Picture Shop's Mark Kueper Grades Billy the Kid With DaVinci Resolve Studio
Brie Clayton May 28, 2024
0 Comments
Blackmagic Design today announced that Colorist Mark Kueper of Picture Shop graded season one and two of the MGM+ series Billy the Kid using DaVinci Resolve Studio editing, color grading, visual effects (VFX) and audio post production software.
An epic romantic adventure series based on the life of famous American outlaw Billy the Kid, the show follows the title character from his humble Irish roots, to his early days as a cowboy and gunslinger in the American frontier, to his pivotal role in the Lincoln County War and beyond. Season one's pilot was shot by Cinematographer Paul Sarossy and directed by Otto Bathurst. The series' cinematography was by Paul Sarossy, Ronald Paul Richard, Sylvaine Dufaux and Craig Powell.
Involved early in the process of pre production, Kueper was excited about working on a show shot in Calgary, in the Canadian province of Alberta. I jumped at the chance to grade images of such a beautiful place, said Kueper.
With neither the director nor the cinematographer having experience shooting a western before, they insisted on doing some test photography in and around the shooting location, located in the town of Drumheller. We were able to do look development and set the visual language for the show, continued Kueper. We talked about ways to make the landscape more foreboding. Everywhere you point the camera in Calgary looks great, and springtime outside of Calgary is very lush and green. We needed to make it feel more arid and dustier, like New Mexico. We could see desaturating the foliage and resisting postcard skies would help set the mood.
To achieve a unique look for the show, Sarossy and Bathurst chose to shoot film with vintage Petzval lenses. The character of these lenses was a big part of the look, but there are actually only two focal lengths available for this lens, added Kueper. The lenses have specific aberrations, and vignetting and focus fall off at the edges of frame depending on what stop you are at.
For wider shots and second unit, Sarossy needed to bring in other lenses, which meant matching the Petzval style in post. Kueper noted, We had to emulate those lenses in DaVinci Resolve by defocusing edges with tilt shift blur and aperture diffraction.
While Kueper created an interior and exterior shooting LUT for production, he found he could also add to the filmic look after shooting. I used FilmConvert Nitrate plugin because it has a luma mode that compresses the low blacks but also lifts them to give ambience like print does, continued Kueper. It was something we could have incorporated into the shooting LUT, but I didn't want to bake it in since it would be too aggressive for night scenes. We also used it to add grain to the show as well.
New tools in DaVinci Resolve Studio also helped speed up the grade. During the grading of season one we used match move for sky replacement. Now, in season two we can use the sky replace tool, which is quicker and better, Kueper explained.
Other tools in DaVinci Resolve Studio have helped Kueper add or enhance practical effects or manage on set challenges. Fast noise has been really helpful to add smoke or fog for continuity. There were several instances that we needed to add dust in scenes where horses are running through town or add gun smoke ambience to match shots that were missing it. Flicker addition worked nicely to get lanterns to have a more natural feel, as some LED lanterns have a rhythmic flicker that doesn't look natural, he noted.
While Kueper does start with a set node tree in his grading process, his focus is on moving past the heavy lifting and focusing on the artistic side of the scenes. Things like action scenes take the most amount of time, said Kueper. You may work on a scene for an hour and think, hey I did a lot of work here,' then find out you only did a few minutes of show. When you finally get that scene to a good place it's a good idea to move on and look at it again later with fresh eyes so you don't get lost in small details. I usually get some ideas to sweeten shots that I struggled with to make the scene better. This is every colorist's challenge. For me, when I grade a scene that really speaks to me because I think it looks great, it is rewarding. When you are seeing how you are enhancing a shot instead of fixing it, it drives the creativity up. We as colorists are only as good as the images in front of us. I guess what I am saying is that the reward doesn't come from the struggle, it comes from the art.
Billy the Kid is now streaming on MGM+.
Enjoying the news? Sign up for the Creative COW Newsletter! Sign up for the Creative COW newsletter and get weekly updates on industry news, forum highlights, jobs, inspirational tutorials, tips, burning questions, and more! Receive bulletins from the largest, longest-running community dedicated to supporting professionals working in film, video, and audio.
Enter your email address, and your first and last name below!
-- Sign up: * indicates required
Email Address *
Name
--
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
06/09/2026
June 9 2026, 23:00 (PDT) Dolby and MagentaTV Bring Fans Closer to the FIFA Worl...
04/08/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
04/07/2026
April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...
01/07/2026
Broadcast Management Group (BMG) has announced the appointment of Kathy Samuels ...
01/07/2026
Shade has announced Custom Objects and Automations, a platform expansion releasing June 29, 2026, that adds database and workflow automation capabilities direct...
01/07/2026
FOR-A America has announced the addition of Jaz Wray and Fernando Cruz to its U.S. sales team. Both report to Ernie Leon, Senior VP and Head of Sales and Strate...
01/07/2026
NBC Sports will air all 15 MLB games nationally on Sunday, July 5, across NBC, P...
01/07/2026
Clear-Com has announced a wireless communications upgrade for Jeopardy! and Wheel of Fortune, deploying FreeSpeak II and FreeSpeak Icon systems across both prod...
01/07/2026
England's performance team will use Sony's STATSports APEX GPS tracking system to monitor player physical data in real time during FIFA World Cup 2026 m...
01/07/2026
Adder Technology has announced the appointment of Neil Hillier as Chief Executive Officer, effective July 1, 2026. Hillier succeeds Adrian Dickens, who transiti...
01/07/2026
Bitcentral, Inc. has announced a strategic transaction creating two separate companies. The Production and Playout business will continue as Bitcentral, now own...
01/07/2026
DAZN has announced results from DAZN48, its creator initiative for the FIFA World Cup 2026. Launched in April 2026, the program received thousands of applicatio...
01/07/2026
Sarah Rose, VP, global services, Daktronics (NASDAQ: DAKT), will be inducted into the Information Display and Entertainment Association (IDEA) Hall of Fame at t...
01/07/2026
Gravity Media and the World Economic Forum's production team provided broadc...
01/07/2026
Insight Productions has announced the launch of Insight Storm, a 53-foot mobile broadcast unit built for esports production. The truck is built around a Ross Vi...
01/07/2026
ESPN has announced several content initiatives marking America's 250th anniversary, as part of The Walt Disney Company's Disney Celebrates America pro...
01/07/2026
Eleven production kits, REMI workflows, and cloud distribution bring 40 World Cu...
01/07/2026
The conference also discussed the opportunities offered an industry that is endu...
01/07/2026
The Mountain West Conference has announced the launch of MW , a direct-to-consumer streaming platform powered by Kiswe. The platform will carry live Mountain We...
01/07/2026
New AI Assistant, Multi-channel Audio, ARA2 improvements & more
Tracktion's DAW software has just received its latest major update, gaining a selection ...
01/07/2026
Stammering, stuttering, strangulated tones
The Crow Hill Company's latest creation promises to be the most original sound set they've produced to d...
01/07/2026
Exclusive run of limited-edition modelling pedals
Sweetwater and Andertons M...
01/07/2026
The National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF) is pleased to announce that the ca...
01/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/07/2026
Manfrotto Introduces UNCOVER, the new premium camera bag collection for modern h...
01/07/2026
Blackmagic Design Powers Houston Tamil Sangam Literacy Competition
Brie Clayton July 1, 2026
0 Comments
Volunteers use ATEM Mini Pro, Blackmagic Desig...
01/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/07/2026
PlayBox Technology has published State of Broadcast Infrastructure 2026, an in-depth industry research report examining the technologies, operational challenges...
01/07/2026
LONDON, UK, 1 JULY Jigsaw24 has appointed Alan Henry as Head of Sales for Media and Entertainment, reinforcing its continued investment in helping broadcaster...
01/07/2026
Content Vault, the patent-pending secure content distribution platform protecting high-value media from disclosures, theft and unauthorised access, today announ...
01/07/2026
Bitcentral, Inc. a leading provider of enterprise software and digital media solutions for news, sports and entertainment broadcasters, as well as streaming pla...
01/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/07/2026
Groundbreaking First Nations Screen Business Accelerator launched through nation...
01/07/2026
Chyron Launches the All-New Chyron Academy: A Reimagined, Hands-On Learning Expe...
01/07/2026
Amplium Captures Kawasaki Brave Thunders Game with Blackmagic URSA Cine Immersiv...
01/07/2026
Boris FX Optics Expands Plugin Support to Apple Photos, Capture One, and Affinit...
01/07/2026
UKTV has today announced the appointment of Matt Berry to the newly created role of General Manager - Marketing, effective 1 July.
Matt will take on this senio...
01/07/2026
Sky Zero Footprint Fund-backed TV campaign featuring Deborah Meaden challenges consumers to rethink everyday bathroom wasteWednesday 1 July 2026
Fussy asks Bri...
01/07/2026
Constituency-level analysis reveals where girls miss out most on sport - and where targeted action could unlock more than £640 million in economic and health be...
01/07/2026
Wuppertal July 1, 2026
Riedel and SKAARHOJ Expand Collaboration With SimplyLive IntegrationRiedel Communications today announced an expanded collaboration wit...
01/07/2026
Apple today introduced power-packed updates to Apple Creator Studio, a groundbre...
Picture Shop's Mark Kueper Grades Billy the Kid With DaVinci Resolve Studio 
