I’ve mentioned this before but I think the Color Diary has made such a huge difference to me on set that I’m writing about it.  What is a Color Diary?  It’s a document I update every setup of every day that details what each light in use was doing.  It’s the easiest way I’ve found to answer a “what CCT was the bounce in scene 13” question two weeks to two months after we filmed it.  It’s super simple and just requires a small amount of diligence.  Here’s what it looks like for the beginning of Outer Range Season 2. 

I create this document in Numbers on my iPad.  It syncs automatically via iCloud, which protects the data.  Easy to use and free if you already own an iOS device.

We filmed Outer Range in four blocks, so each block gets a tab at the top.  The column headings are pretty self explanatory.  The one important thing I’ve changed since I did this document is to write the scene number next to each entry.  That way you can sort the spreadsheet by scene number if you need to.  Though honestly, using a search function works pretty great too.  Be sure to write in any effects you use as well (I usually add that as a note) since that’s a common thing to look back for.

Note that sometimes I get very specific in terms of channel number, but often I’ll just notate by the function of the light like bounce, overheads, exterior, practicals.  When the gaffer is using a wide range of numbers with one purpose, I feel this is more efficient and communicates the intent better.  

Another change I see now is how I fill in Tint data.  Instead of entering 10 gr 10 mg, I now input that as positive and negative 10.  Simpler and easier to enter in the numeric keypad that appears on iOS.  

I can’t think of more that needs to be said since the beauty of the idea is its simplicity.  If any of y’all have your own version of this, I’d love to hear from you.  Since I entered film late in my career, I’m always looking to hear from people on how they’ve been organizing their data.  Hit me in the comments!