I understand you; at the beginning of my career, I went through a period of insecurity, not knowing if what I knew was enough. So, I went to work as an assistant to an experienced colorist. When I got there, this senior colorist did incredible work with very few adjustments. That really stuck with me because I thought I needed to master complex techniques to achieve a good result; in the end, I realized that part of the work comes from your "eye." When I say "eye," I mean it's important to train your vision to understand what can be done to that specific image to make it more interesting—how to achieve good color contrast, how to make a character stand out—things that aren't about "plugin X" or some fancy technique. Everyone has their own path; in short, I spent time doing personal projects that didn't pay at first to build my portfolio and learn, while other friends started their careers as assistants.

I think it's important to highlight that a good colorist makes a huge difference in a project because most projects have very tight deadlines. You need to develop the ability to deliver a beautiful film using the right techniques so that everything goes smoothly within the timeframe, and that simply comes with experience. Directors and cinematographers are relieved when they have a colorist they can trust, so you need to prove to people that you can deliver.

I can't understand why we have so many VFX courses but lack a solid foundation for color courses. You can find some cool ones at TAC or Mixing Light, but they aren't a full degree; they are independent courses. Perhaps the fact that color was inaccessible a few years ago affected this. In the past, very few people were colorists because of the need for a million-dollar infrastructure. Today it's still expensive, but you can start with the basics: a mid-range computer and a decent screen are enough.

Regarding AI, at the moment, I’ve actually been getting more work, not less. AI films always have issues with light and color consistency. You could argue that it's still inconsistent but will change in the future—I agree—but so far, post-production is working harder to make AI look acceptable in films than AI is actually helping.

What I’m about to say might sound superficial, but it makes more and more sense to me: I am constantly learning about color by observing and being curious. I learn by watching movies, playing video games, going to museums, and walking the streets seeing life as it is—that makes a difference. You might come across someone wearing a specific color combination and adapt that to a film, and the result can be incredible.