Blackmagic Design today announced the new sci fi film “Quanta” was shot
entirely on an URSA Mini Pro, while grading was done using DaVinci Resolve
Studio. The film is one of the first globally distributed films by the new
Melbourne based film production company and film collective Raygun, and will
begin distribution in the United States and other countries in August.
“Quanta,” shot in Melbourne, tells the story of a weary physicist and an
egotistical grad student who discover an immense source of information from an
unknown signal in space, but face a clash of ideals with how to handle this
unprecedented resource. The director on the film, Nathan Dalton, is an
Australian filmmaker who has written and directed numerous award winning short
films, music videos and corporate videos. Along with filmmakers Samuel Baulch,
Jesse O’Brien, Christian D’Alessi, Sasha Dalton, Dalton founded Raygun Films,
which has already completed a number of films using various Blackmagic Design
products and DaVinci Resolve Studio software.
“Quanta” takes place in Melbourne, and Dalton used the URSA Mini Pro as the
exclusive camera for the film. He wanted to capture the intense sense of
foreboding coming from discovering a mysterious alien signal, as well as the
vibrant life and city of Melbourne.
“For most of the film I wanted to create a sense of dark and moody. Images that
made people think there is something out there just beyond sight. We used a lot
of low lighting and we tried to bring in a lot of blues and greens with the LUT
that we built in Resolve and used with the URSA Mini Pro,” Dalton said. “Also,
we had to create high quality sci fi images, but at the same time on a low
budget. The URSA Mini Pro let me do that without compromising on image
quality.”
The film showed more than just dark and foreboding images. It was important for
Dalton and his crew to capture the color and energy of Melbourne. This meant
shooting in crowded venues that showcased a huge amount of different colors.
“There were two distinctly different scenes where the URSA Mini Pro’s color
science and dynamic range stood out. In one scene, a main character was in a
dark room where a computer signal was being put directly into a characters
brain in front a computer. At the other end of the spectrum we shot a scene
with 20 to 30 extras in a pub during a trivia night party that had an amazing
amount of different colors. The URSA Mini Pro let me capture all the details we
needed even in low lighting, while bringing out the warmth of the lighting and
skin tones at the trivia night. You just really appreciate the color science in
the camera,” he said.
Color correction and LUT development on “Quanta” was completed using DaVinci
Resolve Studio.
“When we were trying to dial in the look and feel of the film, we used Resolve
to create an initial LUT and a finished grade that brought in the subtle blues
and greens that we needed to create a sense of foreboding,” he continued. “And
beyond that, the workflow between URSA Mini Pro and Resolve could not be
simpler. There was no wasted time or money on transcoding because we were able
to shoot in RAW and bring the footage right into Resolve.”
Many of Raygun’s other films and projects also use DaVinci Resolve. “Blackmagic
Design as a company is a game changer. We are able to affordably shoot and
handle post production without compromising on quality. We are creating
Hollywood level films, and Blackmagic has been part of what has allowed us to
make the jump into starting our own film production company,” Dalton said.