Will AI Replace Colourists?

Is AI going to render colourists obsolete?

Fifteen years ago I almost gave up trying to be a colourist.

At the time, film was on its way out and digital files were being heralded as this amazing solution to everything. It was going to make everything much simpler (!).

Grading could be done at the touch of a button, they said.

Here’s what I've since found, which makes me hopeful that it’s not going to happen now with AI, either.

<Colourist sends graded version 1 to agency/client>

Director: can it be a bit glossier, can we boost the saturation?

DOP: can it be darker, could we add some grain? Can we do anything to even out the smoke? Can we add it in here?

Producer: can we add some more light to her face? We paid a lot of money to have Missy McFamous in this so we really need to highlight her.

Client 1: I know it’s a scene in an alleyway but can we keep the watch nice and bright at all times please?

Client 2: I know it’s a watch advert but the whole point is it’s meant to be discrete so can we hide the watch a bit more please?

See, it’s entirely feasible (and common) to have five different opinions, all with conflicting interests and agendas.

The colourist needs to be mindful of them, understand that different things are important to different people. With for good reason, as any future work may depend on it.

Now, when the director is asking to ‘boost the saturation’ when that they’re actually wanting is to show that woman’s tattoo more clearly.

Client one and client two are going to bicker the whole time and passively aggressively veto whatever the other one says, because they’re locked in a year long battle of internal politics.

There's no right or wrong answer.

Whether or not they each get their way, everyone needs to feel heard during the process, in order to feel satisfied. Just because they sign off on it, doesn't mean they're happy.

How is AI going to manage all of that with some single smartarse ‘auto’ button?

AI might shut down a few peoples’ jobs in the short term.

But it’s much more likely to open up a whole host of jobs that weren’t previously possible.

After all, half the stuff above wasn’t feasible for most people before digital files came along.