"Jean-Clement  my dear friend... time does fly and now we share another film together titled ‘Slumdog Millionaire’ which more than ever seems to be feeling the embrace of the outside world.  On every film with you and MPC…  I make new discoveries. I look forward therefore to get myself back within the walls of MPC sooner than later to explore a new project together with you all… Thank you and so very well done!"

                                                                             Anthony Dod Mantle, Cinematographer

MPC congratulates Danny Boyle and Cinematographer Anthony Dod Mantle on their success at the Academy Awards, Baftas and Golden Globes: Slumdog Millionaire was graded by Jean-Clement Soret at MPC and was by his own admission his most challenging film grade to date.

The film has been awarded with 8 Academy Awards (including Best Picture/Best Direction/Best Cinematography), 7 Baftas (including Best Film/Best Director), 4 Golden Globes (Best Picture/Best Director/Best Screenplay/Best Original Score) and Screen Actors Guild’s (SAG) top award for ensemble cast.  Slumdog Millionaire was graded by Jean-Clement Soret at MPC and was by his own admission his most challenging film grade to date.  "All these hours in the dark room together have paid off, I feel very lucky to have been trusted by Anthony and Danny all along the digital grade, and been able to work with them.  I am absolutely thrilled for Anthony and Danny, sincere congratulations to both of them" says Jean-Clement.

Shot on location in India, the Slumdog is a mix of 35mm and Si2K digital camera footage with Canon digital stills.  Due to the geography of the environment, it was not possible to use a multi 35mm camera setup.  Also, challenging was the fact that digitally acquired footage is not as easily manipulated as film. This meant there were some implications in trying to create the colourful filmic look Danny Boyle wanted.  Add to this, the fast paced, dynamic cut and the fact that footage came from a range of different cameras in varying weather conditions and brightness levels.  In all a lot of effort was required to make it look seamless.

Contact between the audience and the actor was also important and this was achieved using various digital tools to enhance facial expressions.  Thanks to great latitude of freedom in the grading process time was spent with Danny Boyle and DP Anthony Dod Mantle searching for appropriate looks and atmospheres.

As well as the grade, MPC handled the huge task of processing the files from the Si2K cameras used on the shoot, in total about 80% of the movie is digital.  At Anthony Dod Mantle’s admission, it was a tough shoot with multi-camera set up and limited possibilities of lighting.  Many shots ended up being pushed to their limits in the grade.   Fortunately MPC’s DI team had a range of tricks to de-grain and sharpen the images to enhance their quality.  This was particularly useful when matching 35mm and digitally acquired images.  A lot of work also went into conforming and keeping track of edit changes and integrating VFX shots as they came along.

MPC also had to deal with supplied graphics including subtitles; large parts of the film are in Hindi, and show graphic sequences.  The multilayer nature of the DI system at MPC helped to ensure that all these tasks were performed in parallel without compromising the grading process.