JACK RYAN: SHADOW RECRUIT RETURNS TO THE BIG SCREEN WITH DAVINCI RESOLVE

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 didnt 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. Hed done a fantastic job lighting the whole film. It made my job a lot easier. Once wed 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, Resolves 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.

All images courtesy: Paramount Pictures