FREMONT, Calif.—Blackmagic Design has announced that the feature film “The Spy Who Never Dies” was shot using two Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 6K Pro digital film cameras, with visual effects (VFX), editing and color grading done on DaVinci Resolve Studio as part of a major shift in production operations by independent production house Rhythmic Films.
“The Spy Who Never Dies” is available exclusively on the streaming service STAN for Australian audiences. Rhythmic Films is currently in negotiations to distribute the film globally by the end of the year.
Despite being Rhythmic Films largest project, production for “The Spy Who Never Dies” was hamstrung by the COVID pandemic, forcing the Wollongong, New South Wales based production house to creatively rework its film operations to compensate for tough new close contact rules.
This included shooting the feature film in blocks due to COVID shutdowns, using the time in between to rebuild rigs to strip away unnecessary parts to ensure that limited on set time was used with maximum efficiency.
“When COVID hit, we started exploring solutions that could provide more flexibility and were compact and agile while still providing a cinematic look,” said director and director of photography Corey Pearson. “After tons of research and tests, we decided to switch to Blackmagic Design and were very happy with the results. The dual native ISO sensor on the Pocket 6K Pro and the color science were amazing, which meant we were able to keep the cinematic look we needed,”
With 700 VFX shots in “The Spy Who Never Dies,” ranging from full CGI shots to compositing shots that required lifting plates, Rhythmic Films pursued a complete overhaul of its editing studio centered on the workflow provided by DaVinci Resolve Studio and Blackmagic RAW codec. Having seen the increased efficiency and reduced cost of the new setup and workflow, Rhythmic Films believes it will be able to continue developing feature films for local streaming services like Nine Network owned STAN, which is always looking for more original and local content.
