Hunger wins Camera d´Or at Cannes 2008

Hunger wins Camera d´Or at Cannes 2008

Dragon DI completed the DI and picture post for Steve McQueen’s forthcoming feature film Hunger, which won the Camera d´Or at this year´s Cannes Film Festival.

Hunger follows the slow demise of Bobby Sands, the IRA hunger striker who died in the Maze Prison in 1981. The film was photographed by Sean Bobbitt who chose to forge a new path in achieving the final look and character of his film. Paul Wright, Director of Technology at Dragon DI, explains: ‘The film was shot ‘2-perf’, the first time this technique has been used on a modern feature film. This gives a full 1:235 35mm frame, with all the quality of image that implies, but allows the production to use half the amount of stock, as well as half the amount of telecine and printing costs. It’s extremely cost effective, but it has to be handled with supreme care, and there is absolutely no margin for error. The team here at Dragon DI have done a great job in getting the very best out of the source material.’

Certainly, there was a lot of sensitivity in the grade. While achieving a distinctly 80’s ‘feel’, it was also important that the film didn’t look ‘graded’ – the subject matter was too powerful in its own right to allow any kind of distraction. The end result is a triumph of collaboration between DoP and colourist.