Case Study - Alien: Romulus

The newest chapter in the “Alien” franchise, “Alien: Romulus” was graded in DaVinci Resolve Studio editing, grading, visual effects (VFX) and audio post production software.

While scavenging the deep ends of a derelict space station, a group of young space colonists come face to face with the most terrifying life form in the universe. Directed by Fede Alvarez (“Don’t Breathe,” “Evil Dead”), with cinematography by Galo Olivares (“Roma,” “Gretel and Hansel”), The film was graded by colorist Mitch Paulson while he was at Company 3. He is now a senior colourist at Picture Shop, based in Hollywood.

Paulson had worked with both Alvarez and Olivares before but on separate films and was excited to see the combination of their talents on “Alien: Romulus.” Early conversations helped inform the visual style of the project with a strong interest in using the original movies as a driving force. “Fede wanted to take stills from our movie, put them up on a wall with stills of ‘Alien’ and ‘Aliens,’ and have them all blend together,” said Paulson. “We looked at a lot of stills from both films to reference colours. We also had a custom grain created to help match the look even closer.”

Paulson keeps things simple from the start as he grades, avoiding over complicating the node tree. “I typically start with doing offset grading to get a general balance on the shot. I’ll do some curves to help get the contrast to where I want it, and then I’ll get into windows and keying as needed,” he noted.

For the film, Paulson found himself working on a variety of small visual effects additions in the colour grade, enhancing shots with tools within DaVinci Resolve Studio. “There were a lot of small visual effects things throughout that we dealt with in colour. One of the biggest scenes was when the main character, Rain, goes to the lower part of the ship at the end of the movie. I used the flicker effect to create lighting changes as she walks around looking for the Offspring,” he explained.

For Paulson, the best part of grading a movie like “Alien: Romulus” is knowing that his grade can affect the mood just as much as other elements in the filmmaking process. His favorite scene, when Rain’s ex boyfriend Tyler and his sister Kay find the unhatched Xenomorph, is a good example. “Galo wanted to keep it dark and scary but at the same time still be able to see the important elements. We shaped the environment with windows and balanced all the lights that were moving in the tunnel. Then, when the Xenomorph attacks Tyler, we worked on helping the VFX look even bloodier,” he said.

“Alien: Romulus” is now available on digital and Hulu.