Grading Gladiator II
Posted on Jan 9, 2025 by Admin
Colourist Stephen Nakamura from Company 3 on his long history of collaboration with Ridley Scott and crafting the look of the new sequel
Words Nicola Foley
Stephen Nakamura is one of Hollywood’s most sought-after feature film colourists, known for his collaborations with visionary directors including David Fincher and Steven Spielberg, as well as celebrated cinematographers like Dariusz Wolski and Robert Richardson. His most defining creative partnership of all, though, has been with Ridley Scott. Over the past 15 years, Nakamura has worked on nearly all of Scott’s films, including The Martian, the Alien franchise, Napoleon and, most recently, Gladiator II.
Initially working in editing, Nakamura started his career at a Warner Bros-owned post house in his early twenties, where he immediately took an interest in the work of the colourists. “It was like a fish to water for me!” he smiles. “Everything they were doing fit my skill set and my personality. I’ve always been a very observant, visual person,” he says. “Even as a kid, I loved photography and the artistry of creating images. I’d admire people who could create something beautiful. I’m not a cinematographer, but becoming a colourist meant I could help with the look of movies, which I love.”
Starting as a telecine colourist, Nakamura honed his skills working on music videos, commercials and TV shows before transitioning to feature films. His big break came while working on digital dailies for David Fincher’s The Game. “Fincher was one of the first directors to embrace the DI process,” Nakamura recalls. “From there, I dove into features and never looked back.”
Great Scott
Nakamura’s relationship with Scott began in 2006 while remastering Blade Runner for theatrical release, and the pair instantly clicked. “I really understand how Ridley looks at cinematography. He’s a talented painter, so his understanding of light and composition is amazing,” he says. “I quickly understood his vision, and there’s now an unspoken language between us. I can create the looks he wants and likes without him needing to say anything.”
As well as creative chemistry, their collaboration thrived through a shared work ethic. “Ridley is incredibly efficient and organised. He shot Gladiator II in 51 days, which is astounding! In life generally, we both also operate that way. As human beings, we’re very similar in our approach. We both don’t want to waste time and we’re also perfectionists.”
Crafting the Look
When it came to Gladiator II, Nakamura’s brief from Scott was typically short and sweet. “Ridley usually gives me a 20-second rundown,” Nakamura explains. “He’ll say something like, ‘make this one a bit more saturated than the last, with this kind of contrast’, and that’s it. Sometimes he might refer to another film or send a couple of reference images, but he trusts me to take it from there.”
The film’s distinct look – deep shadows, a saturated palette and bold colour choices for flashbacks and action sequences – emerged from there through collaboration between colourist, DOP and director. Nakamura began work once the film had been cut together, using John Mathieson’s dailies as his primary reference point. “The dailies are everything,” he states. “They set the tone for the entire film. Contrast, colour temperature, saturation – all of that is already established to a degree. My job is to refine and enhance those choices.”
He likens the process to baking: “The dailies are the cake. Whether it’s chocolate or a strawberry shortcake – that’s already decided. I’m just adding the frosting, decorating it and making it prettier,” he laughs.
Provence Moonlight
He makes it sound easy, but working on a Ridley Scott film often requires a great deal of improvisation to solve challenges, especially given the fast-paced nature of the director’s productions. A particularly demanding element of his work was the day-for-night shots. “He’s extremely comfortable with that stuff,” Nakamura says. “He calls it a ‘Provence moonlight’ look, which is this really bright moonlight.” Creating that effect in harsh daylight conditions requires extensive work in post.
“Those shots take a lot of massaging. Not only do I have to Luma Key highlights and use a lot of windows, but I have to darken the grade a lot – so faces also come down. If people have to move around, it’s really hard to get enough light on them on-set. So it’s often a lot of Frankenstein work on day-for-night stuff.” Despite the technical demands, Nakamura embraces the challenge: “It’s fun to try to figure out how to get where we’re looking to go.”
Nakamura also enjoyed helping to craft the sequences of flashbacks to when the main character was young. “The look we came up with actually emerged while working on the trailer. Instead of it just being black & white, we thought, why not cool it slightly to create a unique tone that fit the scene’s emotional context? Ridley was all for it.”
Tools of the Trade
Blackmagic’s DaVinci Resolve is his go-to tool – and he’s full of praise for its ever-expanding suite of features. “The great part is that they’re always adding lots of new plug-ins, allowing us to really craft the pictures better,” he says. “There are so many tools that help enhance movies in ways people don’t even realise.”
One example Nakamura gives is managing flicker from lighting. “Let’s say they’re using LED bulbs to recreate firelight. Sometimes the flicker initially looks fine, but if you grade the image brighter that suddenly becomes more pronounced. Tools like de-flicker plug-ins can slow that down, and while the audience might not notice it, the improvement is significant.”
Features like these enable Nakamura to tackle adjustments on a shot-by-shot basis. “It’s like adding a vignette or flagging a wall digitally – small details that seem invisible but dramatically affect the overall feel and guide the viewer’s eye. Without them, the picture looks different and the impact shifts.”
Colour me happy
Even after decades in the industry, Nakamura remains energised by his work. “Every project feels like a new adventure,” he says. “You’re constantly reimagining and innovating: maybe this scene could be warmer, or this sequence cooler? The possibilities are endless.”
His expertise does come with a price: he finds it hard to simply enjoy films and TV. “If I’m fully engrossed, I can switch off. But if not, I’ll critique everything – the grade, even the theatre’s calibration,” he admits with a laugh. His portfolio is ever-expanding – upcoming projects include Captain America: Brave New World and Sonic the Hedgehog 3 – but one of the things he loves most about the job is the camaraderie of life at Company 3, the LA-based post-production studio he works at. “Working in the office, surrounded by so many talented people, sparks a host of ideas you wouldn’t come across when working alone,” he says. “That human connection is irreplaceable.”
Read the full Gladiator production story here.
