Gibson Guitars Goes Back to the Future with DaVinci Resolve Studio
Matching the style of the original film was critical to the color grade.
Blackmagic Design today announced that colorist Mark Todd Osborne graded the commercial spot “Back to the Future” for Gibson guitars using DaVinci Resolve Studio editing, color grading, visual effects (VFX) and audio post production software.
With the release of Gibson’s Back to the Future “1955” ES-345 Collector’s Edition guitar, the company aimed to highlight a combination of present day cinematography of the iconic instrument in the spot, while also showcasing how it was used in the classic film “Back to the Future.” The project was managed by Gibson Media Director Todd Harapiak, directed by Doc Crotzer, with cinematography by Justin Janowitz, a long time collaborator and friend of Osborne. Janowitz brought Osborne aboard and tasked him with helping merge the imagery into one cohesive spot.
For Osborne, the goal was to find a balance between the style of the original film and the new photography of the guitar, as well as scenes they were able to use from the film. “The spot needed to seamlessly blend iconic scenes from the film with newly shot material featuring a stand in for Marty McFly, the DeLorean, and a series of beautifully photographed hero shots of the guitars,” said Osborne. “The goal was to create a unified visual language where the new material felt authentically grounded in the ‘Back to the Future’ aesthetic, without calling attention to the transitions between sources.”
Using DaVinci Resolve Studio, Osborne needed to find that balance, enhancing the new footage without affecting the original film material. “The directive was to leave the original material untouched,” continued Osborne. “The film clips were provided in HDR, so my only adjustment was converting them to SDR to match the working format of the project. The key was dialing in the right amount of texture and carefully managing saturation, so the new footage integrated naturally with the original film clips.”
The overall feeling was warm and nostalgic, which Osborne completed with his primary grade.
“Matching the Gibson guitar was also essential,” noted Osborne. “Todd (Harapiak) was very clear that the guitar’s tone needed to remain faithful to how it appears in the movie, as well as how it appears in real life, so a big part of the workflow involved maintaining accurate, consistent color reproduction while still allowing the piece to feel cohesive.”
“Also, Doc said that ‘Back to the Future’ fans are particular about the interior of the DeLorean, so we had to make sure the elements matched as best we could,” Osborne added. “Certain lights on the panels needed to be Power Window tracked to match the look from the movie’s trailer, and colors changed from yellow to red using the 3D keyer to get them to match better with the original light panels in the movie. A great deal of the look was done using primary grades, along with HDR exposure tools in DaVinci Resolve Studio.”
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