FREMONT, Calif.—With the 2025 Sundance Film Festival now underway, Blackmagic Design has announced that more than 40 notable projects at event were created using its products, including its digital film cameras, DaVinci Resolve Studio editing, color grading, visual effects (VFX) and audio post production software, and more.

The projects included “André is an Idiot,” “LUZ,” “Twinless” and “Ricky,” that were shot with Blackmagic Design cameras, and projects such as “If I Had Legs I’d Kick You,” “Dead Lover,” “Rains Over Babel (Llueve sobre Babel),” “Plainclothes” and “Opus” that relied on DaVinci Resolve Studio throughout post production.

According to “André is an Idiot” DP Ethan Indorf: “We used the URSA Mini Pro 12K as our two shot when André was talking with Tommy Chong, and the URSA Mini Pro 4.6K G2 on a few interviews in the film. The Pocket Cinema Camera 6K Pro came in handy when our A cam was tied up on the car rig. It was lightweight and quick to fire up when time and space were an issue.”

In Sundance’s “LUZ,” dual stories of challenging family dynamics unravel in Chongqing and Paris, with the characters’ lives colliding in a virtual reality (VR) world as they begin parallel quests to rekindle familial love. DP Benjamin Echazarreta used a Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 4K digital film camera to capture the VR sequences, noting: “We mounted the Pocket on a small gimbal and fixed it to the actors to capture POV shots, bringing the VR world to life. We chose the Pocket since its lightweight, compact design and cinematic image quality allowed us capture the unique POV shots we were after.”

Sundance 2025 projects that used Blackmagic Design cameras and gear during production and post included:

• “André is an Idiot”: DP Ethan Indorf used Blackmagic URSA Mini Pro 12K, Blackmagic URSA Mini Pro 4.6K G2, and Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 6K Pro digital film cameras as B and C cameras;
• “Come See Me in the Good Light”: Editor Berenice Chávez and Assistant Editor Aliyah Bryant used DaVinci Resolve for testing and online conforming;
• “LUZ”: DP Benjamin Echazarreta used Pocket Cinema Camera 4K to capture the VR parts of the film, including mounting the camera on an actor for POV shots;
• “Omaha”: DP Paul Meyers, ASC used DaVinci Resolve Studio to grade dailies;
• “Rains Over Babel (Llueve sobre Babel)”: Editors Gala del Sol and Hadley Hillel used DaVinci Resolve Studio to edit the film, along with Assistant Editors Jose Varón and Felipe Aguilar;
• “Ricky”: Director Rashad Frett and DP Sam Motamedi used Pocket Cinema Camera 6K Pro to capture interviews and DaVinci Resolve Studio for dailies;
• “Sunfish (& Other Stories on Green Lake)”: DP Marcus Patterson used DaVinci Resolve for LUTs and dailies;
• “Together”: Editor Sean Lahiff used UltraStudio 4K Mini capture and playback devices while editing the film, while DIT Reece Flemming used Blackmagic Video Assist 7” 12G monitor/recorder, DaVinci Resolve, various Smart Videohub routers and Blackmagic MultiDock 10G disk array;
• “Twinless”: DP Greg Cotten used Blackmagic Cinema Camera 6K digital film camera for second unit work and car mounted scenes and DaVinci Resolve for on set previewing and dailies; and
• “The Wedding Banquet”: DIT Richard McSweeney used Blackmagic Videohub 20x20 12G router, SmartScope Duo 4K monitor and UltraStudio 4K Mini.

Sundance 2025 Projects that used DaVinci Resolve and DaVinci Resolve Studio for grading included:

• “André is an Idiot,” graded by Marcy Robinson of Nice Shoes;
• “Atropia,” graded by Mikey Rossiter of Rare Medium;
• “Bulldozer,” graded by Pat Fitzgerald of Light Iron;
• “Bunnylovr,” graded by Josh Bohoskey of Rare Medium;
• “Come See Me in the Good Light,” graded by Stephen Derluguian;
• “Dead Lover,” graded by Conor Fisher;
• “En Memoria,” graded by Ayumi Ashley of Rare Medium;
• “Hal and Harper,” graded at Picture Shop by Tom Forletta;
• “Heightened Scrutiny,” graded by Shanna Maurizi of Dungeon Beach;
• “If I Had Legs I’d Kick You,” graded by Nat Jencks of PostWorks New York;
• “It’s Never Over, Jeff Buckley,” graded at Company 3 by Andrew Geary;
• “The Librarians,” graded by Marcy Robinson of Nice Shoes;
• “Marlee Matlin: Not Alone Anymore,” graded by Luke Cahill of Different by Design;
• “Middletown,” graded by Luke Cahill of Different by Design;
• “Move Ya Body: The Birth of House,” graded by Jack Lewars of PostWorks New York;
• “Opus” graded by Mitch Paulson of Picture Shop;
• “Out For Delivery,” graded by Ayumi Ashley of Rare Medium;
• “The Perfect Neighbor,” graded by Allie Ames of PostWorks New York;
• “Peter Hujar’s Day,” graded by Andrew Geary of Light Iron;
• “Plainclothes,” graded by Nat Jencks of PostWorks New York;
• “Predators,” graded by Brian Boyd;
• “Prime Minister,” graded by Frederik Bokkenheuser of Picture Shop;
• “Rains Over Babel (Llueve sobre Babel),” graded by Elliott Powell with a DaVinci Resolve Mini Panel;
• “Sabar Bonda,” graded by Himanshu Kamble of Bridge PostWorks;
• “Seeds,” graded by Natacha Ikoli at Nice Dissolve with DaVinci Resolve Mini Panel, as well as DaVinci Resolve for iPad and Blackmagic Cloud;
• “Serious People,” graded by TJ Seiler and Mikey Rossiter of Rare Medium;
• “Sorry, Baby,” graded by Marcy Robinson of Nice Shoes;
• “Sugar Babies,” graded by María Carretero;
• “Sweet Talkin’ Guy,” graded by Alastor Arnold of FotoKem;
• “Third Act,” graded by Sam Zook of Mom&Pop;
• “Tiger,” graded by Andrew Francis of GAHBA Studios;
• “Together,” graded by Sean Lahiff;
• “Touch Me,” graded by Drew Tekulve of Paradox Post; and
• “The Virgin of Quarry Lake (La Virgen de la Tosquera),” graded by Leo Fallas of Fermento Color.

LONDON—FilmLight has officially launched FilmLight REMOTE, a remote color-grading solution that allows post houses and colorists to work remotely without sacrificing the high-quality and low-latency monitoring essential for fast and efficient workflows.

The FilmLight REMOTE solution, which has been through an extensive beta program, is available now to all users as part of Baselight 6.0.

“In today’s post-production environment, there is an increasing call for remote working, whether you work on dailies, editing, VFX or finishing,” Martin Tlaskal, head of development at FilmLight, said. “But the world of color correction has its own particular challenges and previous offerings have been limited in terms of the ability to drive both the color grading control surfaces and the monitoring of high-quality images with low latency. FilmLight REMOTE addresses this by offering the first complete remote grading solution without sacrificing quality or speed.”

FilmLight REMOTE allows users to integrate a FilmLight control surface, UI monitors, mouse and keyboard with professional monitoring over the internet. The Baselight or Daylight can run HP Anyware or Amazon DCV to provide the remote end with multiple UI monitors up to 4K. At the same time, an SRT video connection is made to provide a high-quality video stream (supporting JPEG-XS and H265) to the remote system, where the FilmLight desk service can also provide support for the Slate, Blackboard Classic or Blackboard 2 control panels.

UNIT TV was part of the FilmLight REMOTE beta program and recently added REMOTE to its unique workflow setup in London—helping its team stay focused on creativity.

"The solution we decided upon for UNIT’s workflow was at the bleeding edge of technology and had not been attempted before,” Adam Luckwell, founder and CEO of UNIT TV, said. “Filmlight’s support was amazing, the depth and breadth of knowledge along with their can-do attitude mirrored our own engineers, who worked together with Filmlight to solve initial problems and develop a brilliant fully remote solution that has kept our artists happy and focused on their creative output.”

REMOTE also supports the increasing interest from facilities to host equipment off-premise, in a data center or in the cloud. A thin-client system can be used to stream the UI from the Baselight or Daylight system, and handle the control surfaces. The video stream is received by the thin client or the FilmLight REMOTE server, which can be used to receive up to four UltraHD video streams—converting them to SDI to interface with existing SDI routing infrastructure. FilmLight REMOTE also opens up the possibility to work seamlessly from home or other remote sites, without the need for any extra hardware encoders or decoders.

Coffee & TV in London was also part of the REMOTE beta program and is now running REMOTE regularly, with Baselight now located off-premise in a data center.

“The highest compliment we can give is that you’d never know the Baselight wasn’t in the building—it works seamlessly,” said Lewis Crossfield, senior colorist at Coffee & TV.

More information is available here.

LONDON—Big Pic Media has announced that it has completed work on a color grading suite at iGene Media’s global headquarters in Chiswick Park, London. 

“This new color grading suite forms a part of our development strategy as we expand the London premises from a primarily administrative site into a fully-fledged production and post production center,” said Phillip Covell, chief commercial officer at iGene Media London. “We have commissioned a system which will provide the technical and operational resources needed to handle a wide range of content including commercials, short form and long form features, plus documentaries as well as social media platforms. The iGene Media client list includes many of the Hollywood majors and large-scale online streaming providers. Our London facility is ideally placed to support customers in Europe and America, supplementing the services of our colleagues in India and Singapore.” 

“Big Pic Media provided a proposal that we recognized would meet not only our requirements in terms of quality, efficiency and versatility, that we could offer our clients, but would fit in seamlessly to our existing workflows”, added Kevin Doogan, iGene’s head of operations in the UK. “Adam Welsh and his colleagues recommended a solution comprising a Blackmagic Design DaVinci Resolve plus a Sony BVM-HX310 dual-layer LCD reference monitor and Sony A95K OLED client viewing monitor. They followed up with a detailed demonstration including the Resolve Advanced Panel which confirmed that the system would meet our most demanding expectations. Big Pic Media completed installation into the pre-prepared suite in a single day. A lot of current demand is for 2K in standard dynamic range but an important aspect of our work will be high-end HDR in 2K and 4K for customers keen to maximise the commercial lifetime of their television and digital film creations.” 

iGene Media offers a wide range of creative services including visual effects, color grading, and animation. 

The company has made significant contributions to Hollywood films and streaming channel content, most recently Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, Star Wars: Ashoka, and the live action adaptation of the One Piece anime for Netflix, amongst countless others. 

iGene Media’s most recent addition, an Advanced DaVinci Resolve suite in Chiswick Park, expands the company’s award-winning color grading capabilities alongside two additional Resolve suites and two Baselight suites already established in Chennai, the companies said.  

“We are very pleased to have been chosen to partner with iGene Media in this new project,” Big Pic Media director Adam Welsh said. “Blackmagic Design’s DaVinci Resolve and Advanced Panel is one of the most powerful grading systems on the market, at a very competitive price point. Its three adjacent consoles gives colorists fast access to practically every adjustable parameter via dedicated controls interacting with five compact LCD display panels. We are confident it will conform to and exceed iGene Media’s London’s aspirations as the company expands in the film, television and social media sectors over the coming years.” 

Big Pic Media (www.bigpicmedia.net) is a resource for industry-leading production, post-production, broadcast and media products and services. It can advise and supply solutions from individual items to fully integrated suites. With offices in London and Los Angeles, Big Pic Media offers a global service to the industry, as a supplier and a representative. Big Pic Media has a support function which oversees design and installation services as well as offering engineering support for products supplied by the company.  

AJA has announced that the AJA Color Box solution has been used by digital imaging technician (DIT) Sam Petrov on a number of scripted and unscripted projects, including a recent unscripted dating show for a streaming service.  

In describing his work, AJA noted that crafting the look of content before it reaches post requires technical acumen and a creative eye. The DIT (Digital Imaging Technician) is integral to this process, bridging the technical realities with the creative goals on-set to ensure the team can achieve its desired aesthetic early in the process; the role is especially vital now that virtual production has brought typical post production work into the production process. 

Local 600 DIT Sam Petrov has made a name for himself in doing exactly that for a wide range of scripted and unscripted projects. A self-proclaimed technology geek, Petrov stays on top of how the DIT role is evolving within the larger on-set environment and is hyper-aware of the dynamic nature of the technology involved. While he customizes the technology he uses for each project, he’s begun leaning into AJA ColorBox for setup and look management with live grading, AJA reported. 

Petrov recently wrapped up an unscripted dating series for a popular streaming platform, setting the initial look for the season and ensuring it worked across all the different components of the show. The production leveraged more than 30 digital cinema cameras in addition to a similar quantity of robotic (robo) cameras. Several of the cameras recorded up to 70 terabytes of 4K footage to AJA Ki Pro Ultra 12G ProRes and DNx recorder/players a day, and the AJA ColorBox in-line HDR/SDR algorithmic and LUT color transform box supported live grading on-set in 1080 SDR, he reported. 

“ColorBox gives us the confidence that the look of all the different camera angles match up; it’s powerful, robust, and cost-efficient, and fills a real niche,” explained Petrov. “Our profession has long awaited a device like this. Just having the ability to generate a signal up to 4K and test a system is invaluable.” 

Working closely with a team, he helped establish the look for a range of motifs and scenes used for the studio portion of the show, such as a lounge where dates are held and the hallway for transition shots. Together, they applied set looks across the different cameras, each with its own unique characteristics and color science. Petrov spent time matching the different cameras in the context of the available hardware on-set. Given the scale and genre of the show, he didn’t reside at his traditional DIT cart but instead worked in an entire tech room, which included equipment like the Ki Pro Ultra 12Gs. Equipment operators ensured that there were no signal errors, and that recordings were happening at the right time, among other tasks, AJA noted. 

The workflow and interactions on-set diverged from traditional film or even episodic projects. With so many cameras, hardware, coloring gear, and other technology on his latest project, Petrov would go into the tech room early and collaborate with the lighting director, technical supervisor, and other team members to examine all the technical aspects of the project from resolution to creative. He was one of several key people involved in executing the creative and technical look for the cameras, the show, and different motifs. 

“In post, it’s important to have a holistic understanding of processes, workflow, and ultimate vision, so as I moved from post to set in my career, I found myself working upstream. When looking at the screen for a project like this, I know from a coloring standpoint the things I need to watch out for and can course correct earlier in the process, and a product like ColorBox is helpful in this respect,” Petrov shared. “It’s really fun to be able to get the dynamic feedback that ColorBox supports in this environment. I'm able to live grade without having to worry about running into limitations. While I’m currently monitoring and coloring most projects in 1080, having the ability to also work in 4K as it becomes more prevalent is a huge advantage.”

For live grading, Petrov set up his hardware, including the ColorBox, in the tech room, and the team provided a line with a dedicated router, so he could choose the sources coming into his system. This made it easier to work with the show director and lighting director to examine all the various setups and cameras. Once they’d established a base look that they were happy with, the team could quickly switch between cameras to compare, with the live grading aspect in mind, so they knew how it would look from another angle in the exact same space or the same angle but in a different room. This flexibility was paramount with filming taking place across a dozen identical rooms, all with analogous camera configurations; Petrov had to ensure everything correlated from one space to the next. 

With ColorBox, Petrov can pull out a single standalone device and get to work. He continued, “ColorBox is just fantastic. I simply navigate to the web UI and can crank out a color test pattern, then change different frame rates to whatever we need for the technical standard. I know we’re getting exactly what’s needed from the hardware before we even get to the creative side of color.” 

He also finds the ability to stack multiple ColorBoxes and generate different signals with different test patterns, resolutions, or frame rates useful. It allows for flawless execution in the moment when Petrov and the team need to shift focus to more time-sensitive work. “Having a tool like ColorBox is a huge boon to my work,” he concluded. “It gives me peace of mind and makes it easier to deal calmly with situations that would normally present nuanced challenges.” 

AJA has announced that the multi-camera cinematic production solutions shop Funicular Goats has been using its technologies on a variety of productions, including the AJA FS-HDR for live grading, the  AJA Ki Pro Ultra 12G ProRes and DNx recorders/players and the AJA KUMO 3232-12G router. 

Since launching in 2019 with co-founding trio Morgan Kellum, James Coker, and Aaron Cooke at the helm, Funicular Goats established a stellar reputation across the live event, broadcast, and streaming production communities. Today, its multi-camera equipment, workflow, and technical management expertise is sought after for a wide array of projects, including big-name concert productions, the annual big game halftime show, comedy specials, and more. 

Its team works closely with all key project stakeholders to plan a well-thought-out, multi-camera workflow design, and the encompassing tech – including cameras, comms, the engineering fly pack, cameras, wireless systems for the cameras, transmission (digital, broadcast, or satellite) fiber infrastructure, and on-set monitoring solutions. Projects average 10-20 cameras per show, but the team has worked on projects involving up to more than 30 cameras, the founders of the company explained.  

Across productions, Funicular Goats must manage different elements and workflow refinement, but ninety percent of the time, the project demands live grading, which means AJA FS-HDR real-time HDR/WCG converters are on set. Running a camera log feed through the FS-HDR allows the team to achieve a more comprehensive range of RGB to build a better look than using just an RCP camera control alone. 

“Productions are often looking for ways to execute their projects but aren’t certain how to do it, so they lean on us. We advise them on how to make it happen and help them achieve the look they’re aiming for in the most efficient way,” explained Morgan Kellum. “We have a comfortable history of doing shows in certain ways and using specific tools (like FS-HDR for live color grading and frame sync), so we'll lean into that, but we also figure out how to modify the workflow and our fly packs and fiber systems to suit each client’s specific needs."

Projects typically require SDR delivery, but Funicular Goats is seeing HDR requests grow, especially for concert productions and larger scale event broadcasts. To this end, FS-HDR has become a Swiss army knife for the team. 

“We love FS-HDR, from its redundant power to the fact that we can count on it to do what it’s supposed to without fail,” explained Coker. “It has great features for everything from embedding to frame syncing and live grading; it does it all.”

FS-HDR also supports conversion needs across Funicular Goat projects. The team may need to use it to help step down a 12G-SDI or 6G-SDI feed from a cinema camera to 1080 for viewing, as well as for coloring and recording. The device also enables frame rate conversion, which the team will leverage when moving from 24p to a broadcast standard for a truck workflow. They might bring back a log feed 23.98p that will hit their distribution amplifier (DA) and into a switcher where they cut 23p. Out of the DA, that feed might go to the FS-HDR, where they can then go 29.9p and elsewhere with it to a line cut, and cut 29.97p for broadcast, the companies reported. 

In addition to live grading, recording is essential to Funicular Goats’ workflow designs. The team often completes 4K recordings with a cinema camera, with a 1080 workflow out for a reference line for added flexibility. If delivering a 1080 project, they’ll record the loaded or color corrected 1080 files to AJA Ki Pro Ultra 12G ProRes and DNx recorders/players. This approach ensures they have a master finish of the project as well as the 4K log footage to work with. 

If footage is already color corrected, Funicular Goats can do an online cleanup with those files or edit with them as well, the company explained. They may opt to use Ki Pro Ultra 12G as a quad HD recorder for four 1080 feeds on one project, or for backup 1080 recordings, ISOs of the cameras, or to create multiple copies of a program or multiple views on others. Sometimes, they’ll even do a 6G-SDI or 12G-SDI into the Ki Pro Ultra 12G. When they need to hand off thumb drives with H.264 recordings after an event, they often use AJA Ki Pro GO. 

“We love our Ki Pros because they’re so flexible; they give us a lot of options and provide a cost-effective way to record in different flavors. We get edit ready files that we can have our downloader dump onto a drive to be shared with production,” added Kellum. “AJA gear like Ki Pro Ultra 12G and FS-HDR are staples in our inventory, and we use them on nearly every show because they’ve got such a great track record of being reliable. We also use of a ton of other AJA products – everything from the KUMO 3232-12G routers, to the 12GDA and Hi5 Mini-Converters, throw down distribution amplifiers, and FS2 frame syncs.”

Funicular Goats’ credits span the Elton John concert at Dodger Stadium, “The Weekend: Live at SoFi Stadium” for HBO Max, as well as comedy specials and the annual big game, and more. For the big game halftime show earlier this year, Funicular Goats captured 29.97p from Sony VENICE 2 cameras. 

The feeds were sent to its production truck with an AJA KUMO 3232-12G router on-board. The feeds hit their distribution amplifiers first, and were then sent through the router and Funicular Goats’ 12 FS-HDRs, as well as through 16 additional FS-HDRs on site, and then into the switcher and out for broadcast distribution. The FS-HDRs enabled the DIT crew to work with the log and HDR feeds and bounce them back and forth while also supporting frame syncing to lock all feeds with the main program audio. 

Whether servicing the halftime show production, a concert, or a comedy special, Funicular Goats excels at finding innovative ways to use new equipment to help clients meet and exceed their production goals. Morgan concluded, 

“Our dedication to the technology and craft shines through in the look and feel of every project,” Kellum said. “What gets me excited to come to work each day are the great team of people I work with and the fact that I get to play a part in influencing the look and feel of these projects. Getting to play with cool gear from AJA gear often is a bonus.”

Directed by S.S. Rajamouli, RRR (Rise Roar Revolt) is reported to be the most expensive film ever made in Indian cinema. It tells a fictitious story about two legendary revolutionaries and their journey away from home before they started fighting for their country in the 1920s. It stars two of Telugu cinema’s biggest screen idols, Ram Charan and N.T. Rama Rao Jr.

It has become a worldwide sensation, so far making $145m worldwide since its release in March, with great success in North America, Australia, Japan and the UK and Ireland. It’s also competing in various categories at the 95th Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor and Best Visual Effects. The winners will be announced this month. 

A True Collaboration
The film was finished at Annapurna Studios in Hyderabad and graded on Baselight by colourist Shiva Kumar BVR, who worked closely with well-known cinematographer, K.K. Senthil Kumar, to achieve the desired look. The pair have worked together on many occasions, and they have a very similar mindset when it comes to colour. 

“I have worked with Senthil for almost all projects of mine,” comments Shiva. “We both have a similar line of thinking and vision in finding the same color density out of millions of color shades. His vision is so powerful that he can find a minute error and color jump from a micro second timed frame. I get a clear idea of what is expected from a detailed discussion with him. Moreover, he does not compromise at any point on quality.”

Shiva was involved in the film process early on, in the scripting stage, when he began working on the look of the film with Senthil. “Senthil narrated the story before going to shoot and we exchanged some references in relation to color palette, lighting scheme and mood boards to meet the required looks in post,” adds Shiva. 

“The workaholic nature of Senthil is the secret behind getting extensive quality in every frame. His motivation brings us out of the pressure of work and keeps our efficiency healthy throughout.”

Creating an Organic Period Look
The movie is set in the early 1900s and Senthil and Shiva worked closely to achieve a look and tone that suited this period. Shiva would take one close-up shot, one mid and one wide-angle from a particular sequence, and then work to achieve the pre-selected look.  

“I am against the usage of LUTs because it decays the organic feel,” said Shiva. “Using Baselight’s Colour Crosstalk and Colour Mix tools in combination with the Hue Angle tool, we achieved the early 1900s look along with the specified organic feel. And using the Diffuse and Texture features allowed me to create a wonderful, classic and glossy diffused sharpness.”

“For each sequence we would give four to five look options to the cinematographer,” explains Shiva. “Out of those options, he would choose one palette. We would then create a separate new look out of all the other reference layers in which 50-70% would be successful towards getting a new look. Once finalized, we would apply the same look for the entire sequence, and then it would go for final approval.” 

The two main characters in the film represent two opposing elements – Ram Charan’s character represents fire, while N.T. Rama Rao Jr. represents water. 

“In the initial stages, we were successfully able to highlight the separation between fire and water,” recalls Shiva. “Later, we realized that it was going to create confusion for the story and to maintain that separation we highlighted a certain element according to the character's emotion.”

“If I had to fix a particular tone of a character, Senthil would give me the complete detailed narration,” Shiva explains. “Mr. Senthil is hands down a great narrator. The way he explained the details of the characters and the story prevented us from going towards many references allowing us to achieve it with the character emotions and arc.”

VFX Challenges
RRR is in the running for the Best Visual Effects Oscar at the 95th Academy Awards, to be announced in January. Shiva and the team had immense support from the VFX Supervisor, Mr. Srinivasa Mohan, and the rest of the VFX Studios, but – as with any VFX-heavy movie – the film’s effects didn’t come without challenges. 

“Color correcting a normal movie is one challenge, but correcting a CG orientated film is an entirely different ball game,” comments Shiva. “Mr. Srinivasa Mohan always foresees the quality. We consumed approximately 250 hours for the VFX QC. Whenever there were complications, we were able to control the errors by calling the VFX studios and ensuring all were corrected and updated on time.”

One of the key VFX challenges was the climax sequence as, due to temperature conditions on location, it was delivered on unbalanced footage with unmatched lighting and exposure. 

“After placing the VFX on the timeline, we realised the majority of the VFX shots were not matching with the live raw shots,” recalls Shiva. “By then, we had already finalized the look for the sequence. This is when the real challenge began.

“Spending a lot of time tweaking sensitively is too risky, in case of an issue popping up after rendering. I had to maintain both a cool and a golden warm temperature for the entire sequence. With the unbalanced shots, it was very difficult to catch both the blue and the warm tone. Therefore, in order to achieve it successfully, I used a combination of Baselight grading tools to get the exact required look for the entire climax sequence. After repeating the process multiple times, the cinematographer and the VFX supervisor were satisfied.” 

“The cinematography on this film has gained lot of appreciation from the cinema industry all around the world,” concludes Shiva. “This is a rare achievement and I see it as a proud moment for Indian cinema.”

LOS ANGELES—From C&I Films comes our latest short film “From DC, I Love You,” which is part of our anthology “To the Cities that I Love.” The series chronicles relationships and how they come to an end, with each short film taking place in a different city around the world. 

The film was edited and mixed in Los Angeles, with color grading and the score completed in Los Angeles, and media management in New York City, all supported by DaVinci Resolve Studio, Blackmagic Cloud and several Blackmagic Cloud Store Mini network storage solutions. 

DaVinci Resolve Studio version 18 is a game changer for us with collaboration getting so much stronger, and the Blackmagic Proxy Generator is like a secret weapon for us. We instantly make proxies and quickly get them online, making it efficient and precise down to the megabyte.

More Timelines
While editing “From DC, I Love You,” the 2D and 3D titles feature really helped. Being able to put in a title or a scratch title (and look nice without having to know motion graphics, as our motion graphics animation team is often tied down) all from the edit page is big for us. With more tools moved to the edit page, my workflow is more streamlined. For example, I don’t have to jump to the color page while editing; I just use the adjustment clip feature, and it’s applied to the clip and everything below it on the timeline.

We had several types of footage on this project; editing different footage on the same timeline and having DaVinci Resolve Studio seamlessly go from H.264 to ARRI, etc. was a huge help. The fact we can now make more timelines and tab through them is insanely impactful. When we open a DaVinci Resolve Studio project, it could have 20-50 timelines, so the tab timelines are everything to us.

While the bulk of the editing was done in DaVinci Resolve Studio’s edit page using the DaVinci Resolve Editor Keyboard, the cut page was also used in conjunction with the DaVinci Resolve Speed Editor for the film’s trailers, promos, and social media. 

Automatic Trim Tools
One of the biggest things we use on the cut page is the dual timelines and automatic trim tools. With the cut page, you can throw your footage down on the timeline and quickly make an edit that is polished and looks great. You can also sync the multicam footage, which is huge for us when we want to cut something in short order. The cut page has a learning curve, but once you become proficient in it, you save so much time on shorter content and quick turnaround deliverables.

I always knew DaVinci Resolve Studio was synonymous with color, but once I saw it could edit and the timelines looked similar to the linear-based editing I know and love, I made the jump. Now, DaVinci Resolve Studio can do everything at once. I don’t have to change to a different program for audio, color or visual effects. It’s that powerful.  

For additional information, contact Blackmagic Design at 408-954-0500 or visit
www.blackmagicdesign.com.

Fremont, CA - August 15th, 2019 - Blackmagic Design today announced the new sci fi film “Quanta” was shot entirely on an URSA Mini Pro, while grading was done using DaVinci Resolve Studio. The film is one of the first globally distributed films by the new Melbourne based film production company and film collective Raygun, and will begin distribution in the United States and other countries in August.

“Quanta,” shot in Melbourne, tells the story of a weary physicist and an egotistical grad student who discover an immense source of information from an unknown signal in space, but face a clash of ideals with how to handle this unprecedented resource. The director on the film, Nathan Dalton, is an Australian filmmaker who has written and directed numerous award winning short films, music videos and corporate videos. Along with filmmakers Samuel Baulch, Jesse O’Brien, Christian D’Alessi, Sasha Dalton, Dalton founded Raygun Films, which has already completed a number of films using various Blackmagic Design products and DaVinci Resolve Studio software.

“Quanta” takes place in Melbourne, and Dalton used the URSA Mini Pro as the exclusive camera for the film. He wanted to capture the intense sense of foreboding coming from discovering a mysterious alien signal, as well as the vibrant life and city of Melbourne.

“For most of the film I wanted to create a sense of dark and moody. Images that made people think there is something out there just beyond sight. We used a lot of low lighting and we tried to bring in a lot of blues and greens with the LUT that we built in Resolve and used with the URSA Mini Pro,” Dalton said. “Also, we had to create high quality sci fi images, but at the same time on a low budget. The URSA Mini Pro let me do that without compromising on image quality.”

The film showed more than just dark and foreboding images. It was important for Dalton and his crew to capture the color and energy of Melbourne. This meant shooting in crowded venues that showcased a huge amount of different colors.

“There were two distinctly different scenes where the URSA Mini Pro’s color science and dynamic range stood out. In one scene, a main character was in a dark room where a computer signal was being put directly into a character's brain in front of a computer. At the other end of the spectrum we shot a scene with 20 to 30 extras in a pub during a trivia night party that had an amazing amount of different colors. The URSA Mini Pro let me capture all the details we needed even in low lighting, while bringing out the warmth of the lighting and skin tones at the trivia night. You just really appreciate the color science in the camera,” he said.

Color correction and LUT development on “Quanta” was completed using DaVinci Resolve Studio.

“When we were trying to dial in the look and feel of the film, we used Resolve to create an initial LUT and a finished grade that brought in the subtle blues and greens that we needed to create a sense of foreboding,” he continued. “And beyond that, the workflow between URSA Mini Pro and Resolve could not be simpler. There was no wasted time or money on transcoding because we were able to shoot in RAW and bring the footage right into Resolve.

"Many of Raygun’s other films and projects also use DaVinci Resolve. “Blackmagic Design as a company is a game changer. We are able to affordably shoot and handle post production without compromising on quality. We are creating Hollywood level films, and Blackmagic has been part of what has allowed us to make the jump into starting our own film production company,” Dalton said.

Press Photography

Product photos of URSA Mini Pro, DaVinci Resolve Studio and all other Blackmagic Design products are available at www.blackmagicdesign.com/media/images.

About Blackmagic Design

Blackmagic Design creates the world’s highest quality video editing products, digital film cameras, color correctors, video converters, video monitoring, routers, live production switchers, disk recorders, waveform monitors and real time film scanners for the feature film, post production and television broadcast industries. Blackmagic Design’s DeckLink capture cards launched a revolution in quality and affordability in post production, while the company’s Emmy™ award winning DaVinci color correction products have dominated the television and film industry since 1984. Blackmagic Design continues ground breaking innovations including 6G-SDI and 12G-SDI products and stereoscopic 3D and Ultra HD workflows. Founded by world leading post production editors and engineers, Blackmagic Design has offices in the USA, UK, Japan, Singapore and Australia. For more information, please go to www.blackmagicdesign.com.

Light Iron, a Panavision company, has announced Jeremy Sawyer is returning to its Los Angeles facility as a senior colorist. The highly regarded Sawyer brings over 20 years of color finishing experience to his role. He joins Light Iron’s formidable talent roster as the facility manages a growing list of feature and episodic projects.

His extensive skills in post as well as a passion for photography bring a unique aesthetic to his visual approach. Sawyer’s arrival reunites him with an artistic group of Light Iron colorists, which includes Ian Vertovec, Steven Bodner, Corinne Bogdanowicz, Sean Dunckley, and Nick Hasson, among others.

“We are thrilled to have Jeremy back with us,” says General Manager Peter Cioni of Light Iron. “His vast experience managing innovative workflows in combination with his inspired visual instinct marries perfectly with our passion to serve the creative.”

“Light Iron fosters a collaborative, artistic environment,” notes Sawyer. “Their dexterity in response to constantly advancing technology and the relationship with Panavision offers an uncommon ability to bring post production to the set, where the intersection of art and science is happening. And being involved early on projects helps to produce an incredible end product. Panavision and Light Iron are at the forefront of making the entire production process smoother, faster, and more efficient, all with a nod toward the creative mindset.”

Light Iron colorists integrate with projects during pre-production, working closely with the cinematographer in a unified way to fully understanding the motives for the creative choices being made. “We think of ourselves as artistic partners in the process,” adds Cioni. “Not only can we build complex pipelines with custom tools and applications, but our colorists remain deeply embedded with the decision-making process, ensuring the intended look is carried throughout for maximum benefits to filmmakers.”

With multiple locations throughout North America, Sawyer also will be available to remotely collaborate with production teams on location, via the Panavision and Light Iron network.

For more information, visit www.lightiron.com. 

BURBANK, Calif.—Creatives in the feature film, episodic and commercial arenas are now able to submit entries for consideration for the 14th HPA Awards presented by the Hollywood Professional Association. The awards are recognition for the behind-the-scenes work of industry professionals who support and collaborate with the vision of filmmakers.

Awards will be handed recognizing Outstanding Color Grading for theatrical feature, episode or non-theatrical feature and commercial; Outstanding editing for theatrical feature, episode or non-theatrical feature (30 minutes and under) and episode or non-theatrical feature (over 30 minutes); Outstanding Sound (Design, Editing, Mixing) for theatrical feature, episode or non-theatrical feature and commercial; and Outstanding Visual Effects for theatrical feature, episode or non-theatrical (13 episodes and fewers) and episode or non-theatrical (over 13 episodes).

Submissions will be accepted from now until July 12. Early bird entries, which offer a reduced entry fee, are open until June 10. For work to be eligible it must have debuted domestically and/or internationally between Sept. 5, 2018, to Sept. 3, 2019. Entrants do not need to be members of the HPA or working in the U.S. The complete guidelines for submitting an entry are available at www.hpaawards.net.

The 14th HPA Awards will take place at the Skirball Cultural Center in Los Angeles on Nov. 21.