Hiroshi Okuyama Film My Sunshine Shot and Graded Using Blackmagic Design Products

Hiroshi Okuyama Film My Sunshine Shot and Graded Using Blackmagic Design Products

Brie Clayton October 22, 2024

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Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 4K used to shoot Director Hiroshi Okuyama's latest film.

Blackmagic Design today announced that Director Hiroshi Okuyama's latest film, My Sunshine, was shot with Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 4K digital film camera and graded with DaVinci Resolve Studio editing, color grading, visual effects (VFX) and audio post production software in conjunction with DaVinci Resolve Advanced Panel. The film was officially selected for the Un Certain Regard section at the 77th annual Cannes Film Festival.

My Sunshine depicts the growth of a boy over the course of the winter, from the time the snow begins to fall until it melts. The story is set in a snowy town and is told from the perspectives of Takuya, a slightly stuttering boy who struggles with ice hockey; Sakura, a girl learning figure skating; and Arakawa, a former figure skater and Sakura's coach. Okuyama took on the roles of director, cinematographer, screenwriter, and editor for the film, while the grading was handled by Colorist Saki Yokota of IMAGICA Entertainment Media Service.

Okuyama explained, I learned figure skating for seven years as a child and wanted to make a film inspired by that experience. However, I significantly revised the plot after discovering the song Boku-no-Ohisama (My Sunshine)' by Humbert Humbert, which also became the film's title, and deciding to cast Sosuke Ikematsu, with whom I had previously worked on a documentary project. Both the song and the actor played key roles in reshaping the story.

In the film's skating scenes, Okuyama used a Pocket Cinema Camera 4K, skating alongside the actors. At first, I tested shooting with another camera mounted on a stabilizer, but it was difficult to shoot. We also tried shooting while pulling the camera on a sled, but it just couldn't keep up with the actors' movements. In the end, the combination of the stabilizer and the Pocket Cinema Camera 4K, with me skating while shooting, worked best, said Okuyama.

I was already familiar with Blackmagic Design cameras, having used the first generation Pocket Cinema Camera during my student days, and the Micro Cinema Camera for my previous film JESUS,' he said. The most challenging part was focusing. Since the camera was capturing a 360 degree view, we had to use wireless technology to remotely adjust the focus. Adjusting the focus by looking at a monitor while not being able to visually gauge the distance between the camera and the subject is something that could only be done with an exceptionally skilled crew.

Okuyama continued, I wanted the film to have a cinematic look, so there was talk of shooting this film on 16mm film. However, I'm the type who likes to shoot long takes. While shooting the skating scenes, the crew had to stay out of the shot, so with no one stopping me, I often kept the camera rolling for over 30 minutes. The Pocket Cinema Camera 4K was light, easy to shoot with, and blended well with footage from other cameras, allowing me to achieve the film look I was aiming for.

Although it is not explicitly stated in the story, the film is set around the year 2001. DaVinci Resolve Studio was used in post production to create the atmosphere of that time. Since it was set slightly older than the present day, we added grain and applied a bit of defocus. We also used filters on set. Yokota, the colorist, emphasized the softness of the highlight of the images.

I used the grain material that Okuyama created and overlaid it in Resolve, said Yokota. The director had a clear vision for the look he wanted, which matched the film, so I built on that base look and refined it. Since this film is meant for theatrical release, I graded it on the big screen. The impression on the big screen is different from what you see on a monitor, so I adjusted those aspects to enhance the quality.

According to Yokota, The most memorable scene is the one by the lake. Different time periods are mixed within a single scene, and as a colorist, you naturally want to balance each cut. Initially, I felt the same way, but after talking with Okuyama, I realized that the beauty lay in the lack of uniformity. The scene beautifully captures the changing tones and brightness unique to each moment. I worked with Okuyama to create the colors for each cut, and it resulted in a very rich scene.

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