Denise Dorado
“I briefly flirted with the idea of being a doctor or a lawyer, because I really wanted to please my parents back then. I am the first in my family to go to college and I felt like it was my responsibility to remain practical, and those were the noble, respectable paths to take… But I noticed these trends in my life that kept bringing me back to film. I remember the first video camera my family ever had. I think I was 7 years old. I played with that thing every single day, for years! You could say that was the beginning of the obsession for me. Then by high school, I started doing b&w photography and learned how to work in a darkroom and I just absolutely fell in love with taking pictures. I was really interested in composition and lighting, so every school event or gig that my friends played at with their bands, I was always be ‘the girl with the camera’. Even today, that seems to be the case.”
“In college at Baylor University, my schedule was already packed with poli sci and history courses, so I gave myself permission to take an editing class. I remember being in an edit suite on campus with some friends, editing one of our projects, and before I knew it, 12 hours had passed by and I hardly noticed it. So I knew right there and then, that this was something I loved to do and could obsess about.”
“Even when I studied overseas in the Middle East, I always had a camera with me. I remember in 2006, I was living in the middle of downtown Cairo. You could really feel the pre-revolution tension in the air in those days! Every now and again, there was a mass demonstration or a riot that would stir up, and we could hear it from our dorms. I would put down whatever I was doing and rush out there to take pictures and video. Discreetly, of course! Looking back now, that was probably pretty crazy because Egypt is very much a police state, I mean, there are soldiers on every corner. I guess this shows either one of two things: I’m very passionate about film and photography or I’m a maniac!”
“Finally, I thought, screw it, this is what I should be doing with my life because filmmaking and everything related to it is what I am really passionate about. Filmmaking is what fuels the fire in my belly.”
“When I went to USC, it was a real privilege because going there had always been a dream of mine. I remember when I was at high school reading about places like USC and NYU and thinking that schools like these were completely unattainable to people like me.”
“While I was at USC, though I loved it. I realized I loved working with actors and I became very curious about learning the craft of acting. I decided to enroll in a two year acting program, which I don’t regret at all, because it really gave me a foundation to understand how story telling is constructed. Characters, relationships, circumstances - all of these things are the building blocks to a story. Studying directing and writing in film school, studying editing, studying acting became my bootcamp. These experiences are all very relevant to filmmaking and they enhance me as a story teller. They inform me as a colorist, so I can very much relate to directors and their side of things.”
“Through out my life, I have always tried to follow the white rabbit. You have to be truthful to what is in your heart and you look for signs along the path. I have always felt that if you have talent in something, or a burning curiosity, it is worth exploring. I am first generation American, so I have real gratitude for every opportunity that comes my way. So every time I have a chance to work on a project with interesting people, I always consider it a real privilege.”
“Being a colorist, you get to be collaborator on someone else's story every day, which is such a wonderful thing to do as a career. You have a sacred relationship when you are the colorist. These people are trusting you to be involved in a project that is very personal to them.”
“Having worked as an actress means that you can feel the beats and the build up in the story, and then color grade accordingly. You become very much attuned to what the director is trying to achieve with a project. This is not a technical approach, these things have to become very personal to you like they are for a director. You have to become attached to the project and help reveal its full potential when you are the colorist.”
“When you look at something as a viewer, subconsciously you can tell if something is authentic or not. Whether it’s the acting, the directing or the color grading, you always know when something is false or awkward. Fellow colorist, Tawan Bazemore and I really pride ourselves on bringing authenticity and truth to what we do. I really feel that is what we have become known for.”