UK - Brick and Mortar, a high-tech boutique grading studio in Glasgow, was set up with the intention of providing filmmakers with a facility to rival the best in London’s Soho – traditionally the home of UK post-production expertise – both in terms of technology and talent.
To establish Scotland’s first DCI-compliant grading studio, Brick and Mortar picked a Christie CP4420-Xe Xenon projector with 2.0KW LB Xenon and Premium High Contrast Zoom lens.
Bringing the post-production prowess of Soho to Scotland was the brain-child of colourist, Tom Cairns and creative director, Jack Lang, who recognised that many filmmakers are not located near London and wanted to provide a high-tech alternative.
They teamed up with Savalas Post who not only had an established audio team and a high-end Dolby Premier mix theatre, but a location in Film City Glasgow, located in the former Govan Town Hall in a Beaux Arts building. The result was a new joint-venture offering the first ever dual-purpose, theatrical projector-based mix and grade theatre of its kind north of London, with 4K projection, HDR ability and Baselight colour grading systems.
For the projection Cairns turned to post-production consultant Peter Sutton from Kaurus who recommended the Christie CP4420-Xe Xenon projector.
“We just felt good with the Xenon, and many of our clients are used to working with Xenon too and feel in safe and familiar hands, which is important. The facility gives them confidence along with comfort in the great space,” said Cairns. “Only Christie still produces Xenon DCI compliant projectors,” explained Sutton. Christie has maintained the Xenon light source, which colourists globally have worked with for many years, trust and are comfortable with.”
“Christie Xenon projectors are, by the very nature of the light source, able to natively achieve the DCI-P3 colour space, compared to some alternative light sources requiring additional filters and second only to RGB pure laser, which can complicate colour perception, making Xenon a tried and tested choice for film grading,” Sutton continued.
“Every post facility has slightly differing environments and design challenges which we need to ensure can function technically as required,” said Sutton, “And with Christie’s comprehensive suite of zoom lenses to choose from, including the new Premium High Contrast Zoom lens, plus the 2.0KW LB Xenon lamp option, we were able to achieve the light levels and contrast needed in Brick and Mortar’s colour-grading environment.”
Sutton reports that the new Series 4 electronics and control system make setting up the projection both faster and even more intuitive than previous series: “The interface is easy to navigate with an excellent graphical approach,” he explained.
“Peter was fantastic on this project from the start,” commented Cairns, also stressing that confidence is a key factor: “The client has to feel assured that when the director walks in, what they are shown is as good as they can get. What we are offering in terms of technology rivals anything in the county.”
Sutton added: “The best of both worlds – and without compromise – has been achieved here by creating a superb grading theatre within an existing audio facility.
“This collaboration offers far better pictures than a conventional audio facility and far better sound than a conventional grading suite. They also have the luxury of much more space than most places in London, and it is fitted with cinema seats creating a very comfortable and cinematic sound editing and grading environment in one. It’s very unusual and a great resource for film and TV post-production.”
