Maria Carretero: expressing yourself with color and images
Maria Carretero is a Chicago-based Spanish colorist that has had vast experience in commercials, feature films and other productions. Maria took the leap from freelancing to working in-house for post-production company Carbon VFX, with who she does grading all across Chicago, New York and Los Angeles. We caught up with her to discuss leading a multifaceted career, her main take-away experiences from being both a freelancer and working full time and finding the perfect grade for a project.
When did you first get into color grading and when did you decide to pursue it as your current career direction?
I started color grading 13 years ago, it felt like a logical next step to mix my artistic painting experience with all of the digital work that I was developing in 3D and with matte painting. At that time digital grading was gaining momentum in Spain and Deluxe offered for me to join them on the adventure. As I started to learn the new digital process I realized that while color grading has a technical side, it was also really artistic and I was able to apply my skills in this new medium.
Previous to that, you had some experience as a graphic effects artist in different film productions? What made you take the leap into grading?
I saw that color grading was the closest area in the digital world to painting, and I liked that I could express myself through the images and make a whole story without words.
Did you have any formation or is something that you learn along the way, or being self-taught?
I worked within this world as a matte painter on feature films like Bad Education (Pedro Almodóvar) and Mar Adentro (Alejandro Amenábar), so I was aware of the role of the colorist. But when I decided to jump into that world I was alone, I can say that I was self-taught. I remember that time of my life and I was in panic constantly, haha. Working hard and also being lucky enough to work with some great directors and cinematographers helped me a lot.
As a colorist you have been involved in many advertising campaigns working in-house, but also in feature films freelancing. What are your main take-away experiences from both aspects, in-house and freelancing?
Freelancing shakes you up all of the time, dealing with lots of different countries, new people and situations everyday, everyone has different workflows and mentalities. You need to be really awake every single day! Working in-house at Carbon has been really great because you have more control of your environment and workflow. When the Carbon Chicago space was being built out earlier this year I was able to work closely with our Executive Producer Phil Linturn to design my room and equipment. We wanted to create a really nice environment both to work in and for clients. I’ve also noticed that being in house I’m involved in the projects earlier on before they start, it’s nice to have that time to prepare and find references.
You have quite a multifaceted career — you also paint and have participated in different art exhibitions. Do you consider that an enhancement to your professional life?
Being an artist isn’t something that you choose, you are or you aren’t. You wake up and you’re thinking as an artist; questions about reality, point of view, the beauty around you — and you want to express it through painting, photography, performances and video. How could this not make your work richer?
What’s your approach when grading the work of another director and DOP? Is there any previous communication with them or guidelines, or do you usually have creative freedom when starting a project?
I always try to approach a project before the grading begins thinking about what we want to communicate, what are the goals of the image? But it’s nice to have some creative freedom when starting a project too. When clients tell me that I have some creative freedom at the beginning of a project it’s great because it lets me know they trust me.
How did you first hear about Movidiam? What was appealing for you as a colorist about the platform?
Movidiam sent me an invitation to be part of the platform; I thought it was a very interesting way to be in contact with other professionals.
What are you currently working on?
It’s been a busy year on lots of projects for clients like Porsche, Disney and Chevy. I just worked on some short films that launched on Nowness this week and of course there are some exciting things I’m not allowed to talk about yet!
Being a colorist, working remotely and in international projects is a constant. How do you feel platforms like Movidiam are changing the way you work or collaborate with other creatives around the globe? Do you feel it is opening a new door?
Being so easily connected to people all over the world is really helpful and definitely makes it easier to work and collaborate.
After years as an established color professional, if you had to give a piece of advice, what would it be?
Enjoy every day, care about each job like it’s the best film in the world, and push your ideas, suggestions and impressions further!
Find Maria online:
Movidiam: Maria Carretero
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