"Love & Mercy: desperate measures

I probably shouldn't tell this story. Not because it's salacious. But because it may be stupid.

It was early morning in Hollywood. The production of "Love & Mercy" the new movie coming out this summer with Paul Dano & John Cusack and Elizabeth Banks. I'd transferred some early footage from the day before. It was a studio scene that had the Beach Boys recording in a studio. To which a lens flare had been fogging up the filmed footage. I thought it was part of the effect. Colorist alerted the production which alerted the key people. That would be producer, director and cinematographer Robert Yeoman. I have an ENORMOUS respect for Robert Yeoman, because he is a filmmaker. He shoots on film.

They were called in an emergency to view the dailies. Unbeknownst to me, the colorist was about a few hours before he was scheduled to show. The operations manager, in full panic, hurried me into a coloring bay to play the footage. This is where it becomes foggy. I've never operated their system. If it were Final Cut or Apple Color or Resolve, I could fumble my way around. This was a coloring system I'm less than familiar with. I walked into the dark theater, and set up what I believed to be the footage. I scrubbed towards what I thought was the image. That's when I heard it. Footsteps. Followed by chatter. Which is when the three people filed in. Producer, director and Robert Yeoman. I froze in my chair.

...already keyed up from their time of shooting down the street on Sunset, these people had to pry their time away from the shoot to review an issue. Operated by me, who knew just enough to skate by. So what happens. Button pushing. A click here a dial spin there. Footage rolls. And they see the scene and the issue. And something happens when people look at footage. They see the problems. Not just the big problems. They see ALL problems. So Robert chimed up and asked me to boost it a bit (we'd just given them a projection color, which is a default). I kinda' searched my brain. Turned a dial. And something happened. Not sure what. But it changed the image. To which Robert said "no, no...more contrast." He wasn't angry or impatient. He was focused. That's when the director spoke up and said that they didn't have time to mess with it. Saw what they needed to see, and scheduled with the producer to re-shoot this segment. I slumped into my chair as they filed out. Before they left, Robert turned back to me, shook my hand and thanked me. I'm sure he saw the fear on my face. And I just couldn't get the words out that one of the most influential movies of my life was "Drugstore Cowboy" for which he shot. And he was nominated this year for "The Grand Budapest Hotel" for which I think he was robbed of the cinematography Oscar.

That was amazing.
"Love & Mercy" trailer