Feature Film

Role: Editor, Colorist

Synopsis:
Washington’s Armor: The Journey unveils the lesser-known adventures of a young George Washington, two decades before the American Revolution. Set in the rugged wilderness of the mid-18th century, the film follows Washington as he embarks on perilous expeditions to defend British-held territories from French encroachment.

Facing treacherous landscapes, harsh conditions, and the constant threat of enemy forces, Washington demonstrates remarkable courage, integrity, and unshakable faith. His trials—both physical and moral—forge the character of the man who would eventually lead a nation to independence. Along the way, he encounters moments of divine providence and personal sacrifice that shape his destiny.

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Watch the trailer below and keep scrolling for the case study!

Watch the Trailer

Editing

When editing a feature film, or any film for that matter I begin with watching through the footage for each scene to familiarize myself with the director’s style and tone. From there I begin building rough edits of scenes, then groups of scenes, until eventually we have a full rough cut of the film. We then go through more director’s notes, revisions, screenings, audience notes…and more revisions. Until finally it’s ready for the premiere…and then usually a last minute dash to update the credits the night before.

I start by looking over the the script notes and noting the circle takes, which I bump to the second video layer in each scene sequence. 

The film was shot in sections over several months, and I tried to work on editing during the “between time.” I was on the road one time and brought along a make-shift editing suite…which fit wonderfully on a spacious cabinet that had lots of great leg room 🙂 

The film was shot with 2 cameras for the majority of the movie, with a decent number of setups for each scene, which provides for lots of options for developing a well polished scene, but it also makes for a lot of material to go through. The “River Crossing” sequence was filmed at several different locations, and it was great working alongside the Producer, Director, and VFX team to bring it all together.

There were a lot of weeks and months that went into the editing the film, but it was a collaborative team and I’m very happy with how it came together!

Color Grading

A key part of the color for this project was landing on a warm historical feel but that wasn’t too sepia tone, and that brought the greens and blues more toward teal.

For this scene in the parlor a few points of focus were to adjust the blue haze in the room back toward a warmer feel, bring out the blue hues of the curtains and the man’s jacket, and to adjust the faces and skin tone.

This flash-back scene is a pleasant memory for a character so we didn’t want to go too wild with stylization. I worked in a bit “too much” glow as a subtle way to feel different from the rest of the film. (but I mean is there really a thing as too much glow?)

These exterior winter scenes needed to feel blue…and cold…but without washing out their faces or the warm colors in their wardrobe.

A natural fog slowly rolled in during the course of filming this scene, making this one a particular challenge to match together.

This was a day-for-night scene that was filmed toward the end of the day…and it was pretty dark when filming wrapped. 

It had an overcast feel and without any direct sunlight which helped, and the snow also added to the overall ambience of soft bounced light which played well for general moonlight.

Overall Before / After of the “River Crossing” scene, which included footage filmed in NY (close-ups on the raft), VA (wide shots on the raft…on the water), and TX (underwater). Footage consisted of DJI drone, GoPro, and RED cameras. 

Desired color tones for the ballroom scene were softer pastels that felt lit by large candle light chandeliers.

The filming ended up being split into two major portions, the first half of the film and the second half of the film. A new DP came in for the second block of filming and did a good job of bringing his own style to the project while still keeping the overall feel consistent. (these images a couple of final graded angles from a few different scenes)

Action scenes consist of lots of footage captured over at least several days, which is a good work out for any colorist. In the climactic final battle scene of the film it was no different. Specifically for this scene I focused on bringing the bright reds of the wardrobe and saturated greens of the foliage back into a the overall color pallete for the movie.

I enjoyed the opportunity to work on a historical film, especially one about American history and God’s handiwork in the journey of the founding of this great nation!

My wife and I also enjoyed being to attend the premiere screening in Texas.

THANKS FOR READING!

STILL IMAGES