Blackmagic Design announced that DaVinci Resolve Studio has been used throughout production and post roduction on 20th Century Fox’s “Kingsman: The Golden Circle,” including SDR and HDR delivery. Joshua Callis-Smith was responsible for the onset dailies while the online edit and final DI were completed by Goldcrest Post.
“Building on our use of Resolve on the first ‘Kingsman’ film,” said Callis-Smith, “I ran all of the images into 25 inch OLED monitors which were calibrated to match the DI suite at Goldcrest, and used a Smart Videohub to route pictures to the video operator, who would in turn distribute those images to everyone else.”
The onset DIT cart also incorporated a Blackmagic UltraStudio 4K capture and playback device along with multiple SmartScope Duo 4K preview monitors. The first grading pass was subsequently completed in DaVinci Resolve with the help of look up tables (LUT) created ahead of time by the colorist, Rob Pizzey.
“‘Kingsman: The Golden Circle’ was a much bigger proposition than ‘Kingsman: The Secret Service,’ with more ambitious VFX shots as well as an HDR deliverable to consider,“ Pizzey explained. “Along with the fact that we were delivering multiple HDR versions including Dolby Vision for theatrical and HDR10 for domestic viewing, we also had a larger number of VFX set pieces, all of which Resolve handled smoothly.”
The second installment of the Kingsman comic book adaption saw cinematographer George Richmond reunite with DIT Callis-Smith and Goldcrest’s Pizzey following their work together on “Kingsman: The Secret Service” in 2014.
“Our goal with ‘The Golden Circle’ was to maintain the same slick, rich overall aesthetic as the first film, while also ensuring we gave the sequel its own unique look,” said Callis‑Smith.
The conform and online edit were also completed in Resolve Studio by Goldcrest’s Daniel Tomlinson, which allowed the in-house team to turn around any edit changes and visual effects updates that took place quickly and efficiently.
“Working from the RAW rushes gave us maximum flexibility. As for all our deliveries, the HDR grade would originate from the live DI timeline, so we could access any part of the original grade and finesse to achieve the best results in HDR,” added Pizzey. “Grading the HDR is not just about reproducing the REC 709 version on a HDR monitor. It all boils down to how the original material was shot in the first place. On ‘The Golden Circle’ we could justify sensitively opening up the contrast ratio as we had the dynamic range to work with. Used in a controlled approach, the results can be stunning.”
He concluded: “Our color pipeline has certainly evolved since the first ‘Kingsman,’ we all worked on together, but one piece of the puzzle has remained the same: DaVinci Resolve. Resolve was central to the successful delivery of postproduction on ‘Kingsman: The Golden Circle.’ Using it ensured color management remained consistent throughout the entire editorial pipeline, from DIT through to the final results.”
First-Time Feature Directors Make Major Splash At AFI Fest, Generate Oscar Buzz
Two first-time feature directors who are generating Oscar buzz this awards season were front and center this past weekend at AFI Fest in Hollywood. Rachel Morrison, who made history as the first woman nominated for a Best Cinematography Oscar---on the strength of Mudbound in 2018--brought her feature directorial debut, The Fire Inside (Amazon MGM Studios), to the festival on Sunday (10/27), and shared insights into the film during a conversation session immediately following the screening. This came a day after William Goldenberg, an Oscar-winning editor for Argo in 2013, had his initial foray into feature directing, Unstoppable (Amazon MGM Studios), showcased at the AFI proceedings. He too spoke after the screening during a panel discussion. The Fire Inside--which made its world premiere at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival--tells the story of Claressa “T-Rex” Shields (portrayed by Ryan Destiny), a Black boxer from Flint, Mich., who trained to become the first woman in U.S. history to win an Olympic Gold Medal in the sport. She achieved this feat--with the help of coach Jason Crutchfield (Brian Tyree Henry)--only to find that her victory at the Summer Games came with relatively little fanfare and no endorsement deals. So much for the hope that the historic accomplishment would be a ticket out of socioeconomic purgatory for Shields and her family. It seemed like yet another setback in a cycle of adversity throughout Shields’ life but she persevered, going on to win her second Gold Medal at the next Olympics and becoming a champion for gender equality and equitable pay for women in sports. Shields has served as a source of inspiration for woman athletes worldwide--as well as to the community of... Read More