Devan Scott

/r/colorgrading in a nutshell

A ★★★½ review of Heaven's Gate (1980) Criterion Director's Cut • I last saw the director's cut pre-Criterion release back in the late 2000s. At the time, it was a real personal revelation: one of the most reviled movies ever made is great...

Revisited Heaven's Gate for the first time in a couple of decades.

I strangely forgive that movie for it, but yeah: I always find it a bit puzzling that high-budget productions don't do basic masks/mattes or whatever. It's not exactly a huge technical hurdle to hide the clear signs of digital projection.

[Worth noting, too, that this is a high-budget Disney-funded miniseries!]

You can see the dang pixelation/screen door effect in the inserts!

It will never not bug me when I see period pieces not even bother to hide the fact that they're using digital projectors to double for film projectors.

See THE BRESLAU MURDERS, in which they use a modern 1.78:1 screen and projector and don't even bother to matte off the black padding.

Used this as an opportunity to write a piece I had been longing to find an excuse to write for years and years: a brief history of Danny Boyle's use of digital cinematography. Out soon!

A still from Steve Jobs (2015)

STEVE JOBS MONOGRAPH B.C. Wallin on Production Aashima Rawal on Jobs Kat Trout-Baron on Sorkin Scout Tafoya on Boyle Devan Scott on Camera Sarah Jae Leiber on Performance Charlie Brigden on Music Alexander B. Joy on Edit Coming Soon

Some personal news 📚

10 years ago today, Steve Jobs (2015) was released. This year, I am launching a book: a work of 8 writers, analyzing it piece by piece, to appreciate the film as greater than the sum of its parts.

Sign up is now open to find out when you can own a copy of STEVE JOBS MONOGRAPH.

A shot I stole while interviewing Frederick Elmes for
@viffest.bsky.social

Rewatching THE PHANTOM THREAD and I *knew* I recognized that hotel.

A ★★★★★ review of One Battle After Another (2025) 1.9:1 Digital "iMax" Presentation • That one car chase scene must represent the most inspired use of telephoto lenses since Tomas Alfredson got Hoyte van Hoytema to point a 2000mm lens down an airport...

I liked it

Frederick Elmes on Four Decades of Cinematic Collaboration | VIFF Talk Legendary cinematographer Frederick Elmes has spent decades helping to define the visual language of directors like David Lynch and Jim Jarmusch. Don't miss this opportunity to hear about the cra...

I'll be hosting a talk with cinematographer Frederick Elmes (BLUE VELVET / WILD AT HEART / ERASERHEAD / HULK / PATERSON / FATHER MOTHER SISTER BROTHER, among many others) at VIFF on October 8th!

I have been alerted to the fact that this is currently what emerges when you Google the lyrics to 'Born to Run'.

Thinking about the common response media criticism that "art's effect on the audience is subjective and down to individual preference".

It tends to be a means of arguing that we shouldn't make declaratives saying people who like something or wrong or that less work like it should be made. thread 🧵

The exterior wide shots - my single favourite element - are these bizarre blends of extremely early cinema techniques and cutting-edge digital composites.

A review of The Lady and the Duke (2001) • Francesca's entry on this represents one of those happy coincidences wherein someone has - with uncanny specificity - said virtually all I had intended to say about this years earlier, so go read th...

Finally saw THE LADY AND THE DUKE, closing one of my final outstanding Rohmer blind spots. Fascinating as an early digital work.

Interesting how the coverage during Streets is way more utilitarian and (IMO) less exciting at points.

YouTube video by Kennerad0 U2 - 19&20/12/1987 Sun Devil Stadium, Tempe (35mm Master Source HD)

2 Hours of Jordan Cronenweth footage just leaked!?!?!

Absolutely one of the most consequential living DPs. Check out Celebratio/Festen. Wild stuff.

I watched it on my goddamn laptop in a dingy bedroom in a castle and it still knocked me over

Digital Cinema Movies that use digital sensor-based cameras in actual interesting ways. Not appearing on this list: DOCUMENTARY NOW, which leverages digital cameras to emulate everything from 16mm to MiniDV to broad...

First contemporaneous update to my digital list since 2023.

Digital Cinema Movies that use digital sensor-based cameras in actual interesting ways. Not appearing on this list: DOCUMENTARY NOW, which leverages digital cameras to emulate everything from 16mm to MiniDV to broad...

First contemporaneous update to my digital list since 2023.

Same diegesis. Love it.

A ★★★★ review of 28 Years Later (2025) • Had a real "oh we're SO BACK" reaction as soon as Boyle started cutting Jodie Comer's first scene together in absolutely wacky ways, and by the time Alfie Williams and ATJ were sprinting across a ta...

Probably my frontrunner for best-cinematography-of-2025 at this point. Holy moly. I genuinely didn't think Boyle had it in him.

Fifth Tuesday: The Good, Bad, and Ugly of Film Preservation, with special guest star Devan Scott - Alternate Ending Our fifth episode of July 2025 is a very special one: cinematographer and colorist Devan Scott (and host of the podcast How Would Lubitsch Do It?, where Tim was a regular guest) joins Tim to discuss t...

Went on Tim Brayton's podcast to talk the restoration and new Arrow release of THE GOOD THE BAD AND THE UGLY, and the state of film preservation on home video as a whole. Ritrovata, AI "upscaling", and Wong Kar-Wai all make appearances. The mini-media tour continues!

(Re)discovering The Student Prince in Old Heidelberg (1927; US; Ernst Lubitsch) This week’s post has been written by Devan Scott, host of the superb “How Would Lubitsch Do it?” podcast. As anyone familiar with this series will know, Devan is not only an exceedingly knowledgeab…

Friend of the Lubitsch show Paul Cuff invited me to post a guest entry on his (terrific, essential) silent movie-centric blog to delve into the new (and fantastically exciting) discoveries surrounding THE STUDENT PRINCE IN OLD HEIDELBERG (1927). Things are happening!

YouTube video by Arrow Video The Good, The Bad and The Ugly | Official Sizzle | 4K

It has a trailer! Only 42 days! Holy moly!

YouTube video by Damn Fool Idealistic Crusader Video Crusading Episode 1: Devan Scott on Arrow Video's Dollars Trilogy 4K restorations

I stopped by @damnfoolcrusade.bsky.social's Youtube channel to discuss the new Arrow 4k releases of Sergio Leone's DOLLARS trilogy. There's nobody better than Spencer in the home video technical criticism space, and we had a terrific conversation.