Overview
After 25 years, Sr. Ridley Scott’s Oscar-winning classic Gladiator returns to the big screen with a thrilling sequel. Gladiator 2 picks up the story and follows Lucius 16 years after the original events. But that’s not the only exciting return: The project’s DIT is no stranger to the Pomfort blog, as we already interviewed Gastone Ferrante a few years ago. Now, we caught up with him again over his involvement in this massive production.
To let the Gladiator shine in his battles on screen, Gastone and his team wrestled their own challenges behind the scenes. Think demanding filming conditions in Morocco and Malta, complex workflows with up to 12 (!) cameras, VFX-heavy scenes, and custom-built setups to make it all work. So, let’s step into the ring with Gastone to learn all about his experiences!
Gastone mainly works on major motion pictures, and Gladiator 2 was no exception. For the sequel to the first movie from 2000, director Ridley Scott and cinematographer John Mathieson joined forces once again. Though Gastone and Mathieson also share a history of collaboration, the offer to join Gladiator 2 came as a surprise, as Gastone recalls: „While John and I worked on a small film together, I noticed him checking camera crew availability for Gladiator 2. Since he never mentioned anything to me directly, I thought he had maybe decided to shoot analog film or had chosen another DIT.“ However, during the very last day of shooting, a quick exchange with some ironic undertones changed the whole situation: „John approached me saying that he’d soon start prepping for a project called Gladiator 2 and whether I had ever heard of the first film, which he had shot a while back.“ Gastone, who describes Mathieson as one of his main inspirations for working in the film industry, put on an innocent face and replied: „Sorry, John, I have no idea of what you’re talking about, but let me check my schedule.“
Naturally, Gastone was able to make room in his calendar and soon found himself leading the DIT team – a role with significant responsibility on a production that scale: „On the most demanding days, the DIT team alone would employ about ten people, including myself heading it.“ In this capacity, Gastone faced both conceptual and operational tasks, along with the supervision and management of his team.
Production requirements and setup
During pre-production, Gastone designed the whole workflow and color pipeline in agreement with their dailies (Kiwii) and finishing (Company 3) laboratories. An unexpected requirement heavily influenced considerations for the on-set workflow, as Gastone explains: „Executive producer Raymond Kirk informed me that Sr. Ridley Scott gets quite involved in the look development of every single scene and likes to experiment with color on set. Hence, I would have to be beside the director, which meant I would have to work from a trailer.“
To make this setup work, the trailer was divided into two rooms by a large glass window. The director and DP would work on one side and Gastone on the other one. An always-on intercom system allowed them to communicate in real time, making it possible to adjust the grading on the spot. While the production used Ridley Scott’s existing trailer during the Morocco shoot, a brand-new trailer had to be designed and built for filming in Malta, as Gastone explains: „During pre-production, Neil Corbould (SFX supervisor), Rob Hamilton (video playback operator), and myself worked on the design for the new trailer. It was then built by Neil’s team in the UK and shipped to Malta.“ That’s how „The Brick“ was born, as the trailer was lovingly referred to on set. Once you spot it in the picture below, the name will explain itself:
Working from the trailer posed its own set of challenges, requiring Gastone to re-engineer his setup to fit the space. In addition, the mere number of cameras added further complexity, as Gastone recalls: „We started with eight main cameras plus some ancillary ones. For the main cameras, we had five Alexa Mini LF used for their ‚agility‘ along with three Alexa LF full-size, which are ideal for high-speed work. We were meant to reduce the number to six main cameras once landed in Malta.“ However, things turned out differently, as Gastone explains: „During the last weekend in Morocco, while we were chilling in the hotel pool, John called me aside and said ‚Listen, we will keep all of the cameras. You know, getting rid of some would be like taking a toy away from a kid’. I took it as a joke first; it took me a moment to realize John was serious and referring to our director. Then my mind went to all the implications..“
Gastone continues to explain one of those implications: „Since Ridley likes to give instructions regarding his color intent as he goes, the path of the SDI signals needed to go from the cameras to the DIT rig, then to the video rig, and finally to the director’s monitors.“ While this signal path is not uncommon, the requested way of displaying these signals certainly was: „Ridley also likes to reorganize the layout of the cameras on his eight monitors during each take. This happens live while the cameras are rolling. The layout is based on what camera he thinks has the best frame to tell the story at that very moment. So he essentially treats the performance of each take as if directing from a broadcast control room.“ To enable such arrangements, the video playback operator required full-screen signals for each camera. As the SDI router of Gastone’s existing rig didn’t provide enough SDI inputs and outputs for a minimum of eight cameras, he had to upgrade: „I used two interconnected rigs instead of rebuilding a single larger one“, he shares. This solution allowed for improved modularity, space efficiency, and quick assembly. In addition, the smaller rig could be used outside of the trailer when they needed to be really mobile – a scenario that wasn’t uncommon, as Gastone describes:
„Let’s just say somebody loved changing the shots, the action, or even the entire location where the scene was initially meant to take place – all on a whim.“ Ridley Scott’s working style wasn’t always easy to handle, as Gastone recounts with a mix of humor and actual frustration: “So a typical shooting day would start by Ridley going for a walk on set, followed by John and a flock of camera operators discussing a few angles. Then he’d return to the trailer and start vomiting instructions to various departments.” These instructions often changed agreed-upon plans, forcing the crew to adapt quickly. “By take 3, everything is set up, and everyone knows what they’re doing – just in time to do it properly on take 4. But wait… we’re moving on,” Gastone recounts.
So, with a frequent relocation of the trailer and camera setups, Gastone had to prepare for the unknown: „I had to think of a way of getting the SDI signals, iris, and camera controls connectivity from set to an unknown and possibly uncomfortable location – essentially wherever the trailer was going to be parked.“ To make it work, he opted for long-range broadcast transmitters from CineArk and got further help from Panavision LA: „I knew Panavision had developed a fiber solution (WiFibre) which would help me with those requirements. They were extremely helpful with the bespoke configuration I required, and at the end of production, I suggested some changes to improve WiFibre further, which I believe have since been implemented“, he notes.
The atmosphere on set wasn’t without its controversies. Just recently, DP John Mathieson openly discussed some of the challenges of working with Ridley Scott, and Gastone echoes those sentiments. Yet, he also acknowledges the positives: „Luckily enough, Ridley is one of those directors that really knows what he wants, even though he loves experimenting and ‚fishing‘ at times. Often, he would physically demonstrate to us what he wanted on a miniature of the location. Some other time, he would literally draw the shot he wanted within seconds to visually communicate his intent.“, Gastone reflects.
Workflow breakdown
Although Gastone primarily spent his days live grading alongside John Mathieson and Ridley Scott, his responsibilities extended far beyond the trailer. Or, in Gastone words: „I could talk about my workflow for the next month.“ So, if you have more time to spare than the few minutes it takes to read this article, hit up Gastone! For now, let’s focus on a few key areas:
Cameras and signals
„Us, the camera and video teams, would normally be on a pre-call to have cameras and trailer up and running by call time“, says Gastone. To get picture from the many available cameras, Gastone’s Radio Frequency team would set up the receiver trolley and then run out the antennas. His assistants would run the fiber cables and set up the two WiFibre boxes as close as possible to set without placing them in shot. However, they again had to deal with last-minute decisions impacting their setup; as Gastone describes, „Sometimes a camera would suddenly get sent to the opposite side of the set. So then my assistants needed to either move the boxes again, reshuffle the channels so that each box would service the four cameras closest to it, or a combination of both“.
The main camera pool consisted of five Alexa Mini LF and three Alexa LF full-size cameras. However, once the production moved to Malta, two of the full-size bodies were swapped out for two more Mini LF. Added to the mix were two Z Cam E2-F6, which were mainly used as crash cams for challenging angles. The DJI Zenmuse X9-8K air was used on a drone for all aerial work, a GoPro Hero 11 for specific inserts, and a Phantom v2640 ONYX during additional photography.
Live grading on set
With the trailer parked and the technical setup in place, Gastone then started to prepare the live grading process: „By the time Ridley and John were in at call time, the camera picture would be up on the monitors in the trailer. I would normally load up a still reference from the same, previous, or following scene on one of my monitors so that Ridley and John could have an idea of what world we were supposed to be in.“
Livegrade Pro played a pivotal role in the grading process, with only one central feature missing; according to Gastone: „I’m just livid that Livegrade doesn’t make coffee yet!“
While coffee-making isn’t on the horizon (sorry), Livegrade Pro offered several powerful features that Gastone relied on daily: „Livegrade easily controlled all the LUT boxes installed in the two networked rigs. We then used Livegrade Pro to adjust primaries and to properly organise the CDLs created on-set within its library. I might be a little OCD, but organising everything neatly in the library is really important to me. I also reorganise all my processed stills in folders on a per-scene basis, which actually helps a great deal with 2nd unit or when coming back for additional photography after a few months.“
Beyond Livegrade, Gastone utilized an arsenal of carefully assorted equipment to meet the demands of the production. His main rig was equipped with an AJA Kumo 3232, four FSI BoxIOs in dual-channel mode, two decimator MD Quads, and a variety of networking switches and routers. His lightweight rig was geared up similarly, with another 1616 AJA Kumo, two FSI BoxIOs in dual-channel mode, plus a Decimator MD Quad and networking switch. Both rigs were controlled via network by his MacBook Pro M2 through a CalDigit TS4. Recording capabilities were another critical part of his setup. Gastone deployed two Convergent Design Odysseys in quad-channel mode, allowing him to record up to eight SDI signals from the main cameras. This setup provided flexibility, as Gastone explains: “Recording the logarithmic signal allowed me to go back to the clips even while the video team was doing playback for Ridley. I could use the recorded clips on the Odysseys as references for new setups while applying any grade I wanted or even quickly re-grading shots if needed.” For signal monitoring and consistency checks, Gastone relied on a Leader LV5333 monitor, while a Tangent Element TK streamlined adjustments to CDL primaries and saturation and helped navigate camera slots in Livegrade.
As Gastone had worked with DP John Mathieson on a couple of projects already, they had an established working relationship, which really aids the process in Gastone’s opinion: „John’s confidence in my technical knowledge allows me more autonomy in making key decisions. This better streamlines my job and provides John, I believe, with better results“.
Data management and dailies
As head of the DIT team, Gastone also had an eye on the data management and dailies workflow. However, collaborating with his long-time trusted Data Manager, Jake Bennett-Young, meant that he didn’t need to get too involved: „Jake would normally be on a later call and would start his day working on the lens data from the previous shooting day; a good way of spending time while waiting for the first mags to be unloaded from the cameras“. Once the camera mags started coming in, Silverstack Lab was used in conjunction with the Codex Device Manager to offload. The footage was simultaneously copied to both a temporary 64TB RAID on the truck and an 8TB OWC Thunderblade for the lab. During this process, the footage was converted to HDE. Jake would fill in metadata, apply the CDLs, and balance the shots. Silverstack Lab’s grid view proved especially helpful during that last step, as Gastone points out: „The grid view is great because it allowed us to see a series of shots side-by-side and grade them all together simultaneously. It makes color consistency much easier and quicker.“
Gastone’s workflow design also played a crucial role in ensuring the data flowed smoothly from set to post-production: “We’d split the rushes five hours after call time to help the lab and editorial,” he says. While he was often too busy to check the first split during the day, he made sure to check the color grading before the lab processed it. The lab would start backing up all of the footage from the first split as soon as it was received. LTOs and all those tasks that didn’t require the grade to be definitive could still happen. Once the grade was approved, Jake would send the lab an EDL+CDL so they could apply the grade and start rendering out all deliverables. Using Silverstack Lab in combination with ShotHub allowed Gastone’s central loaders to stay on top of reel numbers, filters, and a series of other useful information that was tracked within the metadata. Other departments also took advantage of the metadata in the cloud; however, „not as much as I would have liked“, Gastone admits.
Working on Gladiator 2 was no easy feat for Gastone, who sums up his main challenges as follows: “Managing all those cameras without control over where the trailer gets parked, keeping the equipment in working order amidst extreme heat, sand, dust, and salt, having Ridley incessantly giving me instructions regarding color on the intercom, all while having a 40-strong camera crew in my other ear requesting all sorts of things has been a huge challenge for me.“ Despite these obstacles, Gastone’s expertise, combined with the dedication of his team, ultimately led to success. When asked about what’s next for him, Gastone discloses: “I might need to slow down a little anyway as my partner and I are expecting a little one.” We wish them all the best for this exciting new chapter, and thank Gastone for sharing all these insights with us!
Gastone Ferrante , DIT
Gastone is a London-based DIT who mainly works on feature films. Being from Italy, he started his career in the movie business in Rome as an editor but eventually found his way to working as a DIT full-time. He’s an expert in most aspects of digital production and post-production, so when not busy working on-set, he provides consultancy services for labs and post-productions through his company, Darsa Digital Ltd.
