Graded on Baselight 6.0 - rase Una Vez En El Caribe (Once Upon a Time in the Caribbean)
Brie Clayton May 23, 2024
0 Comments
Directed by Ray Figueroa, rase Una Vez En El Caribe (Once Upon a Time in the Caribbean) follows Juan Encarnaci n, a peasant with a violent past, as he sets out on a path of revenge when his wife disappears.
The movie, which was released at the end of 2023 and shot by DoP Willie Berrios, was one of the first movies to be graded on Baselight 6.0 - by senior colourist, Edgar Lebron at Reaktor Post in Puerto Rico.
Our relationship with FilmLight goes way beyond business, comments Lebron. They have provided so much support and they are truly dedicated to making sure everything is going well for us. It is a relationship that has helped us to grow.
A 1930s look
Willie and I have been friends for many years, explains Lebron. We worked together in the past and have talked about making movies together ever since.
Lebron began the dailies for rase Una Vez En El Caribe by looking at historical references from the 1930s and noting the different shades of colour.
Willie brought in black and white photography books from Mexican cinema, he recalls. I began by reviewing all the films and series made in that period and noted the period references. I liked quite a bit from American-Ukrainian photographer, Jack Delano. Once we had a collection of references, we created a bank of images that we adapted to the scenes.
The film, which is in colour with black and white flashbacks throughout, opens with a black and white scene of a workers' strike. At first the film was going to be fully black and white, but we decided to try something a bit more representative of the time, explains Lebron.
For the colour sections, Lebron used Gangs of New York and Peaky Blinders as visual references. For the evenings, he worked on highlighting the candlesticks and candles and emphasising the yellow tone, keeping it true to the time.
Willie and I spent weeks experimenting to make sure we were happy with the results. Sometimes we would agree and other times we would go back and start from scratch - always looking for a different way to better tell the story.
Experimenting on Baselight 6.0
Lebron was halfway through grading the movie when he was invited by FilmLight to try the beta version of Baselight 6.0.
I started using the new Sharpen Luma tool, which was a big help, comments Lebron. There's a lot in this film that I completed with Baselight 6.0, but X Grade was the star of the show. It helped me balance the whole movie and gave me total freedom to control continuity, fix issues like out of gamut and lens aberrations and truly control the greens - which, since it's filmed in the countryside, was a big job.
I had already started working on Erase Una Vez En El Caribe when I got my hands on Baselight 6.0, adds Lebron. When I first started looking at the tools, I was actually tempted to redo it from scratch, so I could utilise the new Chromogen look development tool, despite the risks that come with using a beta version.
Lebron and the team decided not to restart the movie, but Lebron has since been able to experiment with Chromogen.
I've used Chromogen to create day for night looks in more recent projects and for a couple of advertising jobs. Our next goal is to use it to create looks for dailies that we can better apply to our session when we get to grading. It is a great tool which makes my job as colourist a lot easier.
Fight in the rain
For Lebron, one of the most challenging scenes to grade was the fight in the rain' scene.
This scene was the most difficult part for me - but, also the scene I am most proud of, explains Lebron. The director wanted rain in the scene, but there was no team to create it. In the end we got lucky, and the heavens opened for real. So, instead of cancelling the shoot due to the weather, they decided to film and utilise it.
It turned out well, but one of the problems we had was controlling the clouds. It was also a long scene that had to be done day for night. Thankfully, this was one of the scenes I had completed tests for six months prior, so I knew it quite well and was able to finish it. But it was tough.
Creative freedom
This movie was a joy to work on, says Lebron. When I first saw the beginning scene of the movie, I thought to myself, I would pay to do the colour grade for this film. It's not every day that you get a 1930s period film with influences from western and samurai films, mixed with the history of the Caribbean.
And I had total creative freedom from director Ray Figueroa and DoP Willie Berrios, concludes Lebron. For that, I thank them.
May 27, 2024Advanced 3D qualifier in DaVinci ResolveIn today's advanced tutorial, I want to show you how and why
May 24, 2024HBO Original Series 30 Coins Season Two Finished with DaVinci Resolve StudioBlackmagic Design announced today that season two of HBO Original series 30
Enjoying the news? Sign up for the Creative COW Newsletter! Sign up for the Creative COW newsletter and get weekly updates on industry news, forum highlights, jobs, inspirational tutorials, tips, burning questions, and more! Receive bulletins from the largest, longest-running community dedicated to supporting professionals working in film, video, and audio.
Enter your email address, and your first and last name below!
-- Sign up: * indicates required
Email Address *
Name
--
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...
22/07/2026
Among other tweaks to coverage, the broadcaster added announce positions in the ...
22/07/2026
The Australian Sports Technologies Network (ASTN) has reported a sharp acceleration in Australia's sportstech sector, with revenue growth rising from 10% in...
22/07/2026
From a retrofitted broadcast bus to packed Match Day Live! events, Bennett detai...
22/07/2026
TMRW Sports has named Brendan Donohue as President, Flag Football, where he will lead the company's professional flag football business in partnership with ...
22/07/2026
Stephen Arnold Music (SAM) designed and produced soundtracks for nine projection...
22/07/2026
Harmonic has announced a $25,000 donation to Global Empowerment Mission (GEM) fo...
22/07/2026
Telemundo has announced it has acquired from UC3 exclusive U.S. Spanish-language...
22/07/2026
The Rest Is Football, hosted by Gary Lineker, Alan Shearer, and Micah Richards, ...
22/07/2026
Sports Studio has announced a partnership with TheSoul Group to distribute Free ...
22/07/2026
Daktronics has concluded its 2026 High School Video Summit, a two-day hybrid event combining virtual sessions with hands-on host school visits across the countr...
22/07/2026
FOR-A America will exhibit at the MMCA Show in Pensacola, Florida (July 21-24), marking the company's first appearance at the house of worship AV event. FOR...
22/07/2026
The New York Yankees have selected Lumen Technologies (NYSE: LUMN) to connect Ya...
22/07/2026
Calrec will exhibit at IBC 2026 (Stand 8.C47) with demonstrations of its IP-native audio ecosystem built around the Argo console range, and will announce two ne...
22/07/2026
Solid State Logic has announced the appointment of Algam EKO as its distributor for SSL large format consoles in Italy, covering the Live, Broadcast, and Studio...
22/07/2026
FloSports has announced the launch of the FloSports Channel, a free ad-supported streaming channel premiering on Prime Video in the U.S. on July 21. The channel...
22/07/2026
Banana Ball TV (BTV), the broadcast operation of the Savannah Bananas, has insta...
22/07/2026
SiriusXM and Audacy have announced an agreement bringing 42 Audacy sports, news, and talk stations from 29 U.S. markets to SiriusXM. Twenty-three Audacy sports ...
22/07/2026
The collaboration produced more than 500 short-form videos across four cities th...
22/07/2026
At 2,600 sq. ft., the new home of digital content houses a main studio, podcast space, and an auxiliary control room
NFL franchises are accelerating their prod...
22/07/2026
Library now available in Engine Player
Another of Eduardo Tarilonte's popular sample libraries has just been moved over to Engine Audio's Engine Pla...
22/07/2026
All-in-one mic & DSP interface overhauled
Cloudvocal have just refreshed the design of their all-in-one mic, audio interface and DSP processor, introducing ...
22/07/2026
The final boss of the lost dual-op-amp circuit
Electro-Harmonix have just introduced the Deluxe Big Muff Pi 2, which they say offers their latest take on t...
22/07/2026
eds3_5_jq(document).ready(function($) { $(#eds_sliderM519).chameleonSlider_2_1({ content_source:......
22/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
22/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
22/07/2026
Proven managed IP solution helps broadcasters confidently navigate the future of broadcast distribution
LTN announces it has completed successful satellite-to-...
22/07/2026
Today, Chaos announced V-Ray 7, update 4, eliminating the need for asset conversions and tool switching, which slow down media and entertainment pipelines. Arti...
22/07/2026
An AI playground for the Project Indigo camera app
Marc Levoy July 22, 2026
0 Comments
At left is the user interface of our Playground, running on an ...
22/07/2026
Custom Consoles announces the completion of a large technical furniture project for Radio T l vision Suisse (RTS) at the networks recently inaugurated productio...
22/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
22/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
22/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
22/07/2026
Culver City, CA, July 21, 2026 3D streaming infrastructure provider Miris today announced glTF intake, including the binary .glb form, to its spatial streamin...
22/07/2026
Documentary Lo Invisible Captured with Blackmagic PYXIS 6K
Brie Clayton July 21, 2026
0 Comments
Camera's versatile design allowed filmmakers to c...
22/07/2026
AAF Bridge converts AAF and XML Timelines to Ableton Live - and back
Jerome Gardier July 21, 2026
0 Comments
A two-way converter for macOS and Windows...
22/07/2026
From Class to Concert: Explore a Student-Led Production of David Bowies Work Thr...
22/07/2026
A poisoned spy, a secret war, and a small English city contaminated by a deadly chemical weapon. Available on Sky Documentaries from 4 AugustWednesday 22 July 2...
22/07/2026
Audio at Parity: Comscore Launches Transcript-Level Targeting and Measurement wi...
22/07/2026
Arvato Systems and Lobster Enter into a Partnership and Combine the Integration Platform and Managed Services
Flexible integration solutions for cloud, hybrid...
22/07/2026
RT REPORTS NET SURPLUS OF 22.5 MILLION IN 2025...
22/07/2026
In the Opinion of the Censor airs Monday 27 July at 9.35pm on RT One and RT Player
In the Opinion of the Censor looks at how films for theatrical release wer...
22/07/2026
Before a healthcare robot can be useful in the real world, it has to learn how the physical world pushes back. Anatomy varies. Instruments bend, press, slip and...
21/07/2026
New research involving a cross-section of Mongolias independent media landscape finds enthusiasm for AI as a tool to improve efficiency, sustainability and resi...
21/07/2026
With winners Spain having already paraded the World Cup trophy through Madrid in front of millions of fans and the dust now settling on an epic tournament of th...
Graded on Baselight 6.0 - rase Una Vez En El Caribe (Once Upon a Time in the Caribbean) 
