Norman Nisbet

I started digital color grading in Johannesburg, South Africa in 1993. We scanned film, applied color gradings on a timeline, rewound the lab reels and then recorded to digital tape. It was a revolutionary combination of hardware & software at the time combined with the pleasure of working with old school film! I color graded at JUNxION 601 & The VideoLab in Johannesburg and then in 1995 I took the position in Cape Town at Videolab's boutique facility designed mostly to cater for the clients from abroad shooting commercials around Cape Town. I relocated to Amsterdam in 1997 where I took a job at Condor-Post Production color grading commercials & music videos. Then I moved to Copenhagen to work at DigitalFilmLab who were front runners in the Digital Intermediate workflow. (color grade and data transfer, online with vfx, burn a new negative with the Arrilaser, make a print for cinema) This is when I started grading full length films for cinema. I learnt about doing 'clean' work because a 35mm negative is blown up 300 000x by the time that image hits the 'big screen,' therefor any digital artifacts will not go seen! DigitalFilmLab had an uncontested reputation for excellence and mastermind technology worldwide! In mid 2007 I worked for Nordisk Film until 2009, also color grading films, commercials and music videos. From 2009, I started working freelance and did TV series for Danish Radio (Danish Broadcast Station), and opened my availability to clients by not being attached to a facility. I started my own studio (MAMBA) in Copenhagen where I color grade for television & streaming platforms as well as for for cinema after the acquisition of my full DCI specs projector and color grading cinema.