The Griptape Edition – Sunday Color Grading Newsletter

Welcome to March 2026, as this year marches steadily forward.
And next Sunday is when most of us in the US will shift our clocks forward, extending daylight later into the evening. You’ve been forewarned!

There’s not been much else to say this week. As I’m in the final archival stages of the series I’ve been working on for the last 3 months, Sauren’s eye now re-focuses on many Mixing Light initiatives.

I’m genuinely looking forward to the rest of 2026.
Claude.ai is opening new pathways to move this operation forward, quickly. It’s already saved significant money by replacing 3rd party software with internal automation. Those lessons have been a proving ground.

I think the lessons being learned will prove useful to us as colorists, VFX artists, finishers, and editors. Both creatively (by removing the mundane aspects of our work) and in our business lives (by increasing our efficiency and allowing us to focus on relationships, rather than tools to manage those relationships).

But the proof is in the execution. And that’s what the end of 1Q2026 kicks off for MixingLight.com.

Happy Grading! I’ll see you next Sunday

Sincerely,

Pat Inhofer
Chief Photon Wrangler, Publisher
MixingLight.com

PS – If you find an item you think should be in this newsletter, email me a quick note.

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“Acclaimed film producer Jerry Bruckheimer was honored with the VES Lifetime Achievement Award, presented by his longtime collaborator, F1: The Movie director Joseph Kosinski. Weta Workshop co-founder and chief creative officer Richard Taylor received this year’s VES Visionary Award.”

Click through for the full list of winners.

“So, according to YouTube, less-desirable images can be created by wide lenses, narrow lenses, shallow depth of field, deep depth of field, high contrast and low contrast.”

Hence, why you shouldn’t design your next film production based on YouTube opinionators.