons reputation was built on unapologetically digital pedals, it was a little surprising to see t...
22/04/2026
SBS names shortlisted brands for 2026 SBS Media Sustainability Challenge
22 April, 2026
Media releases
National broadcaster also releases its second annual...
22/04/2026
Why Low Band Electronic Warfare Matters...
22/04/2026
The nation unites around football team's World Cup dream
Warsaw, Poland, 20.04.26: Nielsen, a global leader in audience measurement, data, and media intell...
22/04/2026
Warsaw, Poland, 22.04.26: Nielsen, a global leader in audience measurement, data...
22/04/2026
New market intelligence offering gives businesses a clearer view of local consum...
22/04/2026
Glookast Unveils New UX, YouTube and Social Media Connectors, Premiere Panel, Ci...
22/04/2026
Lightcraft Technology to Preview Spark Story at NAB 2026 with Interactive Previs...
22/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
22/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
22/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
22/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
22/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
22/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
22/04/2026
22 Apr 2026
VEON's Banglalink to Bring Starlink Mobile to Customers in Bangladesh Bangladesh becomes the third market where VEON and Starlink Mobile partne...
22/04/2026
U have unveiled exclusive first-look images for their six-part police thriller Hit Point, starring Nick Blood (Day of the Jackal) and BAFTA nominee Saffron Hock...
22/04/2026
What can I watch on UKTV and stream on U this week?
This week on UKTV and the free streaming service U, viewers can watch a range of new and returning programm...
22/04/2026
Wednesday 22 April 2026
Sky announces fifth year of WNT Fund with 30,000 bursa...
22/04/2026
Back to All News
This Earth Day, Discover the Sustainable Productions Behind Our Films and Series
Emma Stewart, Ph.D.
Netflix Sustainability Officer
Enterta...
22/04/2026
The move from Retail Media to Commerce Media is about broadening the scope of th...
22/04/2026
April 22 2026, 07:00 (PDT) Dolby and BMW Bring Dolby Atmos to the BMW 7 Series,...
22/04/2026
RT Documentary On One 7-part series breaks US market for first time
RT Programme Sales has announced its first deal with a US distribution partner for its 7-...
22/04/2026
NVIDIA and Google Cloud have collaborated for more than a decade, co engineering a full stack AI platform that spans every technology layer - from performance o...
21/04/2026
Cloud-based production isnt going anywhere, and BitFire is doubling down by prov...
21/04/2026
The topic of artificial intelligence has a stranglehold on the sports-video-prod...
21/04/2026
5G is still a hot topic in live event production, and this workflow continues to...
21/04/2026
At the 2026 NAB Show, Ed McGivern, GM and President of Appear US, discusses the ...
21/04/2026
Studio Network Solutions (SNS) has announced an on-premise AI suite designed for...
21/04/2026
Suite Studios has integrated its file-streaming technology into the newly announced Frame.io Drive, a desktop application from Adobe company Frame.io. The colla...
21/04/2026
Net Insight has integrated InSync Technology's FrameFormer into the Nimbra E...