Nesta, a boy from the Philippines who aspires to be a professional footballer, in his episode from the CNA documentary series Limitless.
As a starting reference for how it should look, I was shown another sports documentary – We Are: The Brooklyn Saints. Because of the geographical differences between Brooklyn and the Philippines, I kept some of that slightly sporty muted grit while tweaking the colour temperature to match a warmer climate.
Because of the abundance of sky and grass in Nesta’s soccer training and matches, I discovered new ways of bringing out grass and sky without changing the careful balance of vibrance in the image. The vivid colours of their uniforms – azures and oranges and pinks – had to be reigned in slightly while still providing great contrast against the pitch.
The environments in Nesta’s day-to-day life provided a lot of texture for me to bring out from his suburban surroundings, from his packed home to his father’s restaurant to skateboarding in the streets of his neighbourhood.
Overall, this episode was a good exercise in how to subtly balance the varying levels of vibrance in an image to create a more consistent, cohesive look.
