The Cyberpunk 2077 Fan Film: Phoenix Program that was directed by Vi-Dan Tran, can be used as a solid case study of how Blackmagic’s ecosystem can be utilized perfectly as a whole. That means, shooting with the URSA Mini Pro G2, and doing all the post (editing, grading, and VFX) in DaVinci Resolve, to execute professional stunning results with a limited budget.

Cyberpunk 2077 Fan Film: Phoenix Program

This fan film teaser was directed and shot by Vi-Dan Tran, who was also the director of photography, editor, colorist, and VFX artist. The project was shot entirely on the Blackmagic Design URSA Mini Pro G2. Furthermore, the post-production was done within DaVinci Resolve (16.2.1 ) which was the software behind the whole post ecosystem (editing, grading, and VFX). In this article, we’ll focus on the making of the project from technical aspects, and explore how the Blackmagic ecosystem has been utilized as a whole.

Filmmaker, cinematographer, and stuntman

Recently, we wrote about Netflix’s Extraction which was directed and shot by Sam Hargrave that was a stunt double for Chris Evans’ Captain America, and the go-to fight choreographer for MCU (Marvel Cinematic Universe). Hargrave has utilized his knowledge as a stuntman to create and shoot fight scenes (read the article: “Extraction” Cinematography: 11:29 Minutes of High-Octane Perfectly Stitched Long-Take). Vi-Dan Tran has done the same in Cyberpunk 2077 Fan Film: Phoenix Program. Vi-Dan Tran is an official member of the Jackie Chan Stunt Team spent most of the time working on international mega-projects up to now (Into the Badlands, 6underground, Dune and more). He and Ben Bergmann aka Maul Cosplay, who embodies Geralt of Rivia (The Witcher) and works as an official testimonial for CD PROJEKT RED for many years now, took finally their time to produce another big passion independent short film, which called Cyberpunk 2077 Fan Film: Phoenix Program. Indeed, Cyberpunk 2077 Fan Film: Phoenix Program includes a vast amount of well-choreographed fight scenes that were captured professionally. Check out the official teaser below: 

Blackmagic ecosystem (Shooting, editing, grading, and VFX)

As mentioned, the project was shot on the URSA Mini Pro G2 and all the post was made within DaVinci Resolve. Furthermore, the visuals contain a vast amount of special effects made on Resolve as well (Fusion). In my opinion, this is one of the coolest projects I’ve ever seen that were created completely within the Blackmagic ecosystem. We reached to Vi-Dan Tran and asked him to elaborate on the process of making Cyberpunk 2077 Fan Film: Phoenix Program. Scroll down for the interview.

To save on costs I did the directing, shooting, editing, and grading.

Vi-Dan Tran

Filmmaking career

Y.M.Cinema Magazine: Tell us about yourself, your career and how did you get into filmmaking.

Vi-Dan Tran: I actually decided to become a filmmaker with 21. So pretty late. I wanted to become an action actor in the first place, but my parents didn’t allow that. They wanted me to study something properly. So I thought about making my own movies where I can act. In conclusion, I decided to go to film school. It was there that I combined my love of film with my martial arts background to become involved in stunts. I had a chance to work a stunt double for a German movie called Devil’s Kickers. A few years later, I then had my big break: working as a stuntman on Cloud Atlas. I then had a chance to work on Skyfall – all before getting my diploma.

I moved on to become a part of the Jackie Chan stunt team and kept working in feature film and television over the next few years. I’ve now worked on shows including Into the Badlands, 6 Underground, Dune which I worked on for seven months last year, and Marvel Shang-Chi. I also began to step up during my stunt work to an assistant action director role for season 3 of Into the Badlands, and edited all the fight sequences on the show as well as working as a stunt double. I had the chance to do some camera work as well, so it was an all-rounder.

At the same time, though, I also wanted to keep progressing as a filmmaker in my own right. I kept directing music videos for Universal and Sony Music in Germany. I had a great career, but something was missing: I wanted to do my own project and tell my own stories, try my hand at creating something with friends. I had the privilege to learn by working on some very big productions, and see what some of the best filmmakers today create.

Making a film about a video game

Y.M.Cinema Magazine: Tell us about the project. Why did you choose to make a film about a video game?

Vi-Dan Tran: Honestly because I am a gamer! That’s one reason. The second reason is that I had already worked with actor and cosplayer Ben Bergmann in the past on a viral short fan film called Darth Maul Apprentice. The origin of the idea around Cyberpunk 2077 came from Ben: he wanted to do more films with cosplay. We felt the timing was perfect for a cyberpunk movie… it is set to be one of the biggest games to be coming out this year and we wanted to show our appreciation for the franchise, just like we did with Star Wars and Darth Maul apprentice. Ben embodies Geralt of Rivia (The Witcher) and works as an official testimonial for CD PROJEKT RED for many years now.  After three weeks of planning, we organized the first block of shoots and we had 170 people on set! It blew up like crazy.

The URSA Mini Pro G2 had no issue, even for temperature as we shot in January February so as it was cold the heating was really cranked up inside, but even then we had no problems. No shutdowns, no errors, no noise.

Vi-Dan Tran

From 8 am to 2 am

Y.M.Cinema Magazine: Please elaborate on your production – Budget, crew, equipment, etc.

Vi-Dan Tran: I can’t speak much about the budget yet. But so far I can tell, it‘s impossible to shoot this kinda movie without money or support. Luckily we find some sponsors, who are willing to collaborate with us after we dropped the teaser. Now we are able to finish shooting our Cyberpunk 2077: Phoenix Program. Because of the corona, we were forced to stop the production for 2 months. But we still are planning to release this 20min short film before the game release on the 17th of September. As for production, we had 15/16 people as part of the crew working on this as a passion project. We tried to focus on mostly students filming because for me when I planned this project, I asked many friends and people in my network who were willing to come. For this project one of my goals was also to give newcomers to the industry a chance to try working on the film and building out their creative portfolio. That was great because everyone on set was so motivated even when they’d never had that experience shooting action.

We had hundreds of cosplayer extras on set, for scenes like the club scene, and they came from the whole of Germany and even the Netherlands and Poland. It was crazy because we just did a Facebook cast call for extras, and we had such an overwhelmingly positive response. To save on costs I did the directing, shooting, editing, and grading. We also shot in a lot of great locations for free which was wonderful, but the downside is we had to build the set every day as soon as we arrived, and clean up again as soon as we finished. This was every day! I was in for 8 am every day, and sometimes only left at 2 am.

After three weeks of planning, we organized the first block of shoots and we had 170 people on set! It blew up like crazy.

Vi-Dan Tran

Production

Camera: URSA Mini Pro G2: Organic imagery and ergonomic design

Y.M.Cinema Magazine: Why did you choose the UMP G2 for the job?

Vi-Dan Tran: I have been a fan of BMD cameras for a long time since Blackmagic Production Camera 4K which was my first Blackmagic camera. I chose the G2 for the job for the simple reason that I own one! We saved money as we didn’t need to rent a camera, but I also really love the UMP G2 because it has really an organic image and color science. It’s really easy to work with in terms of ergonomics too, that lightness really helps when shooting action sequences. I also think it’s easier to handle in terms of media because we shot on BRAW, and I found it easier and less expensive to use. With BRAW and Cfast cards data is way easier to manage, especially for storage.

I also really love the UMP G2 because it has really an organic image and color science. It’s really easy to work with in terms of ergonomics too, that lightness really helps when shooting action sequences.

Vi-Dan Tran

Lenses: SLR Magic APO HyperPrimes

I bought new lenses for this short film, SLR Magic APO HyperPrimes. I have a full set of those and it was important to me to shoot on my own setup. We did initially wish to shoot on Anamorphic lenses but found they were a bit out of budget for this production. We also used a DJI RONIN 2 GIMBAL I also have a Redrock Micro Atlas for focus.

Lighting

For lighting, we used several LEDs but aimed to mostly work with practical light. I always try to keep ISO as low as possible at 400 or 800 in terms of lighting, especially on this film considering it was cyberpunk I wanted to ensure a degree of dark moody shots. We tried to mostly work with practical light due to the fact that I was inspired by Roger Deakins. I have been lucky enough to see how Roger Deakins works on real sets, and that’s how he does it – a lot of practical light with only minimal extra lighting. I would always try to be looking over his shoulder studying him. I even studied him while I was on the ground after a stunt!

I have been lucky enough to see how Roger Deakins works on real sets, and that’s how he does it – a lot of practical light with only minimal extra lighting.

Vi-Dan Tran

Hong Kong-style

In terms of choreography: to be honest, everything happened on the day! A couple of days before the shooting will start, I do some choreography beats in my head and a wishlist, what I want to show in that scene, but staging/blocking and 100% choreographing with the stunt crew and actors happens on the spot. We call that Hong Kong style. Because that is the way how martial arts movies were made in HK back in the 80s / 90s or still today on Jackie Chan production. The great thing about that is it really gives you the creativity to create on the day and be inspired on the spot. We did do rehearses to three days before to try to resolve possible issues like for instance, light sources flickering, but otherwise, everything else was done on the spot.

Staging/blocking and 100% choreographing with the stunt crew and actors happens on the spot. We call that Hong Kong style. Because that is the way how martial arts movies were made in HK back in the 80s / 90s or still today on Jackie Chan production.

Vi-Dan Tran

URSA Mini Pro G2: No shutdowns, no errors, no noise

Y.M.Cinema Magazine: How did the UMP G2 perform in this intensive production?

Vi-Dan Tran: There was no issue, even for temperature as we shot in January February so as it was cold the heating was really cranked up inside, but even then we had no problems. No shutdowns, no errors, no noise. At one point we were shooting in a warehouse which was very dusty and dirty, so all my equipment was a mess! But I was ensuring we were always properly cleaning the equipment every time which I believe helped.

Post-production: BRAW and Resolve’s ecosystem

Y.M.Cinema Magazine: Please elaborate on the post process (grading and VFX, and edit on Resolve). Also, please educate us about working with BRAW on this project (in case BRAW was used). How well Resolve performed managing all those tasks in one platform (edit, grading, fusion)?

Vi-Dan Tran: This was a lot! I ended up doing a full post in Resolve including editing, effects, and grading. Editing was easy – I haven’t finished the full movie yet as I hope to complete a 20-minute short film. But in terms of editing this was really easy, especially on BRAW there was no lagging. I believe we ended up using 5:1 BRAW (compression rate). I was really surprised as the quality was amazing while the playback was smooth.

I ended up doing a full post in Resolve including editing, effects, and grading. Editing was easy…especially on BRAW there was no lagging.

Vi-Dan Tran

I then did all the special effects including muzzle flashes on the Fusion tab, to do this I upgraded to 128gb of RAM and one of the latest graphic card models – I sometimes had up to 50 nodes. I felt like I really pushed DaVinci to the edge through this project, it was a very heavy-duty project! I then used Resolve to grade and that too included a lot of masking and tracking. By then, I was amazed at how fast and good the tracker especially in Fusion was – I used this for effects like eyes that could glow purple. I felt like it was a great process and learning curve for me to learn Fusion.

I was amazed at how fast and good the tracker especially in Fusion was – I used this for effects like eyes that could glow purple.

Vi-Dan Tran

Final thoughts and insights

Y.M.Cinema Magazine: Feel free to add your personal insights and thoughts regarding this project.

Vi-Dan Tran: I’m inspired by a lot of different sources before my work. For Cyberpunk 2077, I watched the gameplay trailer multiple times and tried to really adopt that feeling. I also was inspired by Blade Runner 2049, and Denis Villeneuve the director who I worked with on Dune.  Action wise I was really inspired by John Wick ft. Donnie Yen and Resident Evil cinematic animation movie. For cinematography, I was inspired by Roger Deakins who did Skyfall and Blade Runner 2049. I love shots where a character goes from darkness into the light – watch for that in Cyberpunk 2077 as I included it and was very inspired by Skyfall for it.

The whole crew grows together and we are not friends anymore, we became a family!

Vi-Dan Tran

After all, I am very pleased and happy about this project so far, even we haven’t finished the project yet and I don’t know if the audience will like it or not, but so many talented and passionate people joined our journey already. It has been a very stressful and intense time, but the whole crew grows together and we are not friends anymore, we became a family!