New Simon Pegg film “Absolutely Anything” graded with DaVinci Resolve at Mytherapy
Fremont, CA - August 14, 2015 - Blackmagic Design today announced that “Absolutely Anything,” this summer’s new British sci-fi comedy starring Simon Pegg, has been graded on DaVinci Resolve Studio by Mytherapy founder and chief colorist, Dado Valentic.
Directed by Monty Python’s Terry Jones and co starring Kate Beckinsale and the late Robin Williams, the film tells the story of Neil, a disillusioned school teacher who suddenly discovers he has the ability to do absolutely anything with powers bestowed upon him by a group of aliens watching from space.
Valentic worked closely with cinematographer Peter Hannan to develop the look and color of the film and became involved early on in pre production, a significant time before shooting on the film had begun. “Since I grew up on “Monty Python” I felt this was not just going to be another ordinary comedy, so I set myself the challenge of developing a look for the show that would match that spirit,” Valentic explains. “We started by developing the look and feel for the film using test footage shot during pre production, and then once principle photography got underway, every piece of the footage, from the first take to the last, was color managed.”
The brief was to create an aesthetic that would provide a more analogue, 35mm feel - all without a single reference image so that “Absolutely Anything” would look unique. “We were shooting ARRI Raw - full gate. We wanted to capture every pixel that the camera was able to give us in RAW format. Then we were cropping and panning and scanning to 2K scope since this is primarily a theatrical release,” Valentic continues. “We all agreed that the strong, realistic look that the camera would give in REC709 mode wasn’t working for us. It felt too digital and wasn’t fun. We decided to dig deep into color science for film stock emulation, creating a much lighter and slightly hazy palette which was more suited to the world we were creating.
“DaVinci Resolve Studio with the DaVinci Resolve Advanced Control Surface is my tool of choice as it is possible to implement color science using its unique node based workflow. The versatility of Resolve meant that we were able to deploy it on set and in the data lab, as well as in the final grade and mastering process. It makes the workflow so much more fluid and seamless that I can't imagine how we could have completed the project without it.”
Product photos of DaVinci Resolve Advanced Control Surface and all other Blackmagic Design products, are available here. Story photos can be found here
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 http://www.blackmagicdesign.com/au.
About New Magic Australia Pty Ltd (Australian and New Zealand Blackmagic Design master distributor)
New Magic Australia Pty Ltd is a recognised leader in the distribution and marketing of multimedia hardware and software, representing a carefully selected range of innovative, leading manufacturers and catering for both the professional and consumer markets. New Magic Australia established in 1993 is the Australian distributor of Blackmagic Design, Convergent Design, Hauppauge Computer Works Inc, Cubix, Matrox Video and Telestream Wirecast Software products. www.newmagic.com.au
