
Ahead of this years FilmLight Colour Awards, jury member Jax Harney, founder and senior colourist at X-LDN speaks to TVBEurope about the colourists role and what she hopes to see from the 2024 entries
By Matthew Corrigan
Published: July 23, 2024 Updated: July 24, 2024
Ahead of this year's FilmLight Colour Awards, jury member Jax Harney, founder and senior colourist at X-LDN speaks to TVBEurope about the colourist's role and what she hopes to see from the 2024 entries
target=_blank title=Share on LinkedIn class=share-linkedin> Ahead of this year's FilmLight Colour Awards, jury member Jax Harney, founder and senior colourist at X-LDN speaks to TVBEurope about the colourist's role and what she hopes to see from the 2024 entries
https://www.tvbeurope.com/production-post/the-grade-should-flow-not-steal-the-show-colourist-jax-harney-reveals-her-hopes-for-the-filmlight-2024-awards title=Share via Email class=share-email>
Do you think it's important for colourists to be recognised in awards like these? Absolutely, these awards are essential for validating the skills and artistry that colourists bring to the table.
You've been working for over two decades as a colourist. What are you looking for in entries? I'll be looking for creative use of colour that enhances the story being presented. I want the grade to flow - not steal the show, but compliment what I'm watching. I'll be looking at texture and then the obvious clean keys, fine shape work and making sure my attention is being led to where it's required.
Jax Harney, founder and senior colourist, X-LDN As a colourist specialised in advertising, what are your thoughts on the new category for this year - Emerging Talent? I think this new category is an incredible way to recognise and celebrate the fresh faces in our industry who are bringing in new energy and ideas. This category not only highlights their hard work and potential, but also encourages them to keep honing their craft. I'm really excited to see this kind of recognition and support for the next generation of talent. It's definitely a step in the right direction towards a more innovative and inclusive industry.
Having worked for so many luxury brands, what is the most important part of the grade for this type of project? Is it skin tone, the discussion with the creative agency, etc.? Anyone who knows me, knows how much I bang on about collaboration being key. On every job, I try to work closely with the director, DoP and creatives to achieve the best results. With beauty work in particular, I have to be gentle with the skin tones and stay as real as the environment will allow. This can be difficult sometimes if the client wants their product singing out of the scene, but it's always a team discussion on how to walk this fine line of staying true to the scene while also delivering what the client wants.
You set up your own facility in 2020, can you tell us more about it? I did indeed and it is the best thing that came out of the pandemic for me. The model we've created is based on collaborations with different independent artists and post facilities. Colour is still my main focus and the core of the business at X, but over the years I've connected with some incredible talents in all areas of post, which has led to some amazing creative partnerships across the globe.
How do you prefer to work with the DoP on colour? For long form I always try to connect with the DoP early in the process. This gives us time to shoot ideas around, test looks and create a solid LUT. I find that consistent communication throughout the shoot, with tweaks to the look as we go, always yields the best creative outcomes. I much prefer having the DoP in the suite for the final grade, but in commercials that isn't often the case. In this instance, I will always endeavour to at least have a brief from set to try and carry as much of the creative intent across.
What are the key challenges of your role as colourist? Particularly in advertising, diminishing budgets mean less productions are factoring in the appropriate time for colour and finishing. Plus, some editors are now using AI tech for colour in their edit software, so we are finding that the colour grading is being axed to save money. A lot of the time this results in us having to pick up a project very late in the day - when the production hands it over to fix what hasn't been achieved in edit and what hasn't been accounted for at the beginning of the project.
What's your career highlight to date and why? I have quite a few career highlights for various reasons, so I will list a few.
Going to the BAFTAs with the short film, Kamali (2018), directed by Sasha Rainbow and shot by Jake Gabbay. This was super special.
Working with Nicole Ackermann, Adam Bentel and the amazing VFX team at The Mill NYC on the trailer for the Bethesda Game Studios' game, Starfield' was also pretty special. I'm a huge gamer and grading video game trailers is my happy place.
Setting up my own post facility - that's got to be up there.
Finally, watching the cast of Celebrity Gogglebox get all emotional while watching episode 6 of Big Boys (season 1).
The shortlist for the 2024 FilmLight Colour Awards will be released in autumn with winners announced at EnergaCAMERIMAGE in November. For more details, visit: www.filmlightcolourawards.com.
Elvis, JFK cinematographers among judges for FilmLight Colour Awards
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
07/10/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, today announced the latest Long-Term Supported (LTS) release of Dalet Flex. Build...
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...
17/07/2026
The Final Release of Blackmagic Fairlight Live is Now Available!
Brie Clayton July 16, 2026
0 Comments
Fairlight Live is a new audio mixer designed fo...
17/07/2026
Leveraging All of Entertainment's IP
Andy Marken July 16, 2026
0 Comments
Nobody ever wins the games. Period. There are survivors. There\s no win...
16/07/2026
Media organisations with tested plans for new products, services or revenue models can now apply for grants of up to 30,000 through the Business Innovation Syn...
16/07/2026
This recent graduate and Georgia native has turned an early fascination with live production into a growing passion for camera work
In the live-sports-video in...
16/07/2026
TNDV is marking the first anniversary of Aspiration 35, a mobile production truck built around ARRI Alexa 35 Live camera systems. Over its first year, the truck...
16/07/2026
ATSC has completed a major revision to its A/85 Recommended Practice: Techniques...
16/07/2026
FloSports has announced an exclusive global media partnership with CrossFit for the 2026 CrossFit Games, presented by Air National Guard, beginning July 21 in S...
16/07/2026
Sennheiser has released firmware version 1.4 for its Spectera wireless system and announced the Spectera Command Button (Cat. No. 701014). The update adds comma...
16/07/2026
ESPN and the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) have announced a multi-year...
16/07/2026
Audio-Technica has announced the 20 Series Control Application, a Stream Deck plug-in for compatible Audio-Technica USB microphones. The application is compatib...
16/07/2026
The fifteenth season of The Voice - La plus belle voix on TF1 used four Solid St...
16/07/2026
Gray Media and the Atlanta Hawks have announced a broadcast partnership that wil...
16/07/2026
Season 3 of Netflix's docuseries, which dropped this week, follows Jayden Da...
16/07/2026
The Texas Rangers and Rangers Sports Network presented by Progressive (RSN) have announced BZZR as the new direct-to-consumer distributor for Rangers game broad...
16/07/2026
With England's FIFA World Cup 2026 team getting ready to fly home after losi...
16/07/2026
In a return to Royal Birkdale, the team enjoys partnering with ETP and Gravity M...
16/07/2026
Along with a new studio at Ball Arena, the Colorado-based RSN is working with XR...
16/07/2026
Austria was back at the World Cup for the first time in 28 years, and the team d...
16/07/2026
With 42 RF cameras and high-power radio mics deployed, the spectrum environment ...
16/07/2026
A new benchmark in bass enhancement
Described as a new benchmark in bass enhancement , Baby Audio's latest release has been designed to augment the lo...
16/07/2026
Popular library rebuilt in new Orbita Engine
Other Worlds Evolved is the latest of Zero G's sample libraries to be treated to a ground-up rebuild using ...
16/07/2026
Created in collaboration with A. G. Cook
The newest addition to Native Instruments' software collection introduces a new synth created by A. G. Cook, a ...
16/07/2026
NITV and SBS bring Australians to the heart of Garma
16 July, 2026
Media releases
The Garma Festival returns from 31 July-3 August, with NITV and SBS deliv...
16/07/2026
Rohde & Schwarz supplies conformance test systems to Marquistech for India's...
16/07/2026
June brought stabilization to the television market. Poles spent an average of 3 hours and 36 minutes a day in front of their TV screens exactly the same as i...
16/07/2026
Glensound returns to IBC with a major new addition to its intelligent loudspeaker range, the Greater Divine Supernal studio monitor, alongside recent developmen...
16/07/2026
33 leading exhibitors are taking part in the GREAT Britain and Northern Ireland Pavilions and linked locations across IBC2026 (Amsterdam RAI, 11 14 September)...
16/07/2026
Hitomi Broadcast will introduce Spectra, a new HDR colour verification solution measured in picture, not using VPID, at IBC2026 (Hall 10, Stand A40). Expanding ...
16/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
16/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
16/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
16/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
16/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
16/07/2026
Zixi, a leader in live video delivery and workflow orchestration, and Comcast Technology Solutions (CTS) today announced a strategic new integration to deliver ...
16/07/2026
Blackmagic Design Cameras Capture Immersive Flight for New Cirrus App
Brie Clayton July 15, 2026
0 Comments
Leader in Personal Aviation taps URSA Cin...
16/07/2026
XenData Announces LTO Archive Appliances with both File and S3 Object Storage In...
16/07/2026
Modern broadcast facilities are no longer confined to a single control room. Production teams are spread across multiple workstations, machine rooms, studios, c...
16/07/2026
Fox Corporation Executives to Discuss Fourth Quarter and Full Fiscal Year 2026 F...
16/07/2026
More interfaces now compatible with Focusrite Control 2 Your Focusrite interface might now be compatible with a public beta support of Focusrite Control 2. If...
16/07/2026
Onimusha: Way of the Sword is coming to GeForce NOW at launch, with the playable...
16/07/2026
Together the semi-finals had a combined reach of 1.98 million unique individuals...
15/07/2026
The 2026 FIFA World Cup is a big deal for DAZN, which has distribution rights in three markets: Italy, Spain, and Japan. Each requires a different editorial app...
15/07/2026
As sports-media organizations manage rapidly growing content libraries and incre...
15/07/2026
HBS director of digital Johannes Franken talks SVG Europe through the operation built to serve FIFA World Cup 2026 rights holders remotely from Stratford, east ...
15/07/2026
IBC has unveiled the conference program for IBC2026, with this year's event ...
15/07/2026
Software-defined wideband RF platform supports 96-kHz monitoring, streamlined fr...