The Inventor, a stop motion and animation feature film that delves into the life story of Leonardo da Vinci, was edited and graded in Blackmagic Design’s DaVinci Resolve Studio with other aspects of postproduction composited in Fusion Studio.
Co-written and directed by Oscar-nominated screenwriter Jim Capobianco, The Inventor has a cast which includes Stephen Fry, Daisy Ridley, Marion Cotillard, and Matt Berry.
For the film Capobianco turned to Foliascope, an independent animation studio in France. Foliascope CEO Ilan Urroz and his team embarked on an extensive research mission to faithfully recreate da Vinci’s legacy. Detailed archives and da Vinci’s own drawings were used to build sets, machines and accessories. Puppets, central to the film’s unique blend of stop motion and cartoon animation, were meticulously crafted and designed.
“Films of this scale and complexity represent a massive investment in both time and money, with some projects lasting upwards of 24 months, during which multiple stages of production and post are undertaken simultaneously, mixing both offline and online formats. And all that requires us to distribute the work amongst multiple collaborators,” explained Urroz who added, “We mix all sorts of techniques to tell our stories, and in DaVinci Resolve Studio, we have found an ally to help us do just that.”
DaVinci Resolve Studio was the ideal software for managing all aspects of stop motion editing within a single tool, eliminating the need for roundtripping between multiple applications. This allowed Foliascope to carry out editing, VFX, color grading, sound and export tasks in parallel throughout the production.
Furthermore, Foliascope expanded its workflow to encompass audio mixing and mastering with DaVinci Resolve Studio’s Fairlight tools. This included dialogue, foley, and the film’s original soundtrack, composed by Alex Mandel.
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