Justin Schroepfer is a colorist at New York City-based Modern Post, a post company that provides services for editing, color grading and visual effects. A run in with a car led Schroepfer to pivot from cinematography to post production and, specifically, color. His color grading work spans fashion, beauty, commercial, fragrance and short-form projects for clients ranging from Victoria’s Secret, Calvin Klein and Old Navy to Valentino, Maybelline, Shiseido and Tiffany. He also colored Vogue’s “The Short Report” campaign featuring Sabrina Carpenter.

Let’s learn more…

As a colorist, what would surprise people the most about what falls under that title?
I think the texture work we do would surprise people… things like adding lens distortions and film grain or reducing distracting textures like dust and scratches. I think the overall feel of an image falls to the colorist, and texture plays a role in that, along with the traditional hue/saturation/luminosity adjustments.

Are you sometimes asked to do more than just color on projects?
Sometimes, yes. It’s on a case-by-case basis, but there have been times in the past when I’ve done compositing work, stitching multiple plates together and then grading it after. There have also been times when I’ve been tasked with fully editing and grading at the same time.

What are some recent projects you’ve worked on?
Mostly commercial and fashion projects, working with brands like Spotify, Meta, Calvin Klein and the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show. I’ve also recently worked on a short documentary that I believe just got accepted into its first festival.

Can you describe a challenging scene from one of them?
For the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show, the intro film was shot to be a single take, with multiple hero moments for each of the featured models. But there were some larger requests for each of these individual moments, even though they were all part of the same take. So the challenging part was pushing the look for some of those individual moments and making them seamlessly and naturally transition from moment to moment while all being part of the same take.

How do you prefer to work with the DP/director?
I love talking things through before even starting the grade just to get an idea of how they want things to feel and establish a baseline understanding of what we’re trying to create. Or maybe just to learn about the challenges of the shoot and figure out how I can help alleviate any issues. Bonus points if we’re talking about color and doing tests in preproduction.

How do you prefer the DP or director to describe the look they want? Physical examples, film to emulate, etc.?
I like it when looks are described without using any specific color terminology. That part will always come later, but to start, I like to talk about how things should feel, as if they were writing a book and setting a scene. It could be as simple as “warm” or even more descriptive, like “a spring morning, the moment the sun rises over the horizon.” That said, reference images from other films are also helpful just to really make sure we’re all on the same page.

Any suggestions for getting the most out of a project from a color perspective?
This might be a little colorist secret, but great-looking footage kind of grades itself. So I guess I would recommend creating your look in-camera as much as possible through lighting, set dec, lens filters, costumes, makeup, etc. If that’s all set up for the colorist, your vision becomes very clear to us, and we can focus on really bringing it to life. To use a sports metaphor, if you give the colorist a nice, slow pitch over the center of the plate, we’ll knock it out of the park.

Do you provide LUTs for on-set?
On occasion, yes. There have been some cases where I’d make the in-camera LUT on-set and then start working on the full grade as the footage rolls in. Being on-set is great for getting a chance to see what things look like in person, but sometimes it’s tricky to find a dark corner to work in.

How does your process change when working on a film versus episodics versus commercials, etc.?
I like to think my core color grading sensibilities remain the same no matter what kind of project it is, but the number of shots versus the amount of time to complete them will obviously be a major factor. Sometimes, though, in those tight turnaround situations, it can really make you think about what’s really important for any given scene.

What system do you work on?
Blackmagic DaVinci Resolve.

What’s your favorite part of color grading?
It can be very satisfying to find that one simple adjustment that has a large impact on the feeling of a scene. Sometimes just shifting that one outlier color to fall back within the overall palette can make a world of difference.

Do you have a least favorite? If so, what?
Sometimes I get sent a fully Photoshopped and finished reference image that the footage needs to be matched to perfectly. It can have its own set of challenges and rewards, but in those cases, I do feel less like an artist and more like a copy machine.

Why did you choose this profession?
Funny story, I actually had more of a background in cameras and cinematography in my earlier career. But when I broke my foot after getting struck by a car that ran a red light, I had to switch to post production in order to pay my rent. But one thing led to another, and I just stayed on the post path. I had some experience with grading my own footage in the past, so I leaned into that and leveraged my past camera/cinematography experience into a career in color grading.

If you didn’t have this job, what would you be doing instead?

The boring answer to this question would be, “I would still be involved in film and video production, either as an AC, DP, DIT, PA or any other acronym.” The fun answer would be pinball machine repairman.

What is the project that you are most proud of?
Hard to pick a single favorite, but I think I’ll say the Met Gala projects, which have to shoot, edit, grade and deliver all on the same night. Just such a quick turnaround with multiple moving parts, all while being sleep-deprived… It’s a rewarding challenge.

Where do you find inspiration? Art? Photography? Instagram?
Weirdly, I think music drives my inspiration the most. A close second would be album art for a more direct, visual inspiration.

Is there a film or show that sticks out to you as an example of great color?
In recent memory, I think Sinners was a pretty great use of color. The overall look really immersed the viewer into the time period as well as the emotion of each scene. And the cherry on top was the use of individual colors to represent themes and characters.

Any tips or tricks you would like to offer up?
Take breaks and give it a second look with fresh eyes later.

What about tips for the clients you are working with? Any best practices you’d like to share?
I think this applies to working with all artists, not just colorists, but approaching them with an attitude of “Can you help me accomplish x?” can make a big difference compared to “I need you to accomplish x.”

Can you name some technology you can’t live without?
As much as I’d like to think I could switch to living off the grid at a moment’s notice, I probably wouldn’t be able to retain my sanity without access to the internet.

What do you do to de-stress from it all?
Weather permitting, I go for a walk through Prospect Park. But if I’m stuck inside, I’ll settle for putting on an album and a nice cup of coffee.