At the 70th Berlinale, the 2020 Berlin Film Festival, the Golden Bear was won by There is No Evil, directed by Mohammed Rasoulof; the Silver Bear special prize went to Delete History, directed by Benoît Delépine and Gustave Kerven. Both movies depended on detailed grading and finishing on Baselight.
The director of There is No Evil, Mohammed Rasoulof, is currently unable to leave Iran, which resulted in the film being shot in episodes and with strict authorization for each one. It also posed a challenge during finishing for Jochen Hinrichs-Stöldt, sr. colorist at Optical Art in Hamburg and Berlin, as Rasoulof could not join the finishing sessions. This meant it fell to the DP to oversee the final look.
An intensely personal look at moral strength through the lens of Iran’s death penalty, the project is a suite of four standalone films that approach the subject from different directions.
“The first episode starts with a natural look but ends in a shocking climax, which we amplified with the grade,” said Hinrichs-Stöldt. “The second starts in despair but ends happily, and we supported this with a color journey from cold to warmer colors. These warmer tones started the third episode, with the fourth concentrating on the desolation of the characters underlined by desert colors.”
The acceptance of the movie for the Berlinale competition meant the time schedule was very tight, and the grade was finished in just 11 days.
“I needed almost all of the tools provided by Baselight, with particular use of Base Grade and Film Grade, together with shapes, keys and mattes,” explained Hinrichs-Stöldt. “There were a lot of composite grades and some very long takes with a huge amount of dynamic changes, so the layer blending in Baselight was essential to ensure consistency. The strip naming was very handy too.”
The film also had a large amount of VFX work to integrate. Hinrichs-Stöldt explained: “Most of the visual effects were made in-house though some were delivered from Iran, so we introduced an EXR workflow for the VFX. We also made the decision to fix some minor problems–like rattling doors or microphones protruding into the frame–within the session.”
Hinrichs-Stöldt began his career as a photographer, also working as a cinematographer, editor and producer before moving into color grading. He has worked on the Baselight system now for 12 years and finished over 200 national and international movies, so he understands the pressures involved on a project such as this one.
“Thanks to the clear vision of the crew at the grading session, we were able to complete the task within the available time,” concluded Hinrichs-Stöldt. “And the movie was a joy to grade.”
Delete History
In a lighter mood, Delete History (Effacer l’Historique in the original French) is a comedy drama in which three social media victims declare war on the tech giants. That simple premise is the foundation for an audacious and daring exploration of the absurdity of our social media-obsessed world. Directors Delépine and Kerven took the project to Color in Paris for finishing.
“The directors had the desire to return to film to find a more raw image,” said colorist Julien Bodart. “We did tests in 35mm and 16mm, and they found the rendering of the 35mm too close to actual digital camera: but the 16mm corresponded perfectly to their desire for analog granularity.
“This is the third movie I have graded for Benoît and Gustave,” he continued. “We always work with the cinematographer on the tests to set the initial ideas, then at the time of the final grade we look at the consistency of our choices, see what works and where we need to do better. FilmLight’s color management is a great foundation: the Base Grade tool with its different pivot points and flare brought me a lot on this project.”
Wolfgang Lempp, CEO of FilmLight said, “In their very different ways, both these award winners are intensely personal movies. Directors with a clear idea of the mood they want to create are intuitively drawn towards tools that allow them to be creative without being bogged down in technicalities. It is this creative freedom we have striven for in Baselight, and our congratulations go to everyone behind There is No Evil and Delete History.”
Berlinale is held annually in Berlin, Germany and this year’s edition took place from February 20-March 1.
Rom-Com Mainstay Hugh Grant Shifts To The Dark Side and He’s Never Been Happier
After some difficulties connecting to a Zoom, Hugh Grant eventually opts to just phone instead.
"Sorry about that," he apologizes. "Tech hell." Grant is no lover of technology. Smart phones, for example, he calls the "devil's tinderbox."
"I think they're killing us. I hate them," he says. "I go on long holidays from them, three or four days at at time. Marvelous."
Hell, and our proximity to it, is a not unrelated topic to Grant's new film, "Heretic." In it, two young Mormon missionaries (Chloe East, Sophie Thatcher) come knocking on a door they'll soon regret visiting. They're welcomed in by Mr. Reed (Grant), an initially charming man who tests their faith in theological debate, and then, in much worse things.
After decades in romantic comedies, Grant has spent the last few years playing narcissists, weirdos and murders, often to the greatest acclaim of his career. But in "Heretic," a horror thriller from A24, Grant's turn to the dark side reaches a new extreme. The actor who once charmingly stammered in "Four Weddings and a Funeral" and who danced to the Pointer Sisters in "Love Actually" is now doing heinous things to young people in a basement.
"It was a challenge," Grant says. "I think human beings need challenges. It makes your beer taste better in the evening if you've climbed a mountain. He was just so wonderfully (expletive)-up."
"Heretic," which opens in theaters Friday, is directed by Scott Beck and Bryan Woods, co-writers of "A Quiet Place." In Grant's hands, Mr. Reed is a divinely good baddie — a scholarly creep whose wry monologues pull from a wide range of references, including, fittingly, Radiohead's "Creep."
In an interview, Grant spoke about these and other facets of his character, his journey... Read More