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 ...
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...
01/06/2026
January 6 2026, 05:30 (PST) Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026
Throughout the week, Dolby brings to life the latest innovatio...
18/05/2026
Despite a bumpy start to the year, the provider of event-production support and ...
18/05/2026
Daktronics has partnered with the University of North Carolina to manufacture and install 11 LED displays totaling more than 10,000 square feet and more than 14...
18/05/2026
CBS LA has announced a multi-year partnership with the Los Angeles Rams, covering exclusive local broadcasts of Rams preseason games, weekly year-round programm...
18/05/2026
Skyline Communications has announced an integration between its DataMiner xOps p...
18/05/2026
eCLUTCH, the hybrid esports platform powered by iKOMG, has announced an expansion of its distribution across Europe, MENA, Africa, and Asia, along with new cont...
18/05/2026
Behind The Mic provides a roundup of recent news regarding on-air talent, includ...
18/05/2026
With 22 games this season, the production team looks forward to tweaking and enhancing the coverage
After 8,660 days off the air, the WNBA returned to NBC yest...
18/05/2026
(L-R) Midori Francis and Natalie Erika James attend the Saccharine premiere during the 2026 Sundance Film Festival at The Ray Theatre on January 22, 2026, in ...
18/05/2026
Last night, the Spotify Podcast Awards in Mexico returned to the country's capital. Now in its second year, the evening honors creators whose voices are hel...
18/05/2026
ZEN-Core synth goes mobile
Roland's powerful ZEN-Core software synthesizer has just been introduced to the iPad, offering a convenient entry point into ...
18/05/2026
Versatile new limiter plug-in announced
Based in Sheffield, UK, fedDSP offer a range of plug-ins that span the music production, live sound and high-end med...
18/05/2026
A new use for convolution?
Viiri Audio's debut plug-in aims to do something a little different with convolution processing, allowing users to adjust all...
18/05/2026
Delta Goodrem shines for SBS as more than 3.27 million Australians tune in for E...
18/05/2026
The Australian Defence Force uses L3Harris T4 and T7 robots for explosive ordnan...
18/05/2026
Continued investment across Europe and Germany is expanding local teams and improving access to stock, regional expertise, and specialist broadcast support.
CV...
18/05/2026
18 May 2026
Dubai and New York, May 18, 2026 - VEON Ltd. (NASDAQ: VEON), a glob...
18/05/2026
Monday 18 May 2026
Sky News offers ad-free podcasts and bonus episodes for just...
18/05/2026
Comscore March 2026 Consumer AI Chatbot Usage Rankings Show Claude Gaining Share OpenAI's ChatGPT maintains lead while Anthropic's Claude continues to c...
17/05/2026
Delta Goodrem's Eurovision Eclipse marks end of a stellar run
17 May, 2026
Media releases
Bulgaria wins Eurovision 2026
Relive every spellbinding mome...
17/05/2026
Back to All News
Oasis Premieres on Netflix June 19
Entertainment
17 May 2026
GlobalSpain
Link copied to clipboard
Summer, sunshine, the beach, parties. T...
16/05/2026
Helps to deliver a clean, balanced midrange
Developed alongside Newfangled Audio, the latest plug-in in Eventide's software collection has been designed...
16/05/2026
Brings onboard stem rendering to RANE System One
Engine DJ have just released Engine DJ 5.0, a free update for their Engine DJ OS embedded hardware and Engi...
16/05/2026
Boris FX Continuum Pairs AI Precision and Advanced Creative Controls
Jessie Electa Petrov May 16, 2026
0 Comments
The 2026.5 release adds automatic de...
16/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
16/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
16/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
16/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
15/05/2026
Seattle Sounders FC and Seattle Reign FC, in partnership with RAVE Foundation an...
15/05/2026
Dan Brumm has served as sound designer on Bluey, the Australian children's t...
15/05/2026
The Professional Audio Manufacturers Alliance (PAMA) and Shure Incorporated are accepting applications for the 6th annual Mark Brunner Professional Audio Schola...
15/05/2026
Netflix has announced an expanded NFL schedule for 2026 and beyond under a four-year partnership extension with the NFL through the 2029-30 season. Each season,...
15/05/2026
Ateme is supporting TVRI (Televisi Republik Indonesia) with a contribution and d...
15/05/2026
Concacaf has announced the launch of a new website and mobile app built on Deltatre's FORGE platform. Concacaf.com and the mobile app, available on iOS and ...
15/05/2026
Eutelsat has announced the launch of QBC Business Economic Channel by Qatar Media Corporation, broadcasting in 4K/UHD via Eutelsat's 7/8 West video neighbo...
15/05/2026
Major League Soccer has announced four original content series timed to the 2026...
15/05/2026
The Alliance for IP Media Solutions (AIMS) has announced it will exhibit and present at InfoComm 2026, taking place June 13-19 at the Las Vegas Convention Cente...
15/05/2026
InfoComm 2026 will take place June 13-19 (exhibits June 17-19) at the Las Vegas Convention Center. The show will include sessions and exhibits covering broadcas...
15/05/2026
Tracy McGrady's Ones Basketball League (OBL) and FuboTV Inc. have announced ...
15/05/2026
Disguise has partnered with Creative Technology (CT) to deliver visual playback ...
15/05/2026
Sony Electronics has announced two new products for professional imaging: the Alpha 7R VI full-frame mirrorless camera and the FE 100-400mm F4.5 GM OSS super-te...
15/05/2026
In-venue and creative video staffers at the professional and collegiate level ha...
15/05/2026
Ratings Roundup is a rundown of recent rating news and is derived from press rel...
15/05/2026
For sports organizations, the most valuable assets are often the most sensitive:...
15/05/2026
The NFL's broadcast partners released their 2026 regular season schedules ye...
15/05/2026
Besides drawing on experience with boxing, the production integrates specialty c...
Picture Shop's Mark Kueper Grades Billy the Kid With DaVinci Resolve Studio 
