Rahul Purav is a veteran colorist with a career spanning over 30 years. He joined India's FutureWorks (www.futureworks.in) in 2007 and is currently the studio’s director of digital imaging. He recently took some time to share insight into his role and work at the studio.
Hi Rahul. Tell us about your responsibilities at FutureWorks?
"My role requires me to manage the color team at FutureWorks, ensuring projects are delivered on-time and to the highest quality. Likewise, I need to ensure that the team is kept abreast of the most up-to-date tools and technologies in the trade. I test out the integration of them with cameras, lights, lenses and DI tools to ensure the best outcome in terms of quality and budget."
What’s your day-to-day like?
"This varies a lot! If I’m starting a big project, I tend to be heavily focussed on planning. I work closely with cinematographers and directors to ensure that their vision is conceptualized. The grade is a critical part of visual storytelling, as it affects the mood and tone of a production. When supporting the wider color team, I assist with reviewing passes and act as the gateway in communication between the colorists, producers and directorial teams."
Photo: Jogi
Tell us about how you came to work at FutureWorks?
"I joined FutureWorks at the very beginning back in 2007 – I’m a veteran! The ethos and mission of FutureWorks has always been the driving force for me to stick around. It’s an incredibly progressive and dynamic organization. It offers continuous growth, learning and development opportunities, and a positive attitude towards the innovation of digital imaging. The implementation and execution of new concepts and technologies is one the biggest strengths of the organization. We’re always looking for the best solutions that benefit both organization in terms of efficiency and partners in terms of quality."
What do you find rewarding about your job?
"Opportunities to research new technologies and practices in DI, and implement them on projects. I love that I’m always learning on the job – I’m always growing. Implementing new processes and pipelines for imaging has always been my forte, and it’s become central to my role. It’s very rewarding."
Photo: Mirzapur
Can you talk about some of your work?
"I’m really proud of the work completed on Sultan, the 2016 Indian/Hindi language drama about an underdog wrestler. It all started with building the DI from scratch with cinematographer Artur Zurawski. He decided to shoot with and test a whole variety of anamorphic lenses, and this was a new challenge for me, I learned a lot from the testing process! We worked very closely with the FutureWorks Rental team to support this project intimately, so it was an all-round team effort. When it came to the color, the look was very stylized and we had the opportunity to be creative with this. While it was stylized, the aesthetic was still very simple and not over processed. The final render was stunning and fit the narrative perfectly. The efforts really paid off at the box office and Sultan was the highest grossing Hindi film of 2016."
You've been in the industry for many years?
"Since 1991. I’m fully integrated into the world of post production! From VFX and compositing to grading, I’ve done it all! It’s been an interesting journey over the past two decades, witnessing the rapid advancements in DI technology, from the development of color science to the use of AI. Ultimately, it’s a journey where nobody gets older, as we all continue to innovate and stay on top of our game."
Photo: Jersey
Talk about some of the significant changes you've noticed in the VFX industry since you started your career?
"When I entered the visual effects industry in the early '90s, nobody knew what the business was about. Access to training and growth was tough, and systems were much slower in comparison to today - believe it or not! Fast forward to 2024 and there has been an exponential increase in VFX in terms of software and hardware, and visualization is more effective than ever. Complex modeling, camera movements, creating environments and the integration of live camera technologies has improved the job substantially. The quality of DI is always improving, and I feel very lucky to have joined the industry in its early days and witnessed the rapid innovation of the past three decades."
What do you think the future looks like for post production?
"I think the future looks bright for post production - the immediate future, with so many developments, like virtual production, HDR and so on. My focus is on developing an integrated solution from set to final grading and finishing for our clients. We are having more and more discussions with DPs to offer such solutions, as they are excited to take advantage of these rapid developments that can give them finer control of the entire imaging chain and also bring operational efficiencies. GenAI technologies are already making visualization and ideation of concepts more readily accessible, and we are starting to see some AI tools being integrated into NLEs like Baselight. AI tools for post will continue to flourish, and post studios have the responsibility to refine these tools into a fluent workflow for our clients."
Photo: The Kashmir Files
Where do you draw inspiration from?
"I’m a candid photographer with an arts education. It's in my nature to keep thinking and visualizing in a nonlinear way. Everything that I see is a design or a concept. I’m primarily an outdoor person and love exploring new places and environments. This helps me to develop my imagination. It also helps me communicate more effectively with creatives, cinematographers and directors. Color is a very subjective thing, as mentioned earlier, and from my academic days, it was always given importance, especially in art school. There is nothing more important than composition, expression, light, shade, tonalities, color and visual balancing. This is all an integral part of my craft.
"Technology is another inspiring part of my life. In the early days I had to learn programming to get into post production. I’m a keen learner and always will be. This aids with driving me to learn about new technologies and how they’re integrated into the creative process and grade most effectively."