BURBANK — AlphaDogs, Inc., (www.alphadogs.tv) recently completed post production on Danger Diva, a cyberpunk musical thriller written, directed and produced by Robert McGinley. The feature takes audiences on a journey into the near future with hard rock singer Devi Danger, who is coerced into becoming an electronically enhanced new-music diva.
Her singing voice is used to control and energize the brains of indoctrinated employees that are being used as external processors for the advancement of corporate high tech clients. Devi is played by Molly Sides, lead singer of the all girl grunge/pop band, Thunderpussy.
AlphaDogs’ lead colorist and founder Terence Curren created the look for the film, which was shot entirely in 5K.
“The most important thing was getting the look we wanted with color and contrast,” recalls McGinley. “Terry was in tune with the DP and myself to achieve consistency with tone and mood, and in getting the look we desired.”
Curren used color to help with the storytelling. In addition, “beautification” was performed using the Boris FX Beauty Studio plug-in, which helped to smooth out some of the issues that appear in the extreme clarity of 5K.
AlphaDogs’ VP of design Sean Williams headed up the graphics and VFX that included compositing of a car into a new background, fixing monitor insert shots and creating the opening and end titles. Williams’ primary design and compositing tool was Adobe After Effects, with work on many of the shots being done before color-correction had been completed.
Pictured (L-R): Sean Williams, Terence Curren, Robert McGinley, Howard Flaer
“I prefer to work on shots that have been color-corrected, but this was not the case with the workflow on Danger Diva,” Williams recalls. “This did not slow things down, as I was able to work with the ungraded shots and swap them out later with the color-corrected version and re-render with minimal adjustments. Having color and VFX under the same roof makes these sort of quick collaborations very easy.”
Howard Flaer served as editor on the projects and recommended AlphaDogs for the project’s high-end finish.
“I was extremely pleased with the final delivery,” says McGinley. “The AlphaDogs approach to post production comes with care and clarity. The team was a one-stop-shop for color correction and VFX with great, meticulous work. I would highly recommend their services.”
An exclusive screening of Danger Diva will be held at 4:00pm on Sunday, October 23rd at the Ocean Screening Room (1401 Ocean Ave, Ste 110, Santa Monica, CA 90401). Those interested in attending should contact Robert@danger-diva.com.