( 01 One continuous render )
Every shot of the film comes from one take: a 15-second render in Houdini, from a single camera, in which the gold dust drifts, closes into a circle and becomes the ring.
( 02 The cut )
I recut the first 6.4-second edit into 21 shots and 11 seconds: burst, hold, burst. The dust opens the film, the circle holds for 2.8 seconds, the longest shot, while the band appears inside it, and a hard cut takes the ring from small to large before it pushes in slowly. The 13 cuts under 0.6 seconds are the same take in another exposure, a black-and-white negative, black or orange, or a punch-in, never a new angle.
( 03 Grade and sound )
The grade is a custom DCTL look, A High-key at 50 %: the top of the gradient goes almost neutral, so the dust and the rose gold are the only colour, and Product Recovery keeps the metal true. On the macro of the stone, a lens effect works like a magnifier, with swirl and bokeh around it. The sound is a warm drone, muffled piano, strings and one chord on the ring, with sound effects under it and a small, precise click on the stone.
