Ascent 142 completes Post for The Disappearance of Alice Creed

The team at Ascent 142 have once again collaborated with Director of Photography Philipp Blaubach and producer Adrian Sturges to complete the post production including the creation of a Digital Cinema Package (DCP) on the emotionally tense thriller "The Disappearance of Alice Creed"

Starring Gemma Arterton, Martin Compston and Eddie Marsan, this debut feature from writer-director J Blakeson tells the story of two kidnappers whose hostage equals them in determination as they enter a battle of wills which tests each of them to their limits.

This project was shot with the Arri D21 camera in LogC mode, this allows the camera to capture more information but, like a scan from a piece of negative, it creates a picture with a "flat" non natural look, Therefore, a look up table or LUT needs to be applied to the picture for viewing purposes. During the pre-production meetings, it was established that a bespoke LUT would be required to meet the creative vision of the DOP. Designed by DI Technical Director Laurent Treherne, the customised LUT enabled the team to emulate on set how the data would look when recorded on film or viewed in our grading theatre in a DI environment. It was also used when ingesting the shots on the offline system so the picture had the correct look from the start.

Producer, Adrian Sturges commented "The Disappearance of Alice Creed was a major challenge to produce – how do you make a film set mostly in one location with only three actors look properly cinematic throughout? Making the film visually interesting was a huge part in making it successful, and working with the team at Ascent 142 was both a highly creative and a very well managed experience."

Graded by Rob Pizzey, the film represented several key challenges, three quarters of the film is set in a flat, the set design was brightly coloured and constructed to give a sense of heightened reality. The bedroom has a more clinical feel to it, cooler which required the addition of shadows to enhance the atmosphere of the room. Toward the climax of the film there is an exterior forest scene. "The light was falling pretty fast, but we managed to create a great looking scene in the DI. It was amazing what we pulled out of the shadows” said Pizzey, “it was great to work with Philipp Blaubach again after working with him on The Escapist. The grade took just eight days, we had to work fast but because we were all involved from the pre-production state, it was possible to complete in that time. The show print looked fantastic. The producer loved the look so much; his next film followed the same workflow." Violinist