Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit Returns to The Big Screen With DaVinci Resolve

Manchester, UK  -  Blackmagic Design today announced that big budget thriller “Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit” has been finished on DaVinci Resolve by Company 3 London. Kenneth Branagh has directed Paramount Pictures’ reboot of the spy film franchise, based on bestselling author Tom Clancy’s ‘Jack Ryan’ character.

“Shadow Recruit” is a sharp, fast paced thriller set in the present day. Producers have created an origin story, taking audiences back to the early days of the character. “Shadow Recruit” focuses on the time after Ryan has joined the CIA and in the process comes across a possible terrorist attack that would cripple the United States’ financial system.

Company 3 colorist Rob Pizzey first met with director Kenneth Branagh and cinematographer Haris Zambarloukos at Pinewood Studios London in the early part of 2013. There the trio watched the first assembly edit of “Shadow Recruit”, which had been shot in anamorphic 35mm.

“This is was my first opportunity to get an idea of what I would have to grade,” explains Pizzey. “I was blown away! So many fast moving action scenes and a great storyline. The images we were watching were from the one light dailies transfer, so a lot of the shots didn’t match and some scenes were a bit off color due to the transfer.”

The starting point for Pizzey was to create a quick preview grade in DaVinci Resolve to aide the editing process. “We all sat down to run through each scene and discussed what needed to be done. It was all straight forward enough; good skin tones, bring out the characters’ eyes and make the faces stand out., nothing forced. This first preview grade would set the basis for the main DI grade,” he reveals.

“I spent several weeks with the cinematographer on the DI grade. He’d done a fantastic job lighting the whole film. It made my job a lot easier. Once we’d completed our first pass setting the mood for each scene I concentrated on the smaller details such as eyes. During the fast cut action scenes this was tougher due to the camera or actor moving around. However, Resolve’s auto tracking saved the day yet again! After we were happy with the grade, Kenneth came in to give notes before we delivered the finished film.”

Product photos of Davinci Resolve are available at www.blackmagicdesign.com/press/images.

Blackmagic Design creates the world’s highest quality video editing products, digital film cameras, color correctors, video converters, video monitoring, routers, live production switchers, disk recorders, waveform monitors and film restoration software for the feature film, post production and television broadcast industries. Blackmagic Design’s DeckLink capture cards launched a revolution in quality and affordability, while the company’s Emmy™ award winning DaVinci color correction products have dominated the television and film industry since 1984. Blackmagic Design continues ground breaking innovations including stereoscopic 3D and 4K workflows. Founded by world leading post production editors and engineers, Blackmagic Design has offices in the USA, United Kingdom, Japan, Singapore, and Australia. For more information, please check www.blackmagicdesign.com.