NEW YORK CITY — Senior colorist Vincent Taylor is bringing his extensive experience in the grading suite, along with his background and training as a cinematographer, and his far-flung cultural perspectives to the New York office of the Moving Picture Company (www.moving-picture.com). The move reunites Taylor with MPC, as he spent three years leading the color department in its studio in Shanghai prior to moving to New York. Most recently, he was head of color at Chimney in New York.
Taylor’s introduction to the grading suite was part happenstance. After working behind the camera for a decade as a cinematographer in Australia, he pitched in to shoot a short film that was a personal project for some friends. When it came time to grade it, the post facility they were working out of asked him if he would consider crossing over from production to that of telecine and the art of color grading.
“I said yes and have never looked back,” he recalls. “I love it. It was the continued crafting of the image that drew me in, which is of course exactly what you do once you're in the color suite. I found that DPs and directors really appreciated my background; I’d been on set and had extensive lighting experience. So I fell into color quite naturally.”
As for his approach to color, Taylor says first and foremost he is a storyteller.
“I studied to be a director, but it was lighting and cinematography that attracted me. And in that respect, people often don’t fully appreciate how color can be part of the storytelling, regardless of whether you’re working in comedy or drama or documentary. I’m always asking questions about the story, about what we’re trying to say. Needless to say, directors and DPs love the approach to color from this perspective.”
Taylor’s credits span comedy, fashion, automotive, food and beverage. In Shanghai, for example, he worked on Airbnb’s introductory TVC launch in China and led color for major campaigns for Bentley, BMW, Coca Cola, Sky TV, Mercedes, L’Oréal and Johnnie Walker. He’s also worked extensively in the music video space, grading clips for artists such as Lil Nas X.