Post-Production Process

Today's an exciting day as I sit here upgrading to Avid Media Composer 6 and waiting for Avid Pro Tools 10 to come in the mail. This programs provide virtually everything we need to finish Owen's Hobby! So I'm reminded that I haven't blogged about the film in a good long while. Not since before the Savannah Film Festival.

So here it is!

Post Production: what's it all about?

In today's world of light speed computing and intricately designed programs that facilitate the quickest learning curves to almost all users, it's easy to wonder: why the heck does post take you so long?

Well sure I can put together an edit of the entire film in less than a day. However, that doesn't mean it's good! After I settled on an initial rough cut, I showed it to a whole slew of professors at the Savannah College of Art and Design and close personal relatives and friends.

They looked at, they liked it, then they gave me feedback.

Well here's the tricky part. Because now I have to sift through hundreds of comments and suggestions and determine what the problems are in the edit and the story. I have to think about them and compare them with my vision for the film. Often, suggestions are seemingly contradictory, and I have to find the true source of the feedback which is probably a moment earlier in the film which is unrelated to either of the comments I received! ARGGHHH!

But I actually enjoy this process, and I like to give it a lot of time. Which I did. And it doesn't help that I'm  a full time student at the same time with 3 other class workloads to do. At the same time my best friend decides to get married and the film festival is the next week.

So needless to say. Things have been hectic.

But we're back on track! After going through all of the comments and feedback and listening very closely to the professionals that looked at the film, I went out and shot pick-ups!

These 8 shots have added immensely to people's understanding of the film. I'm really happy with how they operate in the scenes and alleviate a lot of the problems we were having when screening it.

Now that that's done, I move on to working on a new version to screen. Here we go.

What's important on this one is music. I'm working hard to find good temp music to represent the film for the composer. I cut it in to the best of my abilities, and I export out the newest cut with music on it for everyone to see.

I share it with everybody I can this time. I'll even share it with you! Just comment on this blog, tweet @owenshobby, or like the Facebook page, and I'll sent you the link to the latest cut of the film. I'm ready to get some exposure! But I can't give it too much yet because I don't want it to be disqualified from festivals.

Soon I will update the cut one more time and hand it off to Mr. James Scullion.

James is amazing. Simply amazing. His ears are weapons.

Just sitting beside him while watching a movie makes me feel like I'm hearing more from a film than I ever have.

This winter, we're going to be working on the dialogue edit and some basic effects editing.

In January, we're going into the studio to record Foley and ADR.

By the end of January, we hope to be at a final mix stage. Then we just have to find our way into the screening room for a final mix session. All the elements will be in place to make one super sweet sounding film!

In addition to sound, I will be working on the simple Visual Effects that are in the film using Adobe After Effects.

Meanwhile, I'm working with Mr. Anthony Palcic on making some pretty awesome motion graphics for Owen to interact with in the film.

Basically, I can't wait!

Well that's it for now! Avid Media Composer 6 just finished installing, and I'm dying to see what's new. I hope you found this update interesting, and keep following as we move steadily towards the completion of this film!