DaVinci Resolve, chosen to grade in HDR 'Ku'damm 63'

The third installment of the popular German miniseries I’m 63, broadcast through the channel ZDF, was graded with DaVinci Resolve Studio (Blackmagic Design).

The series, produced by UFA Fiction for the German public television channel ZDF, consists of three 90-minute episodes in which the story of the sociocultural evolution of Germany is told through the loves, the freedoms achieved and the suffering of three sisters, Monika, Helga and Eva, daughters of a conservative matriarch.

Post-production was carried out by Defacto Motion, con Well Left as responsible for grading. As in the previous series, Ana collaborated closely with director of photography Michael Schreitel: “We wanted to go from the desaturated images of I’m 56 to brighter and more colorful ones, as they not only reflect the jump in time, but also key themes of that time, such as the growth of Technicolor televisions and cinema, as well as a more optimistic perspective.

Although previous episodes had been graded in YRGB, in this case the decision was made to use a workflow in ACES, in order to facilitate the transition from SDR to HDR. For this reason, the existing nodal structures had to be rebuilt from the beginning in the Color module timeline. Ana developed two nodes that served as a base and then a secondary grading for the palette of ocher tones: “We softened the blues and also used an additional node with the chromatic spectrum limiter, where we realized that there was an unwanted reaction with fluorescent nuances,” says Ana.

As with other period dramas, the series required a large amount of visual effects to recreate Berlin in the 1960s. Ana explains that, working closely with the department, the challenge was to maintain a sense of realism without interrupting the narrative: “In I’m damm, we had several exterior shots of the Galant family dance studio. “Resolve’s precision tools were essential to perform accurate grading with alpha channels on each of the compositions and computerized elements.”

De SDR a HDR

Because the primary delivery format was SDR, this grading was the basis for the HDR version. The imaging department set up the project in Rec.2020 and adjusted the brightest areas on the corresponding timeline.

"The series is made with a lot of attention, both from a technical and visual point of view, from the beginning of photography to post-production, and the dynamics of DaVinci Resolve played a fundamental role. By collaborating with the director and the person in charge of photography, we were able to take the grading further, with the aim of emphasizing the development of the characters, which was important. Having a flexible and reliable post-production dynamic allowed us to spend more time creating the perfect aesthetic with the backstory, "concludes the colorist