After a year of existence, the Contraluz Room is consolidated as the pioneering space in HDR

The Contraluz Room is headed by two prestigious colorists such as Luis Ochoa and Elena Humanes and has been designed with the client in mind since "it is a space designed for professional work, but with that much-needed extra comfort. The objective is for the client to feel at home."

With more than 50 m² dedicated exclusively to the art and science of color audiovisual, in the very center of Madrid, in the historic Retiro neighborhood and just 5 minutes walk from the Atocha station, the Backlight Room has just completed one year consolidating itself as the pioneering space in HDR.

In the words of its creator, the colorist Luis Ochoa, the Contraluz Room, has been designed with the client in mind since "it is a space designed for professional work, but with that much-needed extra comfort. The objective is for the client to feel at home." The design and decoration is the work of Chinese artist Fan Yang.

A huge 4-meter screen for digital cinema projections presides over this color boutique equipped with grade 1 OLED monitors, two DaVinci Resolve stations of Blackmagic Design, professional screen in 4K and HDR with PQ and HLG viewing systems, calibration by Lightspace, ACES color management and all the technologies that allow us to carry out a professional color process, adapted to the needs of any audiovisual production and covering the entire color management and treatment process, from before shooting to the delivery of final materials.

HDR: a paradigm shift

For the first time in the history of cinematography, and thanks to HDR, viewers can see images with colors and levels of brightness and black similar to those that our eyes can reach. Through HDR, expressive tools are gained that allow adding more nuances to the color palette with which professional colorists work, but the incorporation of this technological advance is not simple, since it is not only a change in the final color and mastering processes.

We are, in fact, facing a real paradigm shift which affects all departments involved in creating the image. “We are also in a hybrid moment, of necessary coexistence between HDR and SDR deliveries,” explains Luis Ochoa, “and we must take this duality into account in the preparation of our workflows,” he concludes.

The Sala Contraluz team

The Contraluz Room has in front two prestigious colorists like Luis Ochoa and Elena Humanes.

Ochoa is a Senior DI Colorist and 4K HDR Workflow Designer. He has participated in numerous feature films, television series and advertising. His professional experience as a director of photography and film editor has provided him with a global vision of the technical process of audiovisual creation that allows for agile and effective design of workflows. It also has Avid ACI and Sony ICE certifications and collaborates with multiple companies such as Arri, Sony, Panasonic, Canon, Sgo, Blackmagic or Filmlight, among others. He is an expert in Canon and Sony HDR monitors.

For her part, Elena Humanes. Senior DI colorist, has experience in series, advertising and television programs, such as The Room (HBO), Tell me how it happened (RTVE) u eighty me again (RTVE), has also worked on various films, video clips and other audiovisual projects in SDR and HDR.