MG Srinivas’s upcoming directorial, Birbal Trilogy - Case 1 Finding Vajramuni, currently in the post production stage is focussing on colour grading. He believes that a colourist is ‘half story teller and half technician.’ “His work is no less of an art,” says Srinivas, who is associating with Hollywood colourist, Walter Cavatoi. “Given that Birbal is a dark and edgy crime drama, I wanted to create a visual impact like the ones Hollywood films do.
So when I was looking for a colourist from Hollywood, the VFX artiste, Srinivasa Kalyana, who worked in my previous film, suggested that I look into the works of Walter Cavotoi. His works, be it feature films, documentaries, advertisements, music videos or short films, are a class apart. So, I decided to approach him with the script and he agreed to come on board,” explains Srinivas.
“As a filmmaker, he need clarity regarding our colour temperature and palette and Walter’s involvement has made this process a smooth and enlightening one for the director and actor. We need to know all about our day and night shots and their colour output much before we commence the shoot.”
Walter Cavatoi is a US- based colourist. This Italian technician has ten years experience and is a member of world -renowned Colourist Society International. “Walter wanted to look into the script before hand. We had several rounds of discussions regarding the camera format, lighting and budget constraints before signing on the dotted line. You can get an idea of his work by watching our teaser.”
Davinci Resolve is the software that is being used to grade Birbal and having seen Walter’s work in the teaser, the grading company has featured the same on its official social platforms dedicated to featuring the best colour grading works. “This way, Birbal becomes the first Kannada film to have achieved this feat. With this development, the Kannada trilogy has caught the eyes of colourists from across the world,” says Srinivas.
Produced by TR Chandrashekar under Crystal Park Cinemas, the film has MG Srinivas playing the role. The film has Saurabh Vaibhav scoring its music and cinematography by Bharath Parashuram.