Creating not just a whole new fantasy adventure world but one fantasy adventure world per episode was the herculean task set by Taika Waititi, Iain Morris and Jemaine Clement for AppleTV+ series Time Bandits and not least for colorist Damian McDonnell who graded all ten episodes.
His standout work on the pilot won the HPA award for Outstanding Color Grading [Live Action Episode or Non Theatrical Feature] at the 2024 HPA Awards in November. It was incredibly creative in many ways and I was given a lot of latitude to put my stamp on it, McDonnell says. What is notable about this show is that it is very look orientated. Every time the characters jump through a time portal the new story world had to look distinct from the previous scene and we kept that up for ten episodes. The grade was pretty much active the whole time to maintain consistency through the whole series.
A reimagining of the 1981 classic by Terry Gilliam, Time Bandits tells the tale of an eleven-year-old history nerd who falls in with a ragtag bunch of time-travelling thieves as they plunder treasure from various episodes in history. The incredible world-building involves episodes set among the Mayans, the Neanderthals, mediaeval villages and Prohibition era America, which required around two million frames to be pulled for VFX plates.
We set the main character's hometown to be dull and all the other locations to be strong looks. It really was a creative endeavor. I feel like I had a lot of creative input in the show which is such a treat.
Adding to the technical challenge were the inevitable logistical speed bumps: multiple clients, different time zones, multiple shoot locations, a changing team of crew members and the need to work at a distance. While the main shoot was at studios and locations in and around Wellington, NZ, the show's postproduction services team, The Rebel Fleet (TRF) is based 600km away in Auckland. The production team included LA-based DoP Mike Berlucchi, co-producer Jake Rice and VFX supervisor Tobias Wolters, while the writing and directing team of Waititi, Morris and Clement are about as internationally mobile as you can get.
There were a lot of moving parts, says the New Zealand native who has a Resolve suite at his home in Wellington in addition to the facility in Auckland. My main point of contact was Mike but there were two other cinematographers and different producers were involved. It was VFX-heavy. There was a lot of remote grading but it all worked exceptionally well.
TRF provided on-set DIT, Video Assist and Dailies services across main and second units. This helped with collaboration on the shoots and keeping consistency on track. TRF incorporated an ACES 1.3 color pipeline that went right through to picture finishing. This meant everyone from dailies to VFX, grading, delivery and mastering whatever their location could be confident that what they were seeing was completely accurate and consistent.
Working on Time Bandits was a real privilege for us at The Rebel Fleet. It was a creatively ambitious show, and we loved being part of a team that brought such a bold vision to life. Our goal was to provide an end-to-end workflow that gave the creative team confidence-no matter where they were in the world-that what they were seeing was accurate, consistent, and creatively flexible. From on-set support through to dailies, onto VFX pulls and into Post, we focused on building a system that supported collaboration and helped maintain a clear visual through-line across every episode.
- Mike Urban, CEO, The Rebel Fleet
It was my first time working with ACES color management but it actually simplified the process quite a lot, particularly when handling so many VFX, because the output transforms were all standardized. The best thing is when you can really trust the workflow. I could just concentrate on the grade.
He continues, I've done Dailies grading before but for me it's mostly just a reference. People employ me for my creative input, to apply a fresh look. One reason being that once it comes from the edit, things are in a different order than what they were shot and originally viewed. But it has to be collaborative. Fundamentally, these aren't my images, these are someone else's. I'm only helping to get the best look.
Here the relationship between colorist and cinematographer is crucial. Mike and I developed a shorthand pretty quickly. One thing I really appreciated was his minimalistic approach. He wouldn't over light a scene and he'd always be open to creative discussion. He would embrace ideas and give me some ideas in return.
I'm a big believer in pushing things beyond what you feel comfortable with and then pulling it back, because if you don't go beyond that point, you don't know that you've reached it. Mike was open to this approach and that's how we developed the looks of the show together.
TRF also organized deliverables including HDR and SDR finishes. That's a lot of work to do on the back end. As a colorist, I always appreciate all the people who can take off the technical delivery. Pete Harrow [The Rebel Fleet CTO] was great with doing all the colour science. Apple was really happy too, which was great.
McDonnell graded all ten hours of the show. It's not really about control. It's just that with a show this complicated, it was easier for me to simply do everything. I had to keep all the information in my head because it was always changing.
He started out his career twenty years ago as assistant colorist on Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers and The Return of the King and assistant editor on King Kong, moving to LA in 2008 as a colorist at Laser Pacific then Technicolor on features such as Life of Pi, Iron Man 3 and Captain America: A Winters Soldier.
On his r
Most recent headlines
03/01/2026
A still from OBEX by Albert Birney, an official selection of the 2025 Sundance...
02/01/2026
Freezing Florida: NHL's EVP, Entertainment Bob Chesterman on Taking the Wint...
02/01/2026
NHL Winter Classic 2026: TNT Sports Prepares for First NHL Outdoor Game in Sunsh...
02/01/2026
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
02/01/2026
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
02/01/2026
Any Given Day: Cork University Hospital premieres Wednesday 7 January on RT One and RT Player at 9:35pm
RT will debut a powerful new six-part documentary se...
02/01/2026
Friday 2 January 2026
All episodes of Heated Rivalry will be landing on Sky and...
02/01/2026
Sequins, chat shows, live sporting action, ground-breaking docuseries and brand-new Irish drama to kick off 2026
New Year, New Content Coming Soon across RT
...
01/01/2026
Latin Grammy Cultural Foundation Announces 2026 Noel Schajris Scholarship The scholarship will cover tuition and housing for one Berklee College of Music stud...
01/01/2026
New year, new games, all with RTX 5080-powered cloud energy. GeForce NOW is kicking off 2026 by looking back at an unforgettable year of wins and wildly high fr...
31/12/2025
Back to All News
NFL Christmas Gameday on Netflix Scores Again With the Lions-V...
30/12/2025
As the College Football Playoff Enters the Quarterfinals, ESPN Blows Out Its Meg...
30/12/2025
SVG's Best of 2025: Original ArticlesTake a look back at all our coverage of big-time productions, game-changing technologies, and state-of-the-art new faci...
30/12/2025
MELBOURNE, Fla., Dec. 30, 2025 - L3Harris Technologies (NYSE: LHX) will release its fourth quarter 2025 financial results before the market opens on Thursday, J...
30/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
30/12/2025
Your live countdown to 2026 with Inhaler, David Gray, Lyra, Garron Noone, Sharon...
30/12/2025
It marked the first civilian operational authorization for a HAPS flight in Europe, led by Space42's subsidiary, Mira Aerospace
The flight demonstrated HAP...
29/12/2025
San Francisco 49ers Strike Gold With Halftime Laser SpectacularStunning display caps $200 million renovation of Levi's Stadium techBy Dan Daley, Audio Edito...
29/12/2025
The Cup's Around the Corner: An Inside Look at Broadcast Preparations for th...
29/12/2025
SVG's Best of 2025: Longform VideoWatch the standout keynote conversations, deep dives, and panel discussions from the year for free on SVG PLAY!By Brandon ...
29/12/2025
From crisper Lossless audio and immersive music videos in beta to new Audiobooks+ plans, custom transitions between tracks, and in-app Messages, we keep levelin...
29/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
27/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
26/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
26/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
25/12/2025
Holiday lights are twinkling, hot cocoa's on the stove and gamers are settling in for a well-earned break.
Whether staying in or heading on a winter getawa...
24/12/2025
What is AI good for? Posted by MTI Film on December 24, 2025
What is AI good for?
What is AI good for?
It's been three years since ChatGPT first cap...
24/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
24/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
24/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
24/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
24/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
24/12/2025
RT has unveiled an exclusive first look at the new Dancing with the Stars promo...
24/12/2025
Back to All News
The Boyfriend' Season 2 Unveils Heartwarming Trailer, Key...
24/12/2025
Back to All News
Love, Fights, and Everything in Between: Badly in Love' Returns for Season 2
Entertainment
24 December 2025
GlobalJapan
Link copied t...
24/12/2025
Scripps Research study links sleep variability with sleep apnea and hypertension How consumers' digital activity trackers could enable personalized health s...
23/12/2025
How guilas Cibae as Dominican Winter League Games Are Locally Produced for Glob...
23/12/2025
BitFire's Jim Akimchuk on Supplying Scalability and Customization in the Clo...
23/12/2025
CAMB.AI Enables European Athletics to Offer Multi-Language SupportPlan is to eventually offer translation into all languages spoken in EuropeBy Ken Kerschbaumer...
23/12/2025
Analysis: As sports media values trend negative, scarcity and quality are king By Callum McCarthy, Editor-at-Large
Monday, December 22, 2025 - 14:08
Print ...
23/12/2025
ESPN, Disney, and NBA Return to the Animated Altcast Fray With Second Edition of...
23/12/2025
End the Year on a High Note and Donate to the Sports Broadcasting Fund Today!By Ken Kerschbaumer, Editorial Director
Tuesday, December 23, 2025 - 12:25 pm
P...
23/12/2025
The year is winding down, the weather outside is frightful, and it's the perfect time to escape into a story that warms the heart. For listeners looking for...
23/12/2025
A Zeus motor is hot fire tested at L3Harris' Camden, Arkansas, solid rocket ...
23/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
23/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
23/12/2025
Lightware will exhibit several major product innovations at ISE 2026, including the new USB-C BOOSTER-V1, Google Meet. integration for various Taurus UCX models...
23/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
23/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
Creating not just a whole new fantasy adventure world but one fantasy adventure world per episode was the herculean task set by Taika Waititi, Iain Morris and Jemaine Clement for AppleTV+ series Time Bandits and not least for colorist Damian McDonnell who graded all ten episodes.
