Fremont, CA - July 25, 2017 - Blackmagic Design today announced that Mark Todd Osborne, founder and senior digital colorist of MTO Color Inc., conformed, graded and finished the new independent film “A Little Something for Your Birthday” using a DaVinci Resolve Mini Panel alongside DaVinci Resolve Studio.

 

Starring and produced by Sharon Stone, as well as MRB Productions, “A Little Something for Your Birthday” tells the story of a woman struggling to find success and love, cutting into her life every year on her birthday. Written and directed by Susan Walter, the coming-of-age story was shot by DP Pedro Gómez Millán and also stars Tony Goldwyn, Famke Janssen and Academy Award-winner Ellen Burstyn.

 

“As a colorist you’re making 100 decisions a minute, so you really don’t want technology to get in the way. It has to allow you to stay in the creative flow,” explained Osborne. “The DaVinci Resolve Mini Panel does just that. It’s completely fluid. With all of DaVinci Resolve Studio’s tools a button press away, the control panel allows me to work very quickly. It’s designed intuitively, and it keeps all of the important features at the surface so I don’t have to waste time sub-drilling to find the commands I need. There’s almost a fengshui to it.”

 

Osborne continued, “‘A Little Something for Your Birthday’ is a romantic comedy at its core, so I wanted to create a happy, clean look for it. I used the DaVinci Resolve Mini Panel to create a snappy contrast with rich saturation and brightness. Romantic comedies tend to be ‘face movies,’ meaning there are lots of close-ups that need a good, clean look, so skin tones are really important. I used DaVinci Resolve Studio’s Power Windows to brighten the actors’ faces to bring them out of the background. I’d then blur the backgrounds a bit to add some depth. Having the blur buttons right on the DaVinci Resolve Mini Panel saved me a lot of time because there was a lot of blurring and defocusing in the film, and with the control panel it was right at the tip of my fingers.”

 

“For the film’s final scene, the characters are at the beach at night, and the balancing was tough due to the lighting. It has a bit of a cooler look than the rest of the film. I had to brighten it but also keep it realistic and filmic, making sure it didn't look like a TV sitcom. I used DaVinci Resolve Studio’s Printer Light Hotkeys to really dial in and find the balance. I then used its noise reduction to help smooth out the sequence. By using the DaVinci Resolve Mini Panel, I was able to intuitively tweak things and find that balance, all while staying in my creative flow,” said Osborne.

 

The DaVinci Resolve Mini Panel’s design helped Osborne stay focused on the task at hand. “I love the panel’s tactile feel. You can tell it’s really solid, and it feels good on your hands. Once you start using it, you don’t even think about it because everything rolls smoothly and is so fluid,” Osborne concluded. “The two LCD screens are also really helpful. Colorists are very visual people so we like to be able to see, and feel, the changes we’re making.”

 

To keep updated on the film, follow it on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter: @thebdaymovie. For more information on MTO Color Inc., visit marktoddosborne.com.

 

Press Photography

Product photos of DaVinci Resolve Studio and DaVinci Resolve Mini Panel are available at www.blackmagicdesign.com/media/images.

 

About Blackmagic Design

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 real time film scanners for the feature film, post production and television broadcast industries. Blackmagic Design’s DeckLink capture cards launched a revolution in quality and affordability in post production, 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 6G-SDI and 12G-SDI products and stereoscopic 3D and Ultra HD workflows. Founded by world leading post production editors and engineers, Blackmagic Design has offices in the USA, UK, Japan, Singapore and Australia. For more information, please go to www.blackmagicdesign.com.