Editor Ricky Milling put me in touch with director Ben Pickering, who had two features that needed grading. One was Election Night (2021), which was in production at the time. The other was Two Days in the Smoke, a film Ben had finished back in 2014. Ricky was editing both.

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Ben was looking to put together a director’s cut of The Smoke and re-grade the whole film for a re-release. I deliberately didn’t look at the original grade, so I could come to it fresh without being influenced by the earlier version.

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I took my lead from the story and the city it was shot in, and went for a gritty, desaturated look throughout. Grading tools have also come a long way since 2014, so it was a good chance to bring a more modern finish to the film.