The most violent version of Santa Claus comes to the big screen thanks to Blackmagic solutions

“Violent Night” is a movie directed by Tommy Wirkola. It tells a new vision of Saint Nick. A story where this endearing character turns out to be evil and hunts us all human beings. The film was shot by Matthew Weston and graded by David Hussey at Company 3 using DaVinci Resolve Studio. A portion of the work was done through virtual sessions at Company 3’s Santa Monica.

In the film, a team of elite mercenaries break into a wealthy family compound on Christmas Eve, taking everyone inside hostage. But the team isn’t prepared for a surprise combatant: Santa Claus.

In general, Hussey keeps his grading process simple, with straightforward node structures. “I like to be able to glance at my node structure and know exactly what is being done,” he explained. Though keeping things simple, Hussey still values the availability of more specialized tools for specific applications. “I used Open FX for its grain package on this film,” he said. “Matthew wanted to give the film a little more texture, and the grain we added looked great.”

Hussey discussed the look Weston and Wirkola were going for prior to the commencement of principal photography so communication could be well underway by the time the color grading began. “I basically tried to enhance via the grade what Tommy and Matthew had designed on set,” Hussey recalled.

Hussey worked closely with Weston on a first pass of the film with an eye toward showing Wirkola an entire piece to review. “Matthew had given me colored references from the dailies he was particularly happy with in order to give me an idea of where we should take it,” continued Hussey.