Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/466366
www.postmagazine.com 11 POST FEBRUARY 2015 BEING EVEL PREMIERES AT SUNDANCE, SHOOTS & POSTS WITH BLACKMAGIC DESIGN'S TECHNOLOGY FREMONT, CA — Being Evel, a new documentary co-created by Jackass star Johnny Knoxville, along with Oscar-winning director Daniel Junge, takes a candid look at Ameri- can daredevil and icon Robert "Evel" Knievel, while also refl ecting on our voracious public appetite for heroes and spectacle. The fi lm, which made its world premier at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival, was shot using Blackmagic Design Cinema Cameras, and was posted using Teranex 2D processors and DaVinci Resolve. To capture the life of one of the most colorful celebrities of the 20th century, Junge, who won a 2012 Academy Award for Best Documentary Short and a 2012 Emmy for Best Documentary for his fi lm Saving Face, shot over 60 interviews to compliment a host of rich archival materials. To accomplish this, Junge and the fi lm's producers at HeLo chose to use Blackmagic Cinema Cameras for the production, as well as Teranex 2D processors for extensive conversions and DaVinci Resolve for color correction. "With Evel Knievel, most people know his name, but many people do not know his life," says Junge. "When making this fi lm, we wanted to capture the spirit of Evel in a way that would do him justice. Blackmagic's products let us bring to life the vision we had for the fi lm and do it in a way that was effi cient and within our budget." Shot in ProRes, the fi lm's interviews were captured at various locations across the country in greenscreen studios so that compositing on each shot could be done later with archival footage and eff ects. Each interview was shot from various angles using four Blackmagic cameras, which were then composited into a single, unique backdrop for the fi lm. "We needed four cameras with the same high latitude that could shoot in ProRes and be easily packed up as we scrambled from interview to interview," explains Junge. "Most of the shots had multiple composites in them, and we had a large number of diff erent types of environments with each set. With the Blackmagic cameras, the color space of each was great, and we were able to get beautiful images. The cameras captured a huge amount of information, which came right out of the camera, ready to use in post. Having four cameras performing at that level and at that price was amazing." Once the interviews were captured, newly-shot and archival footage going back to the 1950s had to be converted using the Teranex 2D processor. All footage was sent through the Teranex, where an initial color balance was completed, and then footage was con- verted to 1080p. Final color correction was done using DaVinci Resolve, which was also used prior to shooting interviews to create LUTs to ensure that all of the interviews had a predetermined look and feel. "Every piece of footage we used went through the Teranex," says James Durée, com- positor at Milkhaus, which provided post production services for the fi lm. "The Teranex was quick and we easily pushed our way through footage no matter what sort of format we were working with. And we got footage in everything from high-end digital to Super8 and VHS tapes. In particular, being able to color balance in the Teranex saved a lot of time down the line and made fi nal color correction with Resolve much more effi cient." Jackass star Johnny Knoxville and director Daniel Junge take audiences on a wild ride in their latest documentary, Being Evel, which looks at famed daredevil Evel Knievel. Teranex 2D processors were used to convert a range of footage formats, and DaVinci Resolve was used to create LUTs and to handle fi nal color. BITS & PIECES