Blackmagic Design solutions bring horror film ‘Alone With You’ to life

The film Alone With You, directed by Justin Brooks and Emily Bennett, was shot with Blackmagic Design cameras and edited in DaVinci Resolve Studio.

In Alone With You, the plot unfolds as a woman prepares a romantic dinner for her girlfriend and begins to hear voices and suffer hallucinations in her flat that reveal a truth she didn’t want to face. This horror film, which seeks to generate a sense of claustrophobia, was scripted and directed by Justin Brooks and Emily Bennett, an actress who also co-stars in the story alongside Barbara Crampton, Emma Myles and Dora Madison. The premiere took place during the Fantastic Fest film festival and, from February 2022, it will reach the big screen through the distribution company Dark Star Pictures.

The film was largely shot in a flat in Brooklyn, New York, in an environment that becomes increasingly disturbing as the story progresses. Brooks, who also took on the role of cinematographer, editor and colourist, used the URSA Mini Pro 4.6K G2 as the main camera and the Pocket Cinema Camera 4K for additional shots, particularly for the tighter scenes inside the flat.

Lighting was another challenge that was met with creativity and the post-production capabilities of the Blackmagic RAW format, as Brooks explains: “With limited space we didn’t want to rely on large lighting fixtures and instead used a more practically lit look. Shadow and darkness were very important, so the cameras’ strong dynamic ranges were paramount. […] With Blackmagic RAW, we were always confident we were getting a workable and pliable image, no matter how dark it got.”

Post-production with DaVinci Resolve

Using the Blackmagic RAW format allowed for an easier workflow when jumping to DaVinci Resolve Studio. “From production to post, the Blackmagic Design workflow is the reason we were able to make ‘Alone With You’ with a crew of two, one of whom was acting in the film. Our ability to build LUTs and import them into the cameras allowed us to see exactly what quality of footage to expect in post and gave us a head start in the grading process. With DaVinci Resolve Studio, I could create assembly cuts quickly during production to ensure a well organized post process,” says Bennett.

Once the final edit was complete, colour grading was done with a DaVinci Resolve Micro Panel. Brooks praises the Blackmagic Design solution: “The DaVinci Resolve Micro Panel helped me really finetune the color and work my shadows and highlights in tandem, making sure I always found the proper balance. I shot nearly the entire third act using only flashlights as lighting sources, so DaVinci Resolve Studio’s noise reduction was amazing. Whether I was locking in skin tones with Power Windows or giving the shadows a cool, green touch, everything was right at my fingertips with the DaVinci Resolve Micro Panel.”

“We wanted to create a world in a single apartment. We needed colors to shift with our character’s state of mind. We needed deep shadows that could hide away unseen horrors. We needed to be able to tell a story unencumbered by the tools we were telling it with, and that’s what we got with Blackmagic Design,” Brooks concludes.