by FilmInk Staff
Blackmagic Design announce that the award winning short film Don’t Ignore Me was shot using Blackmagic Camera in conjunction with iPhones, with full post production completed using DaVinci Resolve editing, colour grading, visual effects (VFX) and audio post production software.
Winner of six international film awards, Don’t Ignore Me is a supernatural horror film telling the story of a teen’s descent into digital obsession, where the line between screen and reality begins to collapse.
The film is in official contention for an Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts Awards award, and the film’s creator, Charli Fletcher, is the youngest filmmaker to ever be considered. The film’s post was handled by film industry veteran and musician Nick Payne.
Fletcher explained her vision and why she chose Blackmagic Design: “My vision for Don’t Ignore Me was to create a supernatural horror that feels intimate and unsettling, like the audience is trapped inside the character’s phone obsession. I wanted a dark, cinematic look even though we were working with a tiny crew and budget. Shooting with the Blackmagic Camera app gave me real freedom. I could move quickly, experiment with angles, and review high quality footage on the spot without waiting on a big crew. It let me focus on the story and performances while still capturing a cinematic look.”
An important scene in the film involved the lead actress moving between brightly lit and dark shadowy rooms. By using Blackmagic Camera and DaVinci Resolve, the filmmakers were able to maintain details and keep the highlights needed to tell the story cinematically.
“The contrast between the bright room and the dark hallway with the orange glow could have easily blown out the highlights or lost shadow detail,” Fletcher said. “Using the Blackmagic Camera app I could lock exposure, set ISO, and adjust white balance so the bright side stayed controlled while keeping the rich orange tones in the background. In DaVinci Resolve we fine tuned it further, pulling back highlights and bringing out the subtle textures in the shadows. Those tools let us hold both extremes in one shot and keep the mood exactly as I imagined.”
The filmmakers relied on the easy workflow between Blackmagic Camera and DaVinci Resolve, as well as the efficiency that DaVinci Resolve allows in moving between editing, grading and audio, and collaboration that brought working with the director and sound designer.
For the post production process, Payne explained: “Working on Don’t Ignore Me was all about getting the most out of a lean, indie setup while keeping a cinematic standard. From the start, I handled every step in DaVinci Resolve. We ingested the iPhone footage directly into a managed project, organized with color coded bins and synced audio for a smooth edit.
“Resolve became our all in one hub. I cut the film in the Edit page, then moved seamlessly into colour, sound, and finishing without round tripping to other software. The built in colour management let me balance tricky mixed lighting and push the HDR grading so those high contrast shots like the hallway scene with bright light on one side and deep orange shadows held detail without blowing out. Noise reduction cleaned up the low light sequences, and the Fairlight tools let me do temp sound design before final mixing.
“Because everything lived in one project, collaboration with the director and sound designer stayed fast and flexible. That efficiency helped us deliver a polished, festival ready master that resonated with the viewers. This experience showed me how Blackmagic’s ecosystem can carry a film from set to screen, and it’s exactly why we’re planning to use their cameras and Resolve again on our upcoming feature.”
Fletcher concluded: “I love that Blackmagic Design makes tools that are powerful and affordable. It means young creatives like me can share stories at a professional level. I’m excited to keep using Blackmagic gear as I develop my first feature, and I’d love to build on what we learned making Don’t Ignore Me.”
