Meet Colorist Jim Wicks
Robbie Carman
Ever Wonder What Classic Film Restoration Entails?
Meet Colorist Jim Wicks
In this installment of the Mixing Light Colorist Profile series, we are honored to have colorist, color correction news guru and all around nice guy Jim Wicks.
Based in West Palm Beach Florida, Jim is a colorist working in lots of different genres, but the one that fascinates me the most is color restoration. Jim has digitally color corrected dozens of classic films including some classic Mexican films from the golden age of Mexican cinema.
Color Correcting Restored Classic Films
Imagine having to color correct a classic film where the DP, Director and Producers are not even alive anymore! But, you’re still tasked in realizing and rediscovering their creative vision.
I know! A little intimidating!
In this interview, Jim discusses his background, how his approach to grading a classic film is kind of like being “the film whisperer” and is complete with sage advice for young colorists.
On a personal note, I was really excited about this interview. I’m so used to having clients sit with me in the room and bark out direction, I’ve always been fascinated about restoration work and how the creative decisions are made when clients aren’t there to tell you what they like or what they were trying to capture. Jim’s insights into the this process are very informative and interesting.
Enjoy!
– Robbie
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Jim Wicks’ Linkroll
- Visit Jim’s personal portfolio site
- Check out Olympusat – the company that Jim works for. They have a 15 minute mini-doc on the Mexican Classic Films restoration project with some great Before / Afters.
- Jim Wicks’ IMdB Profile – he’s usually credited as ‘James Wicks’.
- Follow Jim on Twitter – He’s active.
- Sign up for Tao Of Color’s Color Correction Newsletter – Jim is the Editor of the weekly Tao Colorist Newsletter. If you enjoyed this interview, then you need to sign up for the Tao Newsletter!
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Really good interview with Jim Wicks. Jim has been in this business many years and is a student of film and its history. He is able to apply this knowledge of film when he approaches a project giving him a distinct advantage when performing color correction on films that are being restored. Jim delivers a unique perspective on how to find the color in these old film gems. Very interesting listening. Thanks for posting this.