Post-Production

It's always so much more tedious than you'd think, isn't it? Crazy how laborious it is!

Aaron Mirtes it really really is!

Brian Gunter video editing is not for the weak. I stopped doing it for about 3 years, just now getting back into it.

Missed one. Then when I read the meaning I said, "Oh that."

All but one. Ironically, it was relative to audio that while I was familiar with the function, I’d never heard it called an “L Cut” before.

Ashley Renee Smith - I've had several people in the last few weeks tell me they are moving their work station over to DaVinci, maybe this is a sign I should move too lol.

I know Ashley Renee Smith . A whopping 7gb+ download. But I'm loving it. Still finding out what it does better than 19. I am always running to catch up to Blackmagic Design. Has anyone gotten their hands on the PYXIS 12k yet? Crikes, looking at specs, that camera and DVR20 are a romance that just says 'lets make beautiful movies together.'

Morgan Aitken I always suggest checking out YouTube tutorial videos that can help point out some of the changes between versions. That's always helped me!

I adore Resolve! I switched four years ago and never looked back. It never crashes! What's not to love about that?

SO true, Aaron Mirtes!

I like the sound effects, Cyrus Sales, especially the fireworks and the pictures breaking & falling. I think those are the best sound effects.

Maurice Vaughan - thank you. I'm going to recreate the sound for a new animation soon. Look forward to seeing how my skills have developed from this student project to today.

You're welcome, Cyrus Sales. Ok, looking forward to hearing what you come up with!

This is a great question Justin Wildridge. I know for us (small animation studio) we typically network and have a list of individuals we know we want to work with or we have listened to their work and it matches the feel/mood we are looking to achieve. I will say going through application tends to be a loooong process. A collective effort. I personally don't mind location, remote work is fine. As far as budget, I believe this is based on their rates and what all you are needing. A single composer or a full orchestra. This has been my personal experience however I'm sure industry professional may have a different process, system or platform they utilize.

Interesting Cyrus, I wonder if your sentiments parallel with other professionals?

Aye, interesting Q and an interesting lounge... I really out to get into the other lounges more often. As for music, past experience has proven it to be a point of contention. Everyone involved in a project (aye, even the crew) has his/her own vision of what the thing looks, feels and sounds like on its way out of post. Not to mention everyone and his dog has a friend or niece who composes on his smartphone or beat-up six-string from a second-hand store.

What I tend to resort to is sketching in the soundtrack and SFX with sound libraries and AI and seeing how that feels with the exec core. Then with the actual music feel and key and tempo and style etc. nailed down, I look for the composer who fits the bill.

Appreciate you dropping in, Morgan. Your insight is invaluable. Your comment about the 'temp' track approach and AI is a particularly interesting one and one that sends shivers down the spine of many composers. Would you agree that, where possible, a composer should be involved from the outset and establish a language with the director (and possibly the entire crew) to create a final score that's unique?

Depends, for a Holocaust film I'm working on, the director has his list of possible composers, and I have my list of compisers; if it gets to the production phase, who we choose from the combined list is the one we think will deliver the highest quality for the least money; if it's a tie, quality always tops amount of money, as sinple as that.

Great news! Thank you for sharing the article!

Awesome news, thank you Ashley!

Elephant Goldfish is a catchy name, Ashley Renee Smith! I've heard of a lot of creatives and companies doing VFX, finishing, post, and animation work remotely. I'm looking forward to seeing which movies they're collaborating with Blumhouse on.

Hi Anthony - at WB I worked with a very successful editor who was on staff in feature development. Yes, his office was right next to other creative execs. I sat with him one afternoon and asked him what his function was in features. He said he would read the scripts, and look for "show me, don't tell me." If they did "show me" then he wanted to ensure they weren't "tell me" the same info in the story, ie. duplicating info. He would also check for continuity in the script and provide notes about missing scenes, or scenes that would need to be rewritten to fill holes in the story. During production he would watch the dailies and communicate to the set which shots were missing, and what scenes needed to have additional coverage.

Well, that makes sense. I work by the same rules when I'm writing a script.

Post in Jobs section.

Hey Mïcke, this is Ashley from the Stage 32 team. I just wanted to let you know I moved your post from Distribution to Post-Production, as it fits much better there. Let me know if you have any questions, and all the best to you!

Thanks for sharing this article Maurice Vaughan. I personally haven't had the opportunity to work on a feature film (yet) but this article was insightful. A little peek into what's possible. I honestly had no idea the editors would edit the footage the following day, with 12+ hour days (sheesh), but with all the different moving part it makes sense to edit as you go. I did find the first bulletin point to be extremely useful. I naturally do something similar but could use a revamp of my process. Thanks again for sharing, fun article to read before bed.

You're welcome, Cyrus Sales. Glad you found the article insightful. I'm not experienced with editing besides editing some of my videos, but I've learned a lot about editing from the blogs and Post-Production Lounge on Stage 32. I've heard that learning editing can help a screenwriter, and I've been planning on getting a copy of the book "In the Blink of an Eye: A Perspective on Film Editing." I hope you get the opportunity to work on a feature film!

There is no rule on color grading. By definition it's personal preference, usually of the director, or possibly the other creative team involved. Why would there be?

Shadow Dragu-Mihai Thanks. I often hear the rule of thumb in film: there are no rules, only basic principles.

But quite a few criticasters gave some feedback to one of my shorts (with a variety of color settings) and they thought that it should be more 'an unity'. That's why I was wondering.

Hey Frank Van Der Meijden - I personally haven't seen John Wick (I know, I know) BUT you did spark my interest to check it out to catch the color grading differences. I would say there's no written or unwritten rule that the style has to be the same the entire film. I'm sure it makes it easier but I think if down correctly, it can enhance the overall storytelling and mood.

The only rule is: be deliberate. Color is one of your tools to tell your story, and should serve your story. Even John Wick has consistency, and the colors are not chosen randomly. Also, follow the rules of physics. If you choose to make a film in technicolor, then each shot should give the illusion of being developed using that chemical process. Unless you deliberately choose not to.

Frank Van Der Meijden Well there are mistakes to be made... like not correctly for light temperature so that skin tones are true. Or not getting a base consistency from scene to scene, as a starting point, so that you can then use a color treatment you like. But creative choices are creative choices and what you think looks good is your opinion.