The Japanese phenomenon 'Godzilla Minus One', graded with DaVinci Resolve Studio

El colorista Masahiro Ishiyama de Artone Film used DaVinci Resolve Studio and the DaVinci Resolve Advanced Panel Blackmagic Design to grade the Oscar-winning 'Godzilla Minus One', directed by Takashi Yamazaki.

Directed, written and supervised by Takashi Yamazaki, Godzilla Minus One serves as a tribute to the mythical titanic monster on the 70th anniversary of the original story. The film, beyond being a success in Japan and internationally, received the award for best visual effects in the latest edition of the Oscars.

Masahiro Ishiyama took charge of color work on the tape, for which Yamazaki wanted to bet on the aesthetics of the post-war period of World War II. "However, we didn't want to create the typical desaturated tone associated with period films. Instead, we tried to preserve bright colors while being aware of the period in which the story takes place. To do this, I created a conversion table (LUT) in DaVinci Resolve," says the colorist.

Even though the film was shot digitally, Ishiyama reproduced the “density” of celluloid in order to convey the atmosphere of the time. In his own words: "I carried out the color grading away from the delicacy of digital images, moving to gradients and generating spots in the light areas, which I then attenuated. I also adjusted the luminance of the red significantly in order to highlight the texture of the skin. By reducing it, the contrast in the people's faces is emphasized. Taking into consideration the scenic setting, there was no need to make the tones of the actors' complexions look attractive, but we tried to recreate an appearance in keeping with the era.”

From different LUT to Godzilla Minus One

Ishiyama turned to dos LUT different during grading. One of them is similar to the appearance of the movies kodak (with reddish tones in the shadows) and was used in the scenes in Ginza. The other LUT was used in the final battle scene at sea, called Operation Wadatsumi, with the aim of conveying the tension of combat with a cold and rigid whitewash jump. "In scenes where it was important to show the characters' expressions, I applied masks to the eyes, tracked them, and adjusted the mid-details using DaVinci Resolve's mid-tone and texture highlight tools. The eyes are very important, so I applied adjustments in all critical scenes. In films and drama, the narrative is crucial. I modified the colors considering how to accommodate the director's instructions, making sure they did not interfere with the story," he says. Ishiyama.

The post-production process of the feature film was carried out with a ACES work dynamics, thanks to which the colorist was able to modify lights and shadows “without losing details” to create the version Dolby Cinema of the tape. Betting on ACES was key, given that this is the standard for Shirogumi, the company in charge of the film's visual effects: "When I delivered the material to the Shirogumi team, I had to make color corrections so that all the images matched. The weather variations, particularly in the sea scenes, were significant. I believed that it would be difficult to visualize the final image if the computer graphics were created from the source material and the compositions, so I provided them with the graded shots as sequences for visual effects, which were then used to generate the images. graphics”.

In addition to the color version of the film, a monochrome titled Godzilla Minus One/Minus Color. Ishiyama was also responsible for this grading: "For the monochrome version, director Yamazaki requested a look for the highlights and shadows similar to that of Leica photographs of this type, in which only the important parts stand out. For example, in the sea scenes, I separated the red, green and blue, and reduced the saturation and luminance in everything except red, so that it would contrast. As a result, the sea looks extremely dark and only the faces of the people can be perceived. Mr. Yamazaki said that the sea looked dark. My intention was to create a film that instinctively provoked fear and emotion in the audience, and I think we achieved that visceral experience.

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