Making The Grade: Jimmy Hsu on his 'Invisible' Craft

Senior colourist Jimmy Hsu of Company 3 Vancouver has quite an impressive and eclectic reel. His work can be seen on popular Fox Network, Joel McHale comedy Animal Control; Netflix's coming-of-age drama My Life with the Walter Boys; workplace comedy Space Force with Steve Carrell for Netflix, and Syfy’s remarkably colourful-looking series Reginald The Vampire. LBB spoke to him about his professional journey and his thoughts about the art of colour grading.  

LBB> What was your first experience with the world of colour grading – and when did you decide that being a colourist was a role that you wanted to pursue?

Jimmy> I was doing freelance work in Vancouver, and I had an opportunity to work at an Asian TV station -- one of the largest distributor in Asia that had started a 24 hour movie channel. I was the creative director and editor there, working on hundreds and hundreds of TV promos and trailers for the TV channel because it was on 24 hours a day. It was a fun and exciting thing to do.

I did that for a year and a half and then my friend from film school called me up. He had gone into the actual film industry, like on the film side, and that sounded exciting. That led to my going to work for Infinity Post & VFX, which is where I really discovered colour.

LBB> What made you decide to go into colour grading specifically? 

Jimmy> That post production house was owned by a veteran colourist in town in Vancouver. He's been doing it for 40 years. His name is Gary Shaw. Since I was a kid, I've painted, and I did a lot of photography. I was a freelance photographer doing a lot of landscape portraits for a while.

So, I've always been interested in in visual imaging. I wanted to get more involved in colour and Gary said, "sure." He gave me work as a colour assist matching shots and prepping projects for him and then that's how I got started down that path.

LBB> Was there a time when you realised that colour grading had more influence in the storytelling process than you thought when you started?

Jimmy> Oh yeah, for sure. It was quite different with my still photography because obviously you could affect the feeling an image in Photoshop, but when I got into Resolve and the whole post production side, I was blown away by how much the colour grading can shape a whole scene. Once I got into colour correction I realised you could convey a lot of emotions through some very subtle changes. That's when I realised, "Wow, this is something I want to do!" and I've been doing it ever since.

LBB> When you’re out of the studio, what inspires you?

Jimmy> A lot comes from movies that I've watched. Also, I like to visit museums and art galleries. I get inspiration from paintings as well, da Vinci, Michelangelo and van Gogh to name a few. Also, I'm influenced by images in magazines and online that that I'm exposed to every day. 

LBB> Does Vancouver have a good gallery scene?

Jimmy> Yes. they have a Vancouver art gallery that I visit when there's a show. When I when I travel to New York I would visit Metropolitan Museum of Art and galleries there. And whenever I visit Europe, I go to museums and galleries.

LBB> Every colourist works on some shows where the colour really stands out and others where the audience isn't meant to go 'Wow!' but you still probably did a lot of creative work to get it looking the way we see it. What would you say to somebody who might not necessarily realise the artistry involved in shows that seem very "straightforward" looking?

Jimmy> A lot of time what we do is kind of invisible. We just want to enhance the photography. For me, if someone watches my work and they like the show but don't think there's any colour correction involved, I feel like I've done my job, whereas if someone watches my work and they say, "I could see what you did," that might mean it's heavily corrected or distracting, which isn't my goal. 

My philosophy is to always make it as natural as possible and not to overwork the image. I do some shows where a heavy look is required to tell the story but that doesn't mean I necessarily did more or am prouder of my work on those where you'd never even notice a look. 

LBB> How is the craft and trade of colour grading changing?

Jimmy> Colour grading is about a lot more than just colour the way it used to be. I did a lot of additional work before I joined Company 3 because I worked at a place that also owns a visual effects company. So, I've actually been part of the supervising on the visual effects side too, working with a lot of VFX artists. 

At Company 3, I'm not as hands-on with effects but I bring that experience with me to everything I do. I'll do a lot in colour sessions that would once have gone out to a VFX vendor -- things like sky replacements and paint outs, all of which I can do without leaving Resolve.

The more I can do in Resolve, the less the effects department has to worry about, which just makes sense because if we can do it in colour, it can come together more quickly, and we can make changes in real time. And even with big effects that do go out to VFX companies, if they supply us with proper VFX alpha mattes, we can really help to make all the elements come together seamlessly in the grade.

LBB> What do you do in your off hours to unwind?

Jimmy> I try to do some hiking trails and generally don't want to be indoors if I don't have to be. People ask me do you want to go see a movie? I say that if I'm spending 40 hours a week in a dark room, the last thing I want is to be in in the dark room.

Of course, I'll go to a particularly interesting looking movie or watch certain shows, but I try to be away from TV, try to go out as much as I can, either just for a walk or take photos with my phone whenever I see beautiful lighting in nature. I also like Lego. That's my hobby. I really like building sets with Lego blocks. It really keeps my mind occupied.