THE RED PATH
TO A PINK WORLD

Laura Redpath became a digital imaging technician right around the time the job was being invented. She’s been adapting along with the tools and techniques for the ensuing two decades, as they were being developed, and in many cases, helping to invent the adaptations. So when director of photography Rodrigo Prieto, ASC, AMC asked her whether she could use a printer lights-style approach on Barbie, she said, “I don’t see why not. Let’s investigate. And if there are obstacles, can they be overcome?”

Prieto seemed quite pleased with that response. “I’ve always been used to working with technologies as they’ve been developed,” she says. “There’s never been a road map for this. I’ve had to do my own learning. When I worked at CODEX, I did a lot of the teaching as well. I never had the luxury of having someone else to tell me how things work. I had to figure it out, so when people throw something new at me, my reaction is, let’s see if it’s possible.”

DP Rodrigo Prieto, ASC, AMC

Three main show LUTs were developed by Prieto with the help of Yvan Lucas and Philippe Panzini. These were adapted slightly for volume shooting by dailies colorist Michael Davis, accounting for the punchier look of LED screens. On the set, Prieto and his colleagues saw the images with the LUTs applied, in P3 color space, which is the same color space used for the DCP file distributed to theaters. Many productions use rec. 709, which is more compressed and contrasty, with reduced color reproduction. P3 space was used throughout the process on Barbie, from editors to visual effects and dailies. It may seem like a no-brainer, but it required some adaptation. 

"...WHEN PEOPLE THROW SOMETHING NEW AT ME, MY REACTION IS, LET’S SEE IF IT’S POSSIBLE"

“While we were testing, Rodrigo asked if we could monitor in P3 on the set,” says Redpath. “We had a good month and a half of testing and prepping, so I was able to consult with all the departments at Leavesden that this might impact, including editorial, the volume people and the visual effects people. In some cases it was actually preferable for them. It really wasn’t that difficult – it’s just that sometimes people are naturally afraid of doing things they haven’t tried before. I’m used to that! It’s always fun using familiar technology to do something new.”

Barbie was well suited to the P3 approach because of the many visual nuances, especially in terms of color. Redpath worked with Company 3 to make sure that printer light increments translated perfectly to her Pomfort Livegrade rig, and also corresponded precisely with Lucas’s values in the color suite. 

Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling on set

“I think that was a key reason Rodrigo wanted P3 – to see that full spectrum,” Redpath says. “The average person would not necessarily be able to account for that level of detail. But he’s so finely tuned and dialed in. He would fire off printer light instructions, asking for a quarter of magenta for example, and I could dial that in very quickly using half-step short cuts on my Streamdeck. It was very satisfying to adjust the image with that kind of accuracy and speed.” 

"I THINK YOU HAVE TO BE INSANE TO NOT USE HDE"

Most scenes were filmed with a single ARRI ALEXA 65 camera, chosen in part because director Greta Gerwig thought they felt more magical. A second unit was working almost constantly. Shooting at Leavesden meant that the CODEX Capture Drives could be walked safely and quickly to De Lane Lea, the nearby post house. There, ingest was handled using the sled docking system and a desktop system designed for the purpose.  

Margot Robbie, Ana Kayne, Director Greta Gerwig and Hari Nef on set

CODEX’s High Density Encoding (HDE) was applied, reducing the amount of picture data by as much as half without any loss of picture information. “I think you have to be insane to not use HDE,” says Redpath with a laugh. “It’s come a long way very quickly. I think my first project on HDE was three years ago, and I’ve done everything HDE since then, including a shoot done on ALEXA Mini LF. It makes complete sense.”

"I’VE DONE EVERYTHING HDE SINCE THEN, INCLUDING A SHOOT DONE ON ALEXA MINI LF. IT MAKES COMPLETE SENSE"

Since its release, Barbie has earned close to $1.5 billion worldwide at the box office, and has become a cultural sensation – and has become the top-grossing Warner Bros. film of all time.