Blackmagic cameras and DaVinci Resolve Studio make a splash at the Sundance Film Festival

The little cameras that could is a story I love to hear. Arri, Red, Panasonic, and Sony are all great camera manufacturers, but their cinema cameras can be a bit on the pricy side for many owner/operators. When a “budget” camera system makes waves at the Sundance Film Festival it brings a little smile to my face. I mean, how indie is a story like one on the Blackmagic Cinema Camera and Pocket Cinema Camera. These are cameras whom have an interesting story in themselves. Many bemoaned the smaller sensor size in the Cinema Camera. They complained about the reflective screen on the back. Pundits saw the internal battery as proof the Cinema Camera was bound to fail no matter how good the color science was behind Blackmagic’s initial foray into camera technology. The Pocket Cinema Camera is one of those cameras DPs can place anywhere. Their small size and light weight make these cameras great for scenes taking place in a small space like a driving scene. I expect we will see the 4.6K URSA and URSA Mini to be making this list in years to come as DPs finally get their hands on the new cameras. 

Sundance Films That Used Blackmagic Design Cameras:

• • “The 4th,” shot by DP Shane Bruce Johnston and DP Charles J. Gibson with Blackmagic Cinema Cameras and Pocket Cinema Cameras, and color graded by Mark Todd Osborne with DaVinci Resolve Studio;
  • “All These Sleepless Nights,” shot by Director and DP Michal Marczak with Pocket Cinema Camera;
  • “Manoman,” shot by DP Steven Cameron Ferguson with Pocket Cinema Camera; and
  • “Operation Avalanche,” shot by DPs Jared Raab and Andrew Appelle with Pocket Cinema Camera.

Not surprising though is how many Sundance films used DaVinci Resolve Studio for final color grading. With DaVinci Resolve’s strong tool set and ability to work with many native file types I am not at all surprised to see this many films using the software. Will we see a Sundance Film edited in DaVinci Resolve in the future? Time will only tell.

Sundance Films That Used DaVinci Resolve Studio:

• • “Ali & Nino,” by Colorist Paul Ensby of Deluxe’s Company 3;
  • “As You Are,” by Producer and Colorist Joseph Mastantuono of Good Post NY;
  • “Carnage Park,” by Colorist Jason Knutzen;
  • “Cemetery of Splendor,” by Colorist Chaitawat Traisarnsri of White Light Post;
  • “Christine,” by Colorist Sam Daley of Technicolor PostWorks;
  • “Complete Unknown,” by Colorist Alex Bickel of Color Collective at Technicolor PostWorks;
  • “Equity,” by Colorist Roman Hankewycz of Harbor Picture Company;
  • “The Eyes of My Mother,” by Colorist Sam Daley of Technicolor PostWorks;
  • “First Girl I Loved,” by Colorist Narbeh Tatoussian of Blacklist Digital;
  • “The Fits,” by Colorist Sam Daley of Technicolor PostWorks;
  • “A Flag Without a Country,” by Colorist Sohrab Nourbakhsh of TANGRAM Studio;
  • “Goat,” by Colorist Nat Jencks of Outlier Post;
  • “Indignation,” by Colorist Alex Bickel of Color Collective at Technicolor PostWorks;
  • “The Itching,” by Colorist Chris Ramey;
  • “Jacqueline (Argentine),” by Colorist Samuel Gursky of Irving Harvey;
  • “Joshy,” by Colorist Mark Todd Osborne;
  • “Land of the Enlightened,” by Colorist Donal O’Kane of Screen Scene;
  • “The Lobster,” by Colorist Tony Ford;
  • “Michael Jackson’s Journey from Motown to Off the Wall,” by Colorist Roman Hankewycz of Harbor Picture Company;
  • “Miles Ahead,” by Colorist Stephen Nakamura of Deluxe’s Company 3;
  • “Morris from America,” by Colorist Sebastian Göhs;
  • “Other People,” by Colorist Mike Howell of Color Collective;
  • “Rams,” by Colorist Norman Nisbet;
  • “Sing Street,” by Colorist Donal O’Kane of Screen Scene;
  • “Sleight,” by Colorist Jason Knutzen;
  • “Sophie and the Rising Sun,” by Colorist Roman Hankewycz of Harbor Picture Company;
  • “Swiss Army Man,” by Colorist Sofie Borup of Deluxe’s Company 3;
  • “Trash Fire,” by Cinematographer and Colorist Shane Daly of Reb10digilab.com;
  • “Under the Shadow,” by Colorist Filipe Fernandes of Creativity Media;
  • “White Girl,” by Colorist Sam Daley of Technicolor PostWorks;
  • “Wiener-Dog,” by Colorist Sam Daley of Technicolor PostWorks; and
  • “Yoga Hosers,” by Colorist Mark Todd Osborne.

About Blackmagic Design

Blackmagic creates some of the world’s best video/film/post-production gear: digital film cameras, color correctors, video converters, video monitoring, routers, and many many more products. Blackmagic was 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.

To learn more about the Sundance Film Festival go here: