Short Narrative Film
BULLETPROOF DREAMS
Created by participants in the 2024 Film Over Gun Violence Program.
APPROACH
For Bulletproof Dreams, the director wanted the skin tones to stand out and the characters to feel like “kings and queens,” while The Last Black Man in San Francisco (2019) served as the visual reference.
Using those two ideas as the starting point, we built a look that retained the warmth and richness of the image while matching the weight of the story.
Look Development: Reference vs Grade
Warm highlights, cooler shadows, and careful color separation helped give the characters a stronger presence within the frame.
To carry that treatment through the film, contrast and exposure remained fairly restrained, even in brighter scenes, allowing the image to stay warm without losing the seriousness of the subject matter.
Look Development: Reference vs Grade