Making the Grade: Sam Gilling on the Perspective of Being a Small Cog in a Big Wheel

Sam Gilling has established himself as one of the most prominent colorists in the field. Sam Gilling, originally from the UK, has lived and worked in Vancouver, Canada for the past eight years before making his way to BaconX in 2023.

Sam has worked with renowned directors such as Patrick Tracy, Santiago Dulce, David Findlay, and Eliel Ford, and with prestigious brands such as Nike, Tanqueray, Louis Vuitton, and Ebay, making his portfolio adorned with projects that have garnered critical acclaim and recognition. 

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?

Sam> As a student I did a semester abroad in California and bought a stills camera to show my parents what I was up to whilst away. I took terrible pictures but enjoyed editing them in Photoshop and Lightroom. 

I was on a media degree and had developed an interest in post production, so once I learnt about colour correction and saw how some of the skills from editing still images could translate to grading moving ones it felt like a natural path to go down. 

When I got back to the UK I started trawling Mandy for student shorts to grade from my bedroom, then moved to Vancouver at the end of 2015 to pursue it full time. 

LBB> What was the project that you felt really changed your career?

Sam> Soon after moving to Vancouver I was fortunate enough to grade a couple of grad films for cinematographer Farhad Ghaderi. I’d moved to the city without knowing anyone in the industry so working on those films got my work in front of a few people and helped me start to find my feet over there. 

Farhad’s career has since gone from strength to strength and he’s been gracious enough to keep bringing me onto projects which are always a treat to work on. He has the most incredible eye so it’s a collaboration I owe a lot to and hope continues.

LBB> How/where did you hone your craft and did you have any particular mentors?

Sam> I worked in the dailies department at Technicolor Vancouver for three years which taught me a lot about respecting the intent of the director and DOP and seeing colour as the place to make the most of what’s in the footage already rather than a chance to turn it into something else. 

Seeing how much work was done by the production designer, costume department, hair and make-up team etc, as well as the director and DOP, to craft what you’re seeing on screen and how polished things can look on set at that level before even reaching a colour suite helps you learn the perspective of being a small cog in a big wheel and that it’s not your place to make big sweeping adjustments that undo the work that’s been done by the various production departments up to that point.

LBB> Tell us more about your creative process - (e.g.when you get a project, how do you go about developing a look?)

Sam> I’ll ask the creatives if they have any notes for the grade or other projects to look at as references, then watch the offline through a couple of times with those thoughts in mind to start putting my own ideas together. 

When I’m first grading a shot I’ll only be looking at the skin tone of the key character in the frame as that’s most likely what the audience will be looking at. 

I don’t think I’m a very ‘looky’ colourist in that respect as I still approach grading like a dailies colourist; small adjustments that bring the most out of the image rather than aggressive grades that can skew that. Those are fun to do but I have to be pushed in that direction by the creatives; it’s not where my instincts lie as I want to make sure we’re starting off by seeing everything that’s in the footage before deciding what to take away. 

LBB> From experience, we’ve found that colourists often love art and photography - when you’re out of the studio, what inspires you?

Sam> I grew up in the English countryside and while I really love what I do; working in dark rooms in big cities can feel stifling after too long a stretch. Whenever I get the chance I head back to the Highlands or Shropshire where my Mum and Dad now live respectively, walking the dogs and taking pictures with no-one else around is a nice antidote to long days in busy commercial sessions. 

LBB> Colour grading is largely a digital affair, but there’s also been a resurgence of film over the past few years in commercials and music videos. What are your thoughts about working on film versus digital formats like 4K? And what are your favourite techniques for capturing a vintage or tactile feel?

Sam> At Technicolor we worked on the dailies for Bad Times at the El Royale which was shot on 35mm anamorphic by Seamus McGarvey. I remember sitting in the theatre watching the footage back and realising the grain was so fine that you couldn’t see it; what was giving the image its personality was the richness of skin tones and depth of the contrast. That was a turning point of how I approached film emulation; focusing more on how the colour and contrast reacts rather than just slapping a heavy grain overlay on the image and calling it a day. 

Working with actual film is still a treat but I’m more interested in dynamic range and colour science than resolution, grading a 2K 35mm scan or even HD Alexa Classic footage is more fun than an 8K file from other cameras. 

LBB> How do you ensure that each colourist-director partnership is a success?

Sam> As a colourist it’s important to remember that it’s the director’s project, not your’s, so training your eye to see the film how somebody else has intended it to look (even if it goes against your sensibilities) is a good skill to have. 

I’ll give my opinion if I’m not sure on a note but want to make sure everyone’s happy with the end result rather than doing a flashy grade for the sake of doing a flashy grade. 

LBB> What advice would you give to budding colourist?

Sam> The 10,000 hours adage applies to colour; there’s no magic LUT or plug-in or masterclass that will give you the skillset overnight; you just have to sit at the desk and do it again and again and again until it becomes second nature. 

The job also gets easier the longer you do it. The people you’re working with will be getting more experienced at the same rate as you, so you’ll be receiving better footage that needs less work done to it to achieve the look you and the rest of the crew are hoping for. 

A colourist rite of passage is being given an underexposed night-interior on a student film and being asked to make it look like a day-exterior from The Tree of Life. Those requests never fully leave you behind (!) but they become less common as you’re in the job for longer. 

LBB> In your opinion, what's the difference between a good grade and a great grade?

Sam> It’s hard because if a grade is done well you shouldn’t notice it; it should blend into the rest of the film. Grades that stand out to me are ones where they’ve done something different or new while still feeling appropriate for the story the film’s trying to tell. 

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

Sam> Some of the tools Filmlight are adding in the new build of Baselight are pretty wild. They made the point that for a long time now we’ve been trying to do colour grading with tools that were designed for colour correction so I’m excited to try some of the operators they’ve developed to help us as colourists work in new ways.