The feature film 'Safety' (Disney) gains efficiency and profitability thanks to DaVinci Resolve Studio

From principal photography to final delivery, Blackmagic Design technology enabled an innovative digital asset management (DAM) system to be integrated into the set.

The feature film Disney, Safety , released this month on Disney+, used a work dynamic based entirely on DaVinci Resolve Studio of Blackmagic Design from principal photography to final delivery, incorporating an innovative on-set digital asset management (DAM) system created with the company's mixers, recorders, mixers and monitors.

Safety is a drama inspired by the surprising story of Ray McELrathBey (Jay Reeves), a former American football player on the Clemson University team, a young man who has to face different complex circumstances, and whose dedication and persistence helped him succeed in the face of repeated adversities. With the help of his teammates and the Clemson community, he manages to succeed on the field, while at the same time raising and caring for Fahmarr (Thaddeus J. Mixson), his 11-year-old brother.

Even before the 2020 pandemic, the need to be as efficient and profitable as possible, both on set and in post-production, was already a priority and an obligation for the most limited budgets. Doug Jones, executive producer, knew that the practical solution was improve work dynamics from a technological point of view on set and get rid of any unnecessary obstacles between the studio and post-production, while allowing the editing team to collaborate more efficiently with the production team.

An early adopter of the technology, Jones had been one of the first in digital cinema for years, and he always maintained that it had to be paid attention to and embraced. The dynamics of work with DAM system in film originated because many of the tools used in television broadcasting are also compatible with film productions. Jones began to understand how DaVinci Resolve, coupled with integrated Blackmagic equipment on set, would deliver streamlined processing every time, saving not only time but money.

Together with the director Reginald Hudlin, the head of photography Shane Hurlbut (ASC) and the editor Terel Gibson, the team described how processing could help achieve more efficient production. “There are a lot of wonderful things that we've created over 100 years in filmmaking that are already proven, and you don't want to reinvent the wheel,” says Hurlbut. “And then there are others that emerge and it seems that we are going to alter the paradigm and change the channel.” “When Doug Jones told me about this digital asset management system, and showed me how it would completely unify the process from pre-production to post-production, I thought it was something extraordinary,” he adds.

The process they developed was simple and could be handled by one person on set. When the production cameras were rolling, the devices HyperDeck Studio Mini They began recording automatically from the DAM mobile to capture the contents simultaneously, with the same time code, which made it possible to achieve immediate reproduction of the material. That same signal was then graded on set with DaVinci Resolve on the fly, making it easier to view images with chroma adjustments rather than in RAW format sin color.

Consequently, graded playback was available immediately, with prints ready twice a day both on set and remotely, when uploaded to cloud services. Live images and recorded shots were instantly available throughout the set thanks to ATEM 1 M/E Production Studio 4K mixers and devices Teranex Mini SDI Distribution 12G. The audio was in charge of the unit Blackmagic Audio Monitor 12G.

Post-production decision makers could make notes on clips passing through the DAM system that then went directly to the editing stage. Even the script supervisor's annotations were added in the form of metadata, which was immediately available. The original camera shots were downloaded from the storage cards directly to high-speed RAID disks, which were then delivered to the nearest post-production team several times a day.

Hurlbut appreciated the possibility of having clear communication even in the studio. “We were able to track all the metadata coming from the cameras and add it to the RAID system, send shots to Disney, and keep everyone on the same level of communication, with daily copying that made it feel like the studio was well connected to the film.” The end-to-end system gave the creative team, at all levels, a sense of involvement, as well as the ability to interact directly, which was critical for Hurlbut.

"The system allowed us to involve the studio in the decision-making, because they could see the copies during the day. Imagine that we were shooting in Atlanta and we processed all the material at noon and then at the end of the day. The studio saw the copies at 4 in the afternoon on the west coast, just before the end of the work day. They could talk to Reggie, or with the producers. They managed to involve everyone, so that they felt able to express their opinions and as part of the creative process."

Editing from day one

Editing began on day one, facilitating a unique process simultaneously with production and post-production. The editor Terel Gibson He carried out his tasks in the same building as production. “We got the chance to get really close to the camera, which was great.” Gibson edited Safety completely in DaVinci Resolve Studio.

The process began on the set, in which Michael Smallin, a digital asset manager, synchronized the sound with the camera files, added subtle chromatic adjustments, and then created a timeline, all in Resolve. "The prints were delivered from the set and imported into the system much faster than in a traditional workflow. With RAW files, there was no need to transcode them. We were basically in the lab."

Rahul Das, assistant editor of the first unit, found the challenge of switching everything to Resolve very positive. "I was happy to learn about Resolve, as it is increasingly seen as the preferred choice for editing and finishing content, eliminating the need for a lab. When we started working on the project, I was immediately struck by the various Resolve panels dedicated to color grading, audio, and visual effects. At first, it was a bit overwhelming because, in a traditional offline editing environment, we often do time-referenced work when it comes to visual effects or sound design. In Resolve, even the simplest visual effects work like chroma keying with a green background, or animation requires a certain level of knowledge. But because the interface is very easy to use, the learning curve was quick.”

Los copies could be seen about six hours after the start of the day, and a full day of copies were available and loaded about 16 hours after starting. Editing never took more than six hours from recording, which made the entire process easier by allowing changes and notes on the spot, even in the studio.

Although the tools on set have generally allowed for basic color adjustments, the more advanced digital asset management system provided a Faster and more direct response of high quality to the requirements of the shoot, and often helped resolve problems immediately. Similarly, with copies made available very quickly to executives at the studio, grading changes requested on the fly could be applied instantly and then sent to the studio for approval, providing seamless, immediate responsiveness.

With a much faster turnaround time, the editing team was able to compose scenes from the day of shooting to the time they were handed over to edit, sometimes creating the same montage while shots were being recorded. The preliminary assembly was usually evaluated at the end of the day or the next morning. “I have never felt as close to the cameras as I do on this project,” Gibson admits.

During the process of finalizing the material, the collaboration was a success; each team member worked from the same RAW data set, so everyone helped the final result. When chromatic adjustments were applied to a shot, for example, editors were notified and could see the changes immediately. "We knew when someone was grading an image, editing clips, adding visual effects or designing the audio on a complete track. It created a communication channel in which we all participated," concludes Hurlbut.

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