Vampire Feature Night Patrol Graded with DaVinci Resolve Studio
Colorist shapes dark, gritty tone for horror thriller
Blackmagic Design today announced that Colorist Mark Todd Osborne of MTO Color graded the vampire horror thriller “Night Patrol” using DaVinci Resolve Studio editing, color grading, visual effects (VFX) and audio post production software.
Directed by Ryan Prows and starring Jermaine Fowler, Justin Long, RJ Cyler and Dermot Mulroney, “Night Patrol” follows Xavier Carr (Fowler), an LAPD officer navigating the tension of policing the housing projects where he grew up. When his partner becomes obsessed with joining an elite task force that operates exclusively after dark, Carr discovers the unit harbors a terrifying secret that puts the entire neighborhood at risk.
Osborne was brought onto the project through Buffalo 8, which managed the post production on the film. “They mentioned they had a unique vampire film in development, and the DP was interested in bringing me on board as colorist,” said Osborne. “It sounded like a fun creative fit from the start.”
With the majority of the film shot at night, Osborne faced the challenge of maintaining atmosphere while preserving detail and emotional clarity in the performances. “Night photography requires a careful balance,” said Osborne. “It’s easy to either lose detail or overcompensate and make the image feel artificial. In this case, several sequences were shot in relatively well lit environments, so part of my role was actually shaping and subtracting light, deepening shadows, controlling highlights and creating a more cohesive, moody tone.”
Prows, along with Cinematographer Ben Kitchens, wanted the film to feel gritty and edgy. Osborne worked closely with both throughout post production, starting by sending stills to establish a visual direction before completing a full first pass for review. “We later held an in person session where the goal was to push the image further, especially in terms of contrast and texture,” said Osborne. “That pass was intentionally aggressive: elevated highlights, very deep blacks. By exploring the extremes, we were able to identify where the image started to break and then dial it back to find the film’s true sweet spot.”
Using DaVinci Resolve Studio, Osborne relied on the 3D Keyer to refine specific colors once the overall balance and look were established, particularly with skin tones. He also used the DaVinci AI Neural Engine driven Depth Map feature. “The improvements in recent versions have made it a powerful option for shaping foreground and background separation, darkening environments or lifting faces, without relying as heavily on complex tracked windows,” added Osborne, who also pointed to improvements in DaVinci Resolve Studio’s other AI powered tools. “Magic Mask has improved significantly. The current speed of the tool makes it very practical and dependable. I expect it will become a more regular part of my process moving forward.”
“I’ve worked on many color systems over the years, and Resolve has always felt intuitive to me,” Osborne said. “I prefer tools that allow me to move quickly and stay focused on the creative intent rather than the mechanics. Resolve gives me immediate access to what I need, which keeps the momentum in the room and allows the conversation to stay about storytelling, not technology.”
“Night Patrol” is available on Shudder.
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