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 ...
06/09/2026
June 9 2026, 23:00 (PDT) Dolby and MagentaTV Bring Fans Closer to the FIFA Worl...
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...
02/07/2026
Screen Australia backs audience-led filmmaking with new insight-driven initiativ...
02/07/2026
Screen Australia refines guidelines for Narrative Content Development and Docume...
02/07/2026
Maxon Autograph: Introduction to working with Tables
Simon Ubsdell July 1, 2026
0 Comments
An overview of Autograph's ridiculously powerful tables...
02/07/2026
Boston Conservatory's Soir e Breaks Records to Fund Student Scholarships The event achieved 127 percent of its fundraising goal in an evening celebrating ...
02/07/2026
How Adam Rosenwach Pivoted from Music to Med Tech Without Missing a Beat What do the rehearsal room and the boardroom have in common? More than you might thin...
01/07/2026
Broadcast Management Group (BMG) has announced the appointment of Kathy Samuels ...
01/07/2026
Shade has announced Custom Objects and Automations, a platform expansion releasing June 29, 2026, that adds database and workflow automation capabilities direct...
01/07/2026
FOR-A America has announced the addition of Jaz Wray and Fernando Cruz to its U.S. sales team. Both report to Ernie Leon, Senior VP and Head of Sales and Strate...
01/07/2026
NBC Sports will air all 15 MLB games nationally on Sunday, July 5, across NBC, P...
01/07/2026
Clear-Com has announced a wireless communications upgrade for Jeopardy! and Wheel of Fortune, deploying FreeSpeak II and FreeSpeak Icon systems across both prod...
01/07/2026
England's performance team will use Sony's STATSports APEX GPS tracking system to monitor player physical data in real time during FIFA World Cup 2026 m...
01/07/2026
Adder Technology has announced the appointment of Neil Hillier as Chief Executive Officer, effective July 1, 2026. Hillier succeeds Adrian Dickens, who transiti...
01/07/2026
Bitcentral, Inc. has announced a strategic transaction creating two separate companies. The Production and Playout business will continue as Bitcentral, now own...
01/07/2026
DAZN has announced results from DAZN48, its creator initiative for the FIFA World Cup 2026. Launched in April 2026, the program received thousands of applicatio...
01/07/2026
Sarah Rose, VP, global services, Daktronics (NASDAQ: DAKT), will be inducted into the Information Display and Entertainment Association (IDEA) Hall of Fame at t...
01/07/2026
Gravity Media and the World Economic Forum's production team provided broadc...
01/07/2026
Insight Productions has announced the launch of Insight Storm, a 53-foot mobile broadcast unit built for esports production. The truck is built around a Ross Vi...
01/07/2026
ESPN has announced several content initiatives marking America's 250th anniversary, as part of The Walt Disney Company's Disney Celebrates America pro...
01/07/2026
Eleven production kits, REMI workflows, and cloud distribution bring 40 World Cu...
01/07/2026
The conference also discussed the opportunities offered an industry that is endu...
01/07/2026
The Mountain West Conference has announced the launch of MW , a direct-to-consumer streaming platform powered by Kiswe. The platform will carry live Mountain We...
01/07/2026
New AI Assistant, Multi-channel Audio, ARA2 improvements & more
Tracktion's DAW software has just received its latest major update, gaining a selection ...
01/07/2026
Stammering, stuttering, strangulated tones
The Crow Hill Company's latest creation promises to be the most original sound set they've produced to d...
01/07/2026
Exclusive run of limited-edition modelling pedals
Sweetwater and Andertons M...
01/07/2026
The National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF) is pleased to announce that the ca...
01/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/07/2026
Manfrotto Introduces UNCOVER, the new premium camera bag collection for modern h...
01/07/2026
Blackmagic Design Powers Houston Tamil Sangam Literacy Competition
Brie Clayton July 1, 2026
0 Comments
Volunteers use ATEM Mini Pro, Blackmagic Desig...
01/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/07/2026
PlayBox Technology has published State of Broadcast Infrastructure 2026, an in-depth industry research report examining the technologies, operational challenges...
01/07/2026
LONDON, UK, 1 JULY Jigsaw24 has appointed Alan Henry as Head of Sales for Media and Entertainment, reinforcing its continued investment in helping broadcaster...
01/07/2026
Content Vault, the patent-pending secure content distribution platform protecting high-value media from disclosures, theft and unauthorised access, today announ...
01/07/2026
Bitcentral, Inc. a leading provider of enterprise software and digital media solutions for news, sports and entertainment broadcasters, as well as streaming pla...
01/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/07/2026
Groundbreaking First Nations Screen Business Accelerator launched through nation...
01/07/2026
Chyron Launches the All-New Chyron Academy: A Reimagined, Hands-On Learning Expe...
01/07/2026
Amplium Captures Kawasaki Brave Thunders Game with Blackmagic URSA Cine Immersiv...
01/07/2026
Boris FX Optics Expands Plugin Support to Apple Photos, Capture One, and Affinit...
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.
