Colourist Eric Whipp discusses the challenges of creating the look for George Millers epic blockbuster
By Contributor
Published: June 11, 2024 Updated: June 13, 2024
Colourist Eric Whipp discusses the challenges of creating the look for George Miller's epic blockbuster
target=_blank title=Share on LinkedIn class=share-linkedin> Colourist Eric Whipp discusses the challenges of creating the look for George Miller's epic blockbuster
https://www.tvbeurope.com/features/creating-george-millers-graphic-prequel-furiosa-a-mad-max-saga title=Share via Email class=share-email>
Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga is a 2024 post-apocalyptic film directed by George Miller and shot by cinematographer Simon Duggan. It is the fifth instalment in the Mad Max series and a prequel to Mad Max: Fury Road (2015).
Responsible for the colour on the latest instalment was Eric Whipp of alter ego, who worked on Baselight 6.0 across three locations: alter ego in LA and Toronto as well as Spectrum Films in Sydney, who handled the workflow supervision, conform, home entertainment mastering and delivery in Baselight.
Whipp, Miller and the Spectrum team worked together previously on Three Thousand Years of Longing (2022) and brought a similar workflow to Furiosa. Whipp and Miller also collaborated on Fury Road, but the director-colourist duo has worked together for nearly two decades.
It's been almost 20 years since the first film I did with George, which was Happy Feet, back in 2005, says Whipp. Since then, we've done five films together, and created a kind of shorthand. I have learned what type of image and style he likes, and at the same time, he's challenged me further and further in the grade, knowing that I can most probably achieve whatever he's looking for. Together, we've pushed the boundaries of what Baselight can do and embraced every little toolset we can find to help tell stories.
Developing a workflow: Sydney The work on the film was spread across three different facilities and cities - starting with Spectrum Films, a family-owned and operated business in Sydney, Australia, who handled the conforming in Baselight in the same space as the editorial department.
Left to right: Dan Glass (VFX supervisor for DNEG), Genna McAuliffe (senior producer for alter ego), Eric Whipp and George Miller We started on the workflow for Furiosa while we were completing Three Thousand Years of Longing, comments Michael Messih, technical operations manager at Spectrum. The same on-set VFX supervisor worked on both films, so we were able to bring a lot of what we had developed in Baselight directly over to the Furiosa pipeline.
The Rebel Fleet managed the dailies and all the VFX pulls, and because there were so few shots which didn't require visual effects we decided to do everything via EXR sequences, explains Catherine Armstrong, general manager and head of post-production at Spectrum. At no point did we actually see any of the original camera raw files.
Andrew Cuc , colourist and finishing editor at Spectrum, commented: The best feature we had was Baselight's shot versioning tool. We would typically get up to 100 shots a day, so having the version refresh feature made things so much quicker. Also being able to switch back and compare versions during VFX reviews was amazing.
Spectrum helped to develop a workflow for colour-critical 4K graded streams between LA and Sydney, and maintained a rigorous calibration check procedure - including colour comparisons and render tests - to ensure that everyone was seeing the same images.
George likes to refer to the term rolling DI', implying a tight integration between departments which means that the grading process happens alongside all the VFX work, explains Messih. Having the remote working ability between Spectrum and alter ego meant that Eric didn't have to spend weeks over in Sydney - and George could review everything from the 4K DI theatre at Spectrum.
The Spectrum team worked entirely in ACES and made good use of Baselight's ability to quickly switch between colour spaces to compare colour in different viewing conditions. It also supported quick switching of formats, which they were doing all the time to compare 4K, HD and UHD against the various references.
Supported by a team of additional finishing editors (Affrica Handley and James Cowie) and production experts (Basia A'hern and Sofia Costa), the Spectrum team utilised the Baselight reporting tool, which allowed them to provide daily data reports and enable the VFX supervisor to cross-check versions.
This was essential in Furiosa, as we were doing most of the VFX changes in Baselight rather than waiting for an updated EDL, comments Armstrong. DI was effectively leading the edit in the end, so this reporting tool was critical.
Due to the nature of Eric's stacks, I ended up doing quite a lot of the editorial changes manually in the timeline, adds Cuc . The new Baselight 6.0 timeline editing tools will make this much easier - the addition of tracks and the ability to compress large stacks means managing a complex timeline will be a lot simpler for future projects like this.
Colour: LA and Canada alter ego opened its LA office in September 2023 and knew one of the first projects would be Furiosa.
We ensured we had everything we needed to grade the film while building out the new office, says Whipp. A big part of this was to ensure that our six Baselight suites in Toronto could easily sync with the two new Baselight suites in LA.
We also needed to find a way to sync up the Baselight suites at Spectrum, so we set up a project server here at alter ego in LA, which everyone was connected to, says Whipp. This way, once a reel was conformed in Sydney, it was as easy as opening it in LA and everything was linked up.
Europe Stories
09/11/2025
Dalet today announced a transformative leap forward for media operations: Agentic Artificial Intelligence (AI) that unifies the Dalet ecosystem under one natura...
06/10/2025
France T l visions, France's leading broadcaster, has received the 2025 EBU ...
17/09/2025
It was the ultimate convergence of pop culture and literary prestige: Last night, Dua Lipa brought her Service95 Book Club podcast to the stage for a special li...
17/09/2025
Transatlantic collaboration combines experience and agility to drive innovation in network design and delivery
Luxembourg, September 16, 2025 - SES, a leading ...
17/09/2025
Wednesday 17 September 2025
UK artists capture icons of stage and screen, inclu...
17/09/2025
For the Moon Safari anniversary tour, AIR opened the doors to their backstage. Just a few hours before the Paris concert, DPA met with two key figures of the te...
17/09/2025
Auditions will be held in Dublin, Cork and Galway
The County Parade returns f...
16/09/2025
Hace una d cada, la m sica latina representaba apenas el 8% de las reproducciones globales en Spotify. Hoy, constituye m s de una cuarta parte (27%) de toda la ...
16/09/2025
A decade ago, Latin music made up just 8% of global Spotify streams. Today, it a...
16/09/2025
Spotify is expanding our video lineup with a new partnership with Zoo 55, part of ITV Studios. For the first time, acclaimed content from ITV Studios is landing...
16/09/2025
Calrec has strengthened its collaboration with audio metering expert RTW by integrating RTW's new TMxCore metering platform across its full range of Argo IP...
16/09/2025
Leading space solutions company will use optical ground stations to deliver faster, more secure data from space
Luxembourg, September 15, 2025 - SES, a leading...
16/09/2025
Comscore Unveils The Scoreboard: An Interactive Destination Surfacing Consumer B...
15/09/2025
Global K-Pop sensation aespa is redefining what it means to be rich with the r...
15/09/2025
Every day, millions of people around the world turn to Spotify to enjoy the audi...
15/09/2025
After months of intensive planning and implementation, Brembo SGL Carbon Ceramic...
15/09/2025
Unique sports content orchestration platform builds momentum among SES's cus...
15/09/2025
-- Opens door to growth in renewable energy New Delhi, India - 15th September -- Global business and industry leaders from around the world are joining technol...
13/09/2025
Harmonic's Software-Based XOS Advanced Media Processor Provides Unparalleled Efficiency and Unlocks New Business Models SAN JOSE, Calif. - Sept. 13, 2025 -...
12/09/2025
For fans, we know how important it is to stay plugged into music culture and dis...
12/09/2025
Link ping, Sweden and Shipley, United Kingdom, September 12, 2025 - Agama, the expert in video observability and analytics for service quality and customer expe...
12/09/2025
Feature-length retrospective from Studio Crook to air in 2026
Sir David Jason returns to the nation's favourite comedy channel, U&GOLD, for Open All Hours:...
12/09/2025
Friday 12 September 2025
The Boomtown Rats, Nyah Grace, Soweto Kinch, Royal Ballet and Madness also announced to perform at the ceremony on Tuesday
Sky today ...
12/09/2025
Wuppertal September 12, 2025
Riedel Unveils Ultra-Light Bolero Mini Wireless Intercom BeltpackAt IBC2025 in Amsterdam, Riedel Communications unveiled Bolero M...
12/09/2025
Wuppertal September 12, 2025
Riedel Communications Acquires hi human interfaceRiedel Communications today announced the acquisition of hi human interface fro...
12/09/2025
CORE+ virtually removes distortion, setting a new standard for church sound and giving worship teams the clarity and confidence they need.
Read the full artic...
12/09/2025
The Late Late Show is back with a bang after the summer break, and Patrick Kielt...
12/09/2025
The World Athletics Championships, Ireland v France in the Women's Rugby World Cup quarter-final, the Irish Champions Festival, and two Sports Direct Men...
12/09/2025
The Records Show starts Sunday at 6.30pm on RT One and RT Player.
Katie Hanno...
11/09/2025
RADAR, Spotify's program for emerging talent, recently hit a major milestone...
11/09/2025
Link ping, Sweden, September 11, 2025 - Agama, the expert in video observability & analytics for service quality and customer experience, announced today the la...
11/09/2025
Under the USD 89.6 Million award, SES Space & Defense will provide global commer...
11/09/2025
Leading Balkan DTH provider adds capacity to consolidate its m:Sat TV platform at 23.5 degrees East and serve more customers across the region
Luxembourg, 11 S...
11/09/2025
UKTV's free streaming service U launches on Sky Q
Free streaming service U has launched on Sky Q in the UK, UKTV and Sky confirm today, expanding the footp...
11/09/2025
From the discreet 2061 lavaliers to 4099 and 4011 mics, the setup delivered clean, natural sound in one of the most challenging broadcast environments.
Read th...
11/09/2025
From rugged build quality to natural, detailed sound, the verdict is clear: big performance can come in a very small package.
Read the full review here!...
11/09/2025
Tonight on Prime Time
RT One and RT Player at 9:35pm
Tonight RT Prime Time...
11/09/2025
RT Statement: 2026 Eurovision Song Contest
At the General Assembly of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) in July, a number of EBU members raised concerns ...
10/09/2025
Lossless on Spotify Premium is here.
Lossless audio has been one of the most a...
10/09/2025
The Television Will Be Revolutionised Sep 10, 2025
Written by Sunit Kotecha, Director of Delivery and Operations, YouView
2025 marks a century since the f...
10/09/2025
First of Spains F110 frigates get future-ready with Rohde & Schwarz communicatio...
10/09/2025
Harmonic's cOS Platform Supports DOCSIS and Fiber, Enabling Midco to Deliver Reliable Multi-Gigabit Connectivity to Subscribers SAN JOSE, Calif. - Sept. 10,...
10/09/2025
RT brings three days of live radio, live entertainment, live news, live weather, personal appearances, and more
Join RT Radio 1: Morning Ireland, The Oliver ...
09/09/2025
Since 2020, Spotify's RADAR program has been a launchpad for emerging talent...
09/09/2025
In 2020, Spotify launched RADAR with a clear mission: to identify, nurture, and ...
09/09/2025
If you're on BookTok, you know the drill. You scroll, you tap, and suddenly your To Be Read list is overflowing with trending must-reads. Not unlike Spoti...
09/09/2025
eds3_5_jq(document).ready(function($) { $(#eds_sliderM519).chameleonSlider_2_1({ content_source:......
09/09/2025
Harmonic's VOS360 Ad SaaS Enables Personalized Ad Delivery and Seamless Integration with the Ad Tech Ecosystem SAN JOSE, Calif. - Sept. 9, 2025 - Harmonic ...
09/09/2025
St. Luke's Episcopal Church in New Jersey needed audio that truly connects and they found the answer.
Read the full case study here!...
Colourist Eric Whipp discusses the challenges of creating the look for George Millers epic blockbuster
