Meet Danny Clark

We had the good fortune of connecting with Danny Clark and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Danny, what led you to pursuing a creative path professionally?
Growing up I always loved going to the movies. Summers in Atlanta were hot and going to the local theater and checking out the latest films of the 80’s and 90’s were pivotal in developing my artistic sensibilities. My mother had her masters in piano and music education so I grew up with a very strong appreciation for art, music and cinema from her. Through music I learned to appreciate the technical aspects of art. Technique and craft take a lot of practice and a long time to master. I think watching my mother develop into such an amazing pianist and organist made me set my sights on becoming an artist myself. In high school I was lucky enough to take several film classes and began learning about the process of making a movie from script to screen and started making my own short films. I was exploring auteur directors, devouring as many movies as possible and decided all I wanted to do was work in the entertainment industry.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I am a Colorist/Compositor with over 15 years of experience. I primarily work in DaVinci Resolve for color correction and Nuke for compositing. I have worked on everything from features, to episodic, documentaries, commercials, music videos, and more. As a colorist its my job to create a consistent look that enhances the overall tone or mood of a piece. As a compositor I work to solve problems or come up with solutions to help make VFX look photo real. In my field its not as common to do both color and compositing and I feel like having both skills is what makes me stand apart. Being a colorist makes me a better compositor, and being a compositor makes me a better colorist.

I started out thinking I wanted to be a Director but fell into Post-Production because I am good with software and the technical aspects of post. The first three years of my career I worked two jobs as a Tape Operator at Turner Studios during the day and an NBAtv highlight editor at night. Four days a week I would work 16 hour days. I continued working for NBAtv even when I became a Smoke/Flame assist. It was definitely not easy but that experience gave me the confidence I needed to continue climbing in my career.

I’ve continued working multiple jobs ever since. Freelance made me the creative I am today. My corporate experience gave me the skills I needed to understand the business and how to run the software but freelance pushed me creatively more than anything else I’ve ever done.

I’ve learned that if you are open and honest, work hard, and treat every project like its your last you will continue to grow as an artist. To quote the movie, Big Night, “Make the pasta! Do what the customer asks for”. We are in a client service industry as post production professionals, so always hit the note and keep pushing to make yourself better.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
I grew up in Atlanta so I could answer this question in a million different ways but my favorite neighborhood is Old Fourth Ward. My wife and I used to live at the Telephone Factory Lofts and fell in love with the area right before the Beltline was built so that was an exciting time to be living there. I love walking to a great dinner somewhere like Beetlecat, brunch at Ladybird or Del Bar, and hanging out at Ponce City Market. We also love seeing shows at the Earl, Terminal West, the Eastern and the rest of the great venues Atlanta has to offer. I love going to the Plaza, Midtown Art and Tara to check out new movies. Atlanta also has some great events for arts and culture, between the Atlanta Film Festival, Shaky Knees, the Atlanta Braves and much more, the city has so much to offer.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I’ve always had a strong passion for film and television. In high school I was fortunate enough to have a film professor, Wayne Parker, at the Lovett School in Atlanta who had a binder for every auteur director he loved. I would borrow each of his binders on David Lynch, Fellini, Bergman, Godard, Wong Kar Wai and made it my goal to see everything. This started the obsession.

I believe mentors and teachers are some of the most important people in our lives. I would not have a career in this industry if it weren’t for my mentors. In college I was a production assistant at the Media Production Group at Auburn University and Jessamyn Saxon taught me everything I know about editing in AVID, lighting, cameras, pretty much every part of the production pipeline.

Then during my time at Turner Studios in Atlanta I had several mentors including Travis Fast, a finisher and Smoke/Flame/Resolve artist who I assisted for four and a half years. He taught me everything I know about node-based color correction, compositing and finishing. Also, Sean McPherson, who was a VFX Supervisor and mentor taught me everything I know about compositing in Nuke. Chris Cover is another colorist I assisted in Resolve and taught me different ways to think about color.

The list goes on including folks I worked with at Tyler Perry Studios and those I freelance with today. I try to surround myself with smart, talented, kind people who want to see me succeed as much as they do.

Website: www.vibrant-pixel.com 

Image Credits
Courageous Studios Culture House – Marriott NHL Shift – Warner Brothers Discovery Tre Native Atlanta Braves City Connect