It is that time of year again. Film Festivals! Or, at the least, the 2021 version of Film Festivals. Think, “online.” The big daddy of film festivals is upon us, Sundance, which moved to an online platform this year. This year more than 35 films, episodic series, and projects selected by Sundance used Blackmagic Design gear. This includes Blackmagic Design digital film cameras making up an upsized number of projects lensed by Pocket Cinema Cameras 4K/6K and the URSA Mini Pro. Not to be outdone, post-production for many Sundance films used DaVinci Resolve Studio for editing, grading, VFX, and audio post-production.
With an even more selective slate for this year’s hybrid festival, Blackmagic Design congratulates the distinguished projects that were chosen as part of Sundance’s 2021 lineup. This includes films such as “Passing,” which used DaVinci Resolve Studio and a slew of Blackmagic Design products on set, as well as within its VFX pipeline and for its final grade; “Land,” which was composited with Fusion Studio VFX software and graded with DaVinci Resolve Studio; and “Playing With Sharks,” which used a for additional shots and a Cintel Scanner to digitize archival footage.
Some of the Sundance Projects that Used Blackmagic Design Cameras and Gear During Production:
- “Censor” Head of Scanning and Senior Colorist Paul Dean of Cinelab London used DaVinci Resolve to grade dailies;
- “First Date” Director and DP Manuel Crosby used URSA Mini 4.6K and Pocket Cinema Camera digital film cameras;
- “A Glitch in the Matrix” Cinematographer George Feucht used DaVinci Resolve as part of his workflow in shooting practical elements of the film;
- “Passing” DP Eduard Grau, ASC and DIT Zack Sainz used DaVinci Resolve Studio, as well as UltraStudio Mini Monitor and UltraStudio Mini Recorder capture and playback devices, for live stills capture and viewing footage for on set dailies creation, along with Mini Converter SDI Distribution 4K, Smart Videohub 20×20 router and Videohub Smart Control panel;
- “Playing With Sharks” DP Judd Overton used Pocket Cinema Camera 4K for additional shots, while Producer Bettina Dalton, along with The Footage Company, used Cintel Scanner to digitize archival footage;
- “R#J” DP Diego Madrigal used two Pocket Cinema Camera 6Ks for principal photography;
- “Seeds of Deceit” DP Sjors Mosman used URSA Mini Pro G2 and two Pocket Cinema Camera 4Ks; and
- “Users” DP Bennett Cerf used Pocket Cinema Camera 6K for select coverage.
“Shooting on the URSA Mini 4.6K allowed us a great deal of dynamic range and color flexibility where needed,” said “First Date” Director and DP Manuel Crosby. “The simple, user-friendly camera interface worked quite well with our production. DaVinci Resolve Studio aided us in reviewing dailies and creating proxy files while on location, in addition to grading the finished film.”
“Color grading by Cheeky Monkey Post utilized real-time DNG and EXR workflows in its DaVinci Resolve Studio DI suite,” added Melissa M. Offutt, owner/founder of Cheeky Monkey Post, LLC.
Some of the Sundance Projects that used Fusion Studio and DaVinci Resolve Studio for VFX:
- “4 Feet High” and “4 Feet High VR” Animator Martín López Funes of Malditomaus and his team used Fusion Studio and DaVinci Resolve Studio for the projects’ VFX and VR;
- “The Blazing World” Compositor Joshua Puente used Fusion Studio, DaVinci Resolve Studio and DeckLink 4K capture and playback card for the film’s VFX;
- “Land” Compositing Supervisor Jeremey Nelson of Moving Target used Fusion Studio for the film’s VFX;
- “Mayday” VFX Producer & Artist Shaina Holmes of Flying Turtle Post, partnering with VFX Supervisor Andrew Lim of Entoptic, used Fusion Studio for a portion of the film’s compositing; and
- “On the Count of Three,” “Passing,” “Wiggle Room” and “The World to Come” VFX Supervisor Alex Noble of Wild Union Post used DaVinci Resolve within his VFX pipeline for the films.
“The speed and versatility of DaVinci Resolve Studio and Fusion Studio made completing 70 VFX shots in a six-week time frame feasible. All shots were previewed on a 4K 32″ monitor and output at 4K with the DeckLink 4K card for preview. Having the ability to see the comps at this resolution and having real-time playback made compositing so much faster,” said “The Blazing World” Compositor Joshua Puente.
Some of the Sundance Projects that Used DaVinci Resolve and DaVinci Resolve Studio for Post Production:
- “All Light, Everywhere” was graded by María Carretero of Nice Shoes;
- “Bruiser” was graded by Seth Ricart of RCO;
- “Cusp” was graded by Andrew Francis, using DaVinci Resolve Mini Panel, UltraStudio 4K and Teranex Mini SDI to DisplayPort 8K HDR converter;
- “First Date” was graded by Ryan J. Orozco of Cheeky Monkey Post;
- “A Glitch in the Matrix” was graded by Joel Ides of Anarchy Post;
- “Homeroom” was graded by Kent Pritchett of Color A-Go-Go, while Online Editor Alex Exline used DaVinci Resolve Studio for online editing and finishing;
- “Human Factors” was graded by Anders Christensen;
- “I Was a Simple Man” was graded by Nat Jencks of Goldcrest Post;
- “Jockey” was graded by Sérgio Pasqualino Jr. of Bleach Color Grading, while On Set Editor Courtney Ware used DaVinci Resolve Studio for dailies;
- “Land” was graded by Joe Gawler of HARBOR;
- “Ma Belle, My Beauty” was graded by Bradley Greer of Kyotocolor, with Cinematographer Lauren Guiteras also using DaVinci Resolve Studio to set looks during preproduction;
- “Mayday” was graded by Marcy Robinson of Goldcrest Post;
- “My Name is Pauli Murray” was graded by Ken Sirulnick at Goldcrest Post;
- “Passing” was graded by Roman Hankewycz of HARBOR;
- “Philly D.A.” was graded by Natacha Ikoli of Nice Dissolve, with DI Supervisor Pierce Various also using DaVinci Resolve Studio, DaVinci Resolve Mini Panel, UltraStudio 4K, Mini Converters SDI to HDMI, DeckLinks and DeckLink Mini Monitors for remote editing;
- “The Pink Cloud” was graded by Daniel Dode of Post Frontier – Brazil;
- “R#J” was graded by Robert Crosby of Neptune Post;
- “Sabaya” was graded by Andreas Söderberg;
- “Searchers” was graded by Daniel Claridge;
- “Strawberry Mansion” was graded by Matt Ruggieri of Digital Cave;
- “Superior” was graded by Roman Hankewycz of HARBOR;
- “Taming the Garden” was graded by Rodney Musso of Color Grade Geneva with additional grading from Niko Tarielashvili of Tbilisi;
- “Together Together” was graded by Nicholas Hasson of Light Iron, a Panavision Company;
- “Try Harder!” was graded by Kent Pritchett of Color A Go-Go;
- “Users” was graded online by Natalia Mercado of Cinema Maquina;
- “White Wedding” was graded by Marcy Robinson of Goldcrest Post; and
- “You Wouldn’t Understand” was graded by Chris DiBerardino of Technicolor PostWorks.
“‘All Light, Everywhere’ was incredibly complex, with over 100 different frame rates and unusual acquisition formats. Additionally, due to the sensitive nature of the content, we had a very limited time frame to work within,” explained Katie Hinsen, EP Dailies and Digital Intermediate, Nice Shoes. “Conforming and grading at the same time was essential. DaVinci Resolve Studio’s color management and collaborative toolsets were key to getting a flawless film to screen under these circumstances, without any long hours or added pressure on the team.”