Reasons

Short film / color grade

A 1950’s mother struggles with the stigma of being single and feeling unworthy of true love.

Reasons follows the life of a young and single mother, Mercy during the late 1950s in rural Georgia. Mercy lives with the difficulty of not having her daughter’s father in their lives and struggles with abandoning the illusion of having “the perfect family.” In a time and place where women had very little authority over their own lives, she is willing to sacrifice her own happiness to give her child the family life she has always longed for.

Booklight was brought on to color grade the final short film. Chris Newhard graded the film in Resolve and Nick Morgan handled light compositing and tracking.

The producers wanted a vintage vibe, and 100% didn’t want the “sepia” treatment, thankfully. We explored several looks, but in the end decided it best to go with a palette that accentuated their wardrobe and skin tones. This meant cutting a lot of colors back in the wheels and dialing in our “reduced” world emotionally as Mercy goes through her struggles. The outside world, full of life and color – hope – and inside her house, where the shadows of her regret eat her up, a paleness striving for love. Narci Regina and Lenny Thomas are outstanding as the lead characters and their chemistry is striking on screen. Lenny plays a bit of a monster so it was a blast to create this darkness – a cloud of pain – that follows him.