Daryn Okada, ASC was in Louisiana scouting locations for shooting Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay when he heard that LaserPacific had developed a calibrated system for viewing digital dailies. He visited the Los Angeles-based postproduction facility for a demonstration.

Glenn Kennel, vice president and general manager of Motion Picture Services at LaserPacific, explains that the accurateIMAGE™ (aIM) system was designed to ensure that everyone involved in a hybrid workflow sees the same nuances in images from dailies through editing, digital intermediate (DI) mastering and preview presentations.

The aIM system incorporates proprietary Kodak color science and technology, and utilizes the color decision list (CDL) developed by the American Society of Cinematographers (ASC) Technology Committee. It calibrates all digital devices used for viewing images, including a self-contained digital projection system with a drive loaded on a Kodak Cinema Server that is used with a projector and 6-1/2-foot wide screen. When Kennel suggested that he shoot a test with a couple of hundred feet of negative film, Okada countered by asking, “How about trying it out on a whole movie?” That was about six weeks before the film went into production.

Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay is a sequel to the popular 2004 movie Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle. John Cho (Harold) and Kal Penn (Kumar) played roommates in their early 20s who travelled across the United States searching for White Castle hamburger restaurants that satisfied their marijuana-induced cases of the munchies. Cho and Penn return as the same characters.

Both films were scripted by Jon Hurwitz and Hayden Schlossberg, who took their first turns at the helm co-directing the continuing adventures of two stoners. Okada describes the story as a road film with elements of comedy, drama and suspense. It begins with Harold and Kumar on an airplane flight to Amsterdam. When law enforcement officers discover Harold and Kumar tried to sneak a bong into the country, they jump to the conclusion that they are terrorists. After being brought to the prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, Harold and Kumar escape, which launches a rambling chase across the United States.

“They are trying to prove their innocence while avoiding being captured,” Okada says. “There are more than a few exciting close calls.”

During their initial discussions with Okada, Hurwitz and Schlossberg said they envisioned a film that looks and feels larger in scope than the original Harold & Kumar movie with threads of comedy, drama, action and suspense weaved into the fabric of the story. They also discussed creating an evolving visual grammar that’s right for the times and places where the story unfolds, subtly punctuated with gradually warmer and more saturated images and use of contrasting orange and blue tones.

Okada had close collaborations with production designer Tony Fanning, set decorator Vera Mills and costume designer Shawn Holly Cookson during preproduction. He also established a working relationship with dailies timer Bruce Goodman.

“I described our intentions for each scene and setting,” Okada says. “For instance, in the Guantanamo segment the characters are wearing orange jumpsuits, and the setting looks and feels dusky and tropical. I explained that the look evolves towards golden tonalities as they travel through Miami and other Southern locations. When they get to scenes set in Texas, the colors become slightly more neutral. Those conversations enabled Bruce to anticipate nuances in looks that we wanted.”

An aesthetic decision was made to produce Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay in 35mm format in Academy aperture 1.85:1 aspect ratio. Okada chose to record images on a modest palette consisting of KODAK VISION2 250D 5205 and 500T 5218 stocks. The exposed negative was shipped to LaserPacific which also did the front-end lab work. Precautions were taken to avoid x-ray damage.

“I sent Bruce e-mail and voicemail messages describing my intentions for different scenes every day,” Okada says. “We were totally in tune with each other.”

After the processed negative was scanned at HDSR 4:4:4 resolution, Goodman timed dailies on a calibrated monitor. There was some talk about transmitting dailies to Okada over the Internet, but that was impractical because the files were so dense with image information. They were shipped by air express instead.

“We had a packed house for dailies every day, including myself, both directors, the entire crew, producers, actors and people from other departments,” Okada recalls. “We felt that it was important for everyone involved in making creative decisions to be looking at the same colors, contrast and other subtleties in images, so we were all on the same page. Everyone wanted to be there because we were looking at dailies in a way that felt cinematic. It was a communal experience that got everybody energized.”

After the film was edited offline, Goodman incorporated feedback into the master file that was used when Okada timed the DI with LaserPacific senior colorist David Cole.