Australian tech company Blackmagic Design announced that Memoir of a Snail, a stop motion feature film was colour graded in DaVinci Resolve Studio by Australian colourist Deidre (Dee) McClelland CSI.
The film is written and directed by Academy Award winner Adam Elliot known for his stop motion films like Mary and Max and Harvie Krumpet. In Memoir of a Snail, Elliot tells the story of Grace, a snail collecting misfit finding her way in the world. It has won the Cristal for Best Animated Feature at the 2024 Annecy International Animation Film Festival and BFI London Film Festival’s Best Film accolade.
The storytelling approach of the film has a right balance of lighthearted humour alongside darker themes. McClelland shared, “I had worked with Adam on previous films and it was an honour to have been approached by him again to help bring this beautifully crafted world to life.”
McClelland worked alongside Elliot and director of photography Gerald Thompson to align on a look that captured the quirky characters and their environments. McClelland said, “A tour of the studio where I was able to see the characters and props helped me to understand the direction of the film along with a comprehensive storyboard and a specific colour palette for each scene and location. Each place carried its own unique palette. Paris, for instance, was portrayed as warm and nostalgic; created using a soft edged vignette, giving an almost sepia toned warmth, contrasting with Melbourne’s muted, gray tones that reflect a subdued emotional state.”
She added, “The romantic scenes had a specific look which was captured through the lens. However, some of the shots didn’t have the intended filtration. I was able to emulate this look by using some of DaVinci Resolve’s FX tools. While we used the blur tools and soft edged vignettes to get the romantic look, we also enhanced the red items in the shot with some tracking, keying and colour warping.”
Consistency was key to managing the look across departments. Post-production facility Soundfirm coordinated the colour space to ensure consistency as shots were sent and received from VFX vendors. With constant updates and close coordination, everything was kept on schedule despite the inevitable last minute changes.
McClelland concluded, “DaVinci Resolve was invaluable throughout the project. As updates rolled in from other departments, the software allowed me to keep working on the grade without interruption, which helped us stay on schedule. From our P3 DCP final to HDR and SDR Dolby tone mapped versions, Resolve facilitated every deliverable.”