by FilmInk Staff
Colorist Alastor Arnold relies on OFX plugins to enhance unique scenes.
Blackmagic Design have announced that the alien abduction thriller Descendent was graded by Alastor Arnold of FotoKem using DaVinci Resolve Studio editing, grading, visual effects (VFX) and audio post production software.
Descendent was produced by David Lawson of Rustic Films and Caleb Ward, along with Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead (Marvel’s Daredevil, The Endless), and was directed by Peter Cilella. The film was shot by cinematographer Alexander Chinnici. Set in present day Los Angeles, the film follows Sean Bruner, a school security guard who is haunted by childhood trauma while preparing for the birth of his first child with his wife, Andrea. After a beam of light appears in the sky during a late night shift, Sean wakes up in the hospital with an inexplicable talent for vivid, unsettling drawings of extraterrestrials and desert landscapes. As his visions blur the line between dreams and reality, Sean’s grip on sanity unravels. With time running out, he must confront his fears to escape his family’s tragic legacy.
Chinnici always shoots with the idea of creating the look of his films on set rather than in post, and the planning for Descendent was no different. “I prep thoroughly and do as much as possible in camera,” said Chinnici. “With that said, I am acutely aware of the post tools available in DaVinci Resolve Studio and will lean on them when it is intelligent to do so. They are all there for the taking, and it’s about utilising them efficiently for the best results.”
Chinnici brought his preferred shooting LUT to longtime friend and collaborator Alastor Arnold at post production facility FotoKem. “Alex had a very clear vision for the look of the film from the very beginning,” said Arnold. “Most of our discussions were conceptual, focusing on mood and style. He already had a LUT he loved, I made some slight modifications for grading, and we were set. My job was not to mess things up, while still looking for opportunities to enhance and shape where appropriate.”
Though Chinnici leaned heavily on creating the look on set, he did appreciate having Arnold available to help enhance the project in post. “I would say that Alastor made it ‘classier,’” added Chinnici. “The saturation we got on set was too high and leaning too genre. There was always a very naturalistic look, but the key to this film was riding that line, and Al got us to where we needed to be with subtle but very impactful adjustments.”
A key area of the film that required the most attention was the pivotal alien abduction scenes. Chinnici used tilt shift lenses and hard light to create an unsettling image, but in post, Arnold was able to take the sequences to another level. “I layered many OFX plugins to bend and bow the image,” added Arnold. “Heavy zoom blurs and chromatic aberration elevated the feel further. One of the things I love about DaVinci Resolve is just how many OFX plugins there are. The toolset is so deep and fulfilling to use, especially the depth map which has quickly become indispensable!
“With our limited budget, I felt that the impact of the imagery in these sequences wasn’t good enough,” said Chinnici. “Al really brought these sequences home. It was fun jamming with him and the two of us bringing idea after idea to take the images to the next level in Resolve. Utilizing zoom blur, vignetting and even an introduction of chromatic aberration, this sequence was brought to an entirely new level.”
Descendent is now available on demand
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 www.blackmagicdesign.com/au
