by FilmInk Staff
Fantasy series relied on Blackmagic cameras and DaVinci Resolve to meet growing need for longer episodic content.
Blackmagic Design announced that The Exorcism of Nixie was shot using URSA Mini Pro G2 4.6K and PYXIS 6K, with color correction completed using DaVinci Resolve. The special is the first long form narrative from the global hit fantasy comedy web series 1 For All entirely crowdfunded by fans, to be released in two parts on YouTube.
1 For All is a live action fantasy comedy web series inspired by Dungeons and Dragons that follows a rag tag team of inept adventurers called The Awful Ones. Since 2019, the award winning show has gained a global audience, shot 85 episodes, including two musical episodes and a music video, and has almost 400 million views on YouTube alone.
The Exorcism of Nixie tells the tragic back story of fan favourite Nixie, the group’s happy go lucky pyromancer, and will be released in two 25 minute episodes.
Goldie Soetianto, the show’s producer and DP, explained the move to longer form episodes: “The series started as a one off skit, and now a whole world has been built around the characters. When we first started, we had high hopes that it would find a global audience that would allow us to do more. So we scattered clues over the years that hinted towards a bigger, tragic backstory for Nixie. And now with the extended duration, we’ll finally be able to find out what happened to Nixie, and with more screen time we can tell even more exciting stories filled with jokes and endearing characters.”
Soetianto, an award winning filmmaker based out of Sydney, has been using Blackmagic Design products with 1 For All since the start. She shot The Exorcism of Nixie using the Blackmagic URSA Mini Pro G2 4.6K as her main camera, whilst the PYXIS 6K served as an additional camera, particularly useful in tight multicam setups or while travelling with skeleton crew to less accessible locations.
1 For All is made by fans for the fans, and the cast and crew are made up of not only professional filmmakers but also long time geeks. Only the highest quality will do, and Blackmagic cameras give me beautiful images and the freedom to be incredibly creative,” she explained.
“I have been using the URSA Mini Pro 4.6K for years, and it has the versatility and image quality to let us grow 1 For All into any format. I knew with the camera I had what I needed to shoot long form narrative, as I’ve shot a couple features on it already as a freelance cinematographer. It gives me the confidence to create episodes that can be watched on screens both large and small,” she continued.
Soetianto also relied on the Blackmagic Design camera’s high frame rates, high resolution and seamless integration with DaVinci Resolve Studio to increase the number and quality of high level VFX shots. This included new powerful magical spells cast by Nixie and the group that needed the creation in post of chain lightning, walls of fire and meteor storms.
DaVinci Resolve Studio was used primarily for color correction, and Soetianto relied in particular on a number of the software’s non generative AI tools, such as Magic Mask and Cinematic Haze to assist the VFX team’s workload.
“There is just no way you can plan for everything that can happen or not happen on a set, but there was no time when I worried that DaVinci Resolve wouldn’t be able to help save shots. Things like not being able to run a smoke machine on a set due to building regulations, but being able to quickly create an amazing smoke effect quickly with Cinematic Haze were life savers,” she said. “DaVinci Resolve was a huge part in helping us complete an ambitious amount of VFX shots for such a small team, including painting out distracting modern items in frame with Magic Mask, as well as plenty of lighting and glow effects which gave me more control over the image in post that I couldn’t necessarily do on set.”
Part 1 of The Exorcism of Nixie is available now on Deerstalker Pictures channels.
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.
