The Famous DP

My clients were hiring a big name DP for a while. He was such a big name that he didn’t even need a surname. Just his first name was enough for instant recognition. ‘We’re shooting with Raoul’ the clients whispered reverently, as if Raoul was kindly allowing them along for the ride.

I immediately knew who they meant: Bicoastal Raoul, based in New York and LA, although he actually seemed to spend most of his time in Boston.

Before hiring Raoul, my clients had always employed local DPs. ‘Those guys are great,’ my clients told me. ‘But Raoul brings something extra to the table.’That something extra was an extra-sized ego as far as I was concerned. But I said nothing. After all, I was concerned that if Raoul got his way I wouldn’t be sat around the table myself for very much longer.

‘Raoul prefers to work with a color grader he knows in Manhattan.’ I was warned. And that turned out to be the case. At least for a while.

Apparently, the NY look of my client’s next set of spots was not exactly what was wanted. Where the local DPs and I had kept everything on-brand and copacetic, Raoul and his pal went rogue and inappropriate. K-pop video style might be fine for breakfast cereals and soda, but not for conservative financial institutions and banks.

So they brought all the footage back to Boston for me to re-color. In other words, make it look as normal as possible.

Don’t get me wrong, I like to play around and experiment as much as the next guy. I even think some big name DPs are pretty cool. But I know what the limits are for particular types of projects, and when I need to argue against some maverick’s cutting-edge caprice, I’m more than prepared to have a quiet word with them while we take a well-earned creative break.

Because after thirty years of working with clients and their clients, big name DPs, top shelf directors, and those mysterious people whom nobody knows exactly who they are or even why they’re at the color session, I’m not only an expert color grader, I’m also a first class diplomat, skilled psychologist, and a compassionate empath. You have to be in this game.

Raoul, meanwhile, has completely dropped off the radar. They come and they go, these big names from New York and LA. But we Boston stalwarts remain, plying our good, honest, and reliable trade.