Sony Pixel Power calrec Sony

Tribeca Film Festival Entry Sealed Off Graded in DaVinci Resolve Studio

30/05/2023

Tribeca Film Festival Entry Sealed Off Graded in DaVinci Resolve Studio

Brie Clayton May 29, 2023

0 Comments

Blackmagic Design today announced that the short film Sealed Off, which is in competition at the 2023 Tribeca Film Festival, was graded by colorist Aaron Peak with DaVinci Resolve Studio editing, grading, visual effects (VFX) and audio post production software.

Set during the late 1930s in Shanghai, Sealed Off depicts a city invaded and controlled by the Japanese government during World War II. Frequent lockdowns, foreshadowing potential air strikes or military actions, could have meant the demise of the city and its residents. During one of these periods, two people share a moment of humanity amongst the encompassing fear around them. Sealed Off was directed by John Jiang and stars Zhenfei Chen and Shijiu Liu.

Shot at Shanghai Chedun Film Park over a period of four days, Jiang found that with limited resources the production had to accept difficult conditions in order to capture the drama within the short window of filming. The most significant challenge was dealing with the continuity of the environment, the constantly changing weather, and the orientation of the sun, said Jiang. We ended up with footage that was very inconsistent. Luckily we had planned a lot of black and white sequences, and we knew that the color sequences set inside a trolley car would be less challenging.

Jiang knew the grading process would be critical, and he used his professional contacts to find colorist Aaron Peak. Aaron and I were introduced by my mentor, director and cinematographer Kees Van Oostrum, added Jiang. I think Aaron and I were immediately on the same page when discussing the aesthetics for the film. Aaron had a vision for the visuals right after he saw the rough cut. So rather than looking for any reference, we let our intuition guide us.

Early discussions between Peak and Jiang involved the complexity of balancing shots with different lighting conditions. The hope was we could balance things in post, said Jiang. Aaron's understanding of DaVinci Resolve really made the difference.

Aaron dove into the black and white sequences and began designing the planned transitions from black and white to color, then back again. I love the velvety black and white sequences, said Peak. We worked the transitions into color multiple times in multiple ways, aiming at different shots to start and finish the transitions based on the emotion of the storyline. In the end, the transitions happen across a series of shots, and colors were individually controlled throughout.

May 31, 2023Senior Colorist Marcy Robinson Grades HBO Max's Reality with DaVinci Resolve StudioBlackmagic Design today announced that HBO Films' docudrama Reality was graded with

May 30, 2023Live Social Media Content for Time Warp Mannheim Powered by Blackmagic DesignBlackmagic Design today announced that production company LiveFRAME deployed a multicamera workflow based

Peak, a longtime DaVinci Resolve Studio user, applied a wide range of tools to the Sealed Off grade, including various VFX shots. I've happily used Resolve for 10 to 12 years now, said Peak. I know that Fusion is powerful, but I was able to accomplish most of what we needed within the color page in Resolve. For example, the overhead shots of an intersection are composites to direct the crowd action in and out. I used glow, selective keying, grain and stabilization throughout. We replaced the colors outside the train windows, and the cross shot animations to color transition were all done in Resolve.

Jiang was pleased with how well the color transitions worked, hoping to use them as critical story elements driving the characters and their journeys. With the first transition from black and white to color, while the interior is colored, the exterior is still monochrome. This is a perfect transitional moment as the story unfolds. For me, some of the iconic shots of the film are when colors are the most vibrant, coinciding with the rising tension between the two characters, described Jiang. Then later, as the connection slowly fades between them, some colors fade away with it too. Taking the story into context, this shot looks even more beautiful with less color. Finally, the moment when we return to black and white from color, implying the eventual closure of their humanity, feels like paint fading away on an oil painting.

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

--
LINK: https://creativecow.net/tribeca-film-festival-entry-sealed-off-graded-...
See more stories from creativecow

Most recent headlines

04/09/2025

Monumental Sports & Entertainment and Dalet Win Prestigious 2025 NAB Show Project of the Year Award

Monumental Sports & Entertainment (MSE), in collaboration with Dalet, has been a...

01/05/2025

Safety, media freedom and integrity top agenda for World Press Freedom Day

As Tanzania approaches a pivotal election year marked by both promise and concern over the impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on media, more than 300 journa...

01/05/2025

Release Rundown: What to Watch in May, From The Moogai to Pee-wee as Himself

Paul Reubens appears in Pee-wee as Himself, an official selection of the 2025 Sundance Film Festival. Courtesy of Sundance Institute | photo by Michael Ochs A...

01/05/2025

Best in Class' Touts the Anthems That Defined Student Listening in Celebration of This Year's 2025 College Graduates

After four years of lectures, study sessions, exams, and parties, college senior...

01/05/2025

Nielsen Launches The Ad Supported Gauge, a New Look at the Ad-Supported TV Landscape

72.4% of overall TV viewing in Q1 2025 is of content that includes advertising ...

01/05/2025

LiveNow From Fox Hits a Half Billion Q1 Views on YouTube

NEW YORK LiveNow From Fox, Fox Television Stations' national news streaming service, has released viewing data showing the first quarter was the best quarte...

01/05/2025

Android TV Expected to Dominate Smart, CTV Market by 2030

The global installed base of Smart TVs and Connected TV (CTV) devices will reach 4.2 billion units by 2030, growing at a CAGR of 9.6% from 2.65 billion in 2025,...

01/05/2025

Samsung TV Plus Adds 5 New Sports Channels

Samsung TV Plus has announced that it is expanding its existing lineup of more than 50 sports channels with five new free, ad-supported streaming television (FA...

01/05/2025

Carlo DiMarco Joins USSI Global

MELBOURNE, Fla. Carlo DiMarco has joined USSI Global as vice president of strategic marketing and growth, with responsibility for strategic business development...

01/05/2025

NAB to FCC: Dont Delete Certain Retransmission Rules

WASHINGTON The NAB has filed a wide-ranging rebuttal to proposals by the pay TV industry that the FCC delete and/or significantly change rules governing retrans...

01/05/2025

Fired CPB Board Members Sue Trump Administration

WASHINGTON The Corporation for Public Broadcasting has filed a lawsuit to stop the Trump administration from firing three of its board members, claiming the pre...

01/05/2025

Riedel Opens Hong Kong Office

HONG KONG Riedel Communications today said it has opened a new office in Hong Kong, enhancing its presence in the Asia-Pacific region....

01/05/2025

NextGen TV: Sinclair Applauds New ATSC 3.0 D2M Phones

MUMBAI, India & BALTIMORE In a development that could advance efforts to bring NextGen TV to cellphones, FreeStream Technologies, Lava International and HMD hav...

01/05/2025

Screen Australia empowers 100+ distinctive Australian narratives

01 05 2025 - Media release Screen Australia empowers 100 distinctive Australian narratives All The Boys Are Here writer/director Goran Stolevski and It s All...

01/05/2025

How PFX Delivered 750 VFX Shots in Just Four Months For Anthony Hopkins Thriller Locked

How PFX Delivered 750 VFX Shots in Just Four Months For Anthony Hopkins Thriller...

01/05/2025

Careline's New Wave Makeup Commercial Shot With URSA Cine 12K LF

Careline's New Wave Makeup Commercial Shot With URSA Cine 12K LF Brie Clayton May 1, 2025 0 Comments CAD Studios relies on large format, full fram...

01/05/2025

Telling the Story: Extensive Technical Setup Delivers Comprehensive Special Olympics Coverage

Telling the story: Extensive technical set-up delivers comprehensive Special Oly...

01/05/2025

Just Around the Bend: Olympic Broadcasting Services Readies for the Milano-Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics

Just Around the Bend: Olympic Broadcasting Services Readies for the Milano-Corti...

01/05/2025

Wireless Microphone Spectrum Alliance Gets Going With Lobbying To Ensure RF Access

Wireless Microphone Spectrum Alliance Gets Going With Lobbying To Ensure RF Acce...

01/05/2025

Putting the DPA 2017 to the voiceover test

Voice actor and producer Mark Yoshimoto Nemcoff shares his first impressions of the DPA 2017 Shotgun Microphone, from real-world auditions to side-by-side compa...

01/05/2025

Toto take DiGiCo Quantum 852 and Quantum 338 on world

With my previous console, Freeman recalls, I always had to run a Waves server for EQ and compression, but when I switched to DiGiCo, I found it was such an op...

01/05/2025

Brand new culinary showdown comes to RT Player

Stream all episodes ofLook Who's Hangry from April 29 An RT Player Original in partnership with Heinz...

01/05/2025

Tnaiste Simon Harris, Lottie Ryan and Boyzlife among guests on Friday's Late Late Show

Here is your host, Patrick Kielty! T naiste, Minister for Foreign Affairs and T...

01/05/2025

New documentary Bad Nanny tells the story of serial scammer Samantha Cookes

Exclusive interviews and un-seen footage feature in new two-part series...

01/05/2025

May the Cloud Be With You: GeForce NOW Unveils 21 New Games This Month

May brings more than just rainbows and sunshine - it's also time for fresh adventures and epic battles. This GFN Thursday spotlights 20 can't-miss games...

01/05/2025

RT Investigates reveals details of Christian Brothers who managed congregation's assets are now convicted jailed child sexual abusers

RT Investigates reveals details of Christian Brothers who were senior leaders a...

01/05/2025

RT Statement Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) project

RT Statement The Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) project is one of the projects that was funded from the proceeds of RT 's land sale in 2017, the init...

01/05/2025

RT is Supporting 28 Arts and Cultural Events all over Ireland this May

Watch our promo: RT Supporting the Arts | What's on This May, RT is delighted to support Bealtaine Festival, Fastnet Film Festival, and Dublin Dance Fest...

01/05/2025

Wandercraft Begins Clinical Trials for Physical AI-Powered Personal Exoskeleton

For Nicolas Simon, advancing the field of robotics is a personal mission that could change his siblings' lives. Two-thirds of Simon's family members us...

30/04/2025

Inside the Archives: Preserving and Saving At-Risk Films Takes a Village

Film elements held at the Deluxe warehouse in March of 2015. Photo by Luis Silva...

30/04/2025

Spotify and EA SPORTS Team Up To Pilot a New Kind of Audio Experience

EA SPORTS FC 25 fans in Australia and Saudi Arabia, get ready to immerse yourselves in the beautiful game like never before. Spotify is excited to announce a n...

30/04/2025

Tucker Wetmore Celebrates His Debut Album Release With an Intimate Performance for Fans

The past year has been nothing short of a whirlwind for Tucker Wetmore. After th...

30/04/2025

Spotify Celebrates Mexico's Booming Podcast Scene With First-Ever Podcast Awards

Mexico's love for podcasts is no longer a trend-it's a lifestyle. With m...

30/04/2025

Slam poet Huda the Goddess wins 2025 Les Murray Award

Slam poet Huda the Goddess wins 2025 Les Murray Award 30 April, 2025 Media releases Australia for UNHCR and SBS are proud to announce that Huda Fadlelmawla...

30/04/2025

SBS, NITV and NIDA partner to empower the next generation of screen creatives

SBS, NITV and NIDA partner to empower the next generation of screen creatives 30 April, 2025 Media releases SBS, National Indigenous Television (NITV) and ...

30/04/2025

Why Now is the Perfect Time to Join HPA

By Joyce JC Cataldo The media and entertainment industry is evolving faster than ever. Technology is shifting the way we create, distribute, and experience c...

30/04/2025

On-Demand Imagery: Enhancing Monitoring and Analysis with Advanced Streaming Platforms

An image of Valencia, Spain, in the OneAtlas Living Library...

30/04/2025

WPSD-TV Taps Bitcentral To Modernize Playout

NEWPORT BEACH, Calif. WPSD-TV, the NBC affiliate in Paducah, Ky., has selected Bitcentral's Central Control playout system to upgrade the station's mast...

30/04/2025

Baris Zavaroglu Appointed CEO of Zero Density

AMSTERDAM Zero Density, a global provider of virtual studio productions and on-air graphics, has appointed Baris Zavaroglu as its new CEO. Zavaroglu succeeds Of...

30/04/2025

The Avit Group Elevates Audio-visual Experiences with Mar...

The Avit Group, a forward-thinking audio-visual technology company, is bringing over 50 years of combined experience in delivering audio-visual design and insta...

30/04/2025

NXTGENbps brings portable, sustainable battery solutions...

NXTGENbps will be showcasing its latest sustainable battery power solutions at this year's Media Production & Technology Show (MPTS), appearing alongside pa...

30/04/2025

Van Dyke Scores Hit with Hockey Comedy Shoresy Shot on Ze...

Van Dyke skates and operates on Shoresy | photo by Dave Ferguson Toronto-based Cinematographer Brett Van Dyke (Heartland, Jann, Carter) stepped into the rink...

30/04/2025

PlayBox Neo presents Next-Generation Smart Media Solution...

Leading provider of media playout solutions PlayBox Neo will exhibit a vast array of significant upgrades to its range of smart media innovations at CABSAT from...

30/04/2025

QuickLink StudioEdge Transforms Remote Contributions for...

ITV Studios is renowned for its award-winning productions, including the reality TV phenomenon I'm a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here! Produced by Lifted Ente...

30/04/2025

UK Pavilion exhibitors continue to impact at CABSAT and S...

The UK's presence at this year's CABSAT brings together 20 innovative companies under the GREAT Britain and Northern Ireland banner. From advanced infra...

30/04/2025

Lightware Reinforces ESG Commitment with Participation in...

Lightware continues to strengthen its Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) initiatives by fostering diversity, inclusion, and community engagement within...

30/04/2025

LiveU to Demonstrate LiveU IQ in UK For The First Time at...

LiveU is demonstrating for the first time in the UK, its revolutionary technological breakthrough in IP-video transport, LiveU IQ (LIQ ) and bringing its expand...

30/04/2025

Calrec MPTS 2025 Preview

Stand: A40 Calrec has been putting sound in the picture for more than six decades and is still pushing the boundaries of audio broadcasting with a full range o...

30/04/2025

Buckinghamshire New University opens advanced virtual pro...

Buckinghamshire New University (BNU) has opened its new virtual production studio, designed and integrated by CJP Broadcast. The installation equips students wi...

30/04/2025

Collective Newsroom chooses nxtedition for seamless workf...

Independent news producer in India focuses on delivering stories nxtedition has supplied a complete newsroom system to Collective Newsroom, based in New Delhi,...