Director Jonathan Brooks was looking for his latest feature to draw from adventure films of the 80s like The Goonies. We didn't want to replicate exactly, but draw on the film stock used and adapt it for a modern look. Jon Moy's photography gave me a great starting point, with natural lighting and classic framing that already felt of the period. From there I built the grade around that stock's character: warm skin tones, soft highlights and gentle contrast. It has the warmth and texture of an 80s film but still looks crisp and modern.

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With a mostly young cast, the shoot couldn't run late into the evening, so the night scenes were filmed in daylight and turned into night in the grade. I brought the exposure down, cooled everything off to a moonlit blue, and picked out faces and practical lights so the scenes stayed moody without getting lost in the dark. The bright daytime skies were a step too far for the grade alone, so we brought in VFX to replace them, then I graded those shots to sit in with the rest.

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I finished the film remotely from Boston, where I was living at the time. We reviewed the grade using a live remote session on Looper, so being on the other side of the Atlantic didn't get in the way.