The End Of 2011

2011 was an eventful year and one that leaves me hoping that 2012 will be just as good...

After the completion of 'The Family' for SBS and a holiday to Prague, the 2nd half of the year ended up like most people, quieter than the first.

'Dating In The Dark - Series 2' kept me busy as Operations Supervisor onsite, as did 'Master Chef (Top 100 / 50) - Series 4' as Technical Assistant on location at the Melbourne Exhibition and Convention Centre and the Royal Exhibition Buildings.

To round out the year I was asked and accepted a role as Conform & On-Line Editor at byDeluxe on 'Conspiracy 365', which is a role I will be returning to at the end of January for a few weeks.

2012 has started with a sight-seeing flight to Antartica (amazing) and the opportunity to Produce at the 'Australia Open Tennis' before returning to 'Conspiracy 365'. 

After that who knows, so do not hesitate to contact me should you be looking for a Post Production Supervisor or Editor for your next project in 2012!

'Let's Fix It In Post!'

Have you ever wished you had a crystal ball…?

I know from time to time I wish I did, that way I could work out what Production were thinking when they were shooting for Post Production.

Maybe I should lend my fictitious crystal ball to Production so they could look into the future when someone says ‘fix it in Post’ and they would see how much time and money it costs.

This does not happen all the time, but when it does, it is very painful, as I am sure some of you reading this are nodding.

A logical person would think that Production would have some idea of how Post-Production works and likewise. 

Post tends to know more about what Production does, than they do of us. 

Are they scared of us? 

Are we monsters that live in the dark? 

Some would say that this is a good perception of Post, but with the blending more and more of tapeless workflows we need to be working collaboratively and get rid of the ‘fix it in post’ comments we hear so regularly.

Some of the things I have listed (below) are a great source of debate, particularly over budgets and schedules.

This list is not gospel (or in order of priority) but things Production should / may wish to consider / think about for Post-Production…

·       Talk to the people in Post-Production

(We may be able to assist more than you think);

·       Do a test shoot and work out workflow and eliminate any potential problems early;

·       Don’t skimp in your budget, we need Assistant Editors;

·       Ensure production schedules include screenings, network approvals and time to make changes;

·       Give Post enough time to create playbacks for on set requirements, web extras, and other add-ons like trailers and preview screeners;

·       Give enough time for Audio Post to finish mix, create stems, screenings;

·       Ensure music clearances and any stock footages are cleared before Editing starts;

·       Plan effects / blue & green screens talk to VFX department and Post as to how best shoot it;

·       Pass on production notes to Editorial, we are not mind readers;

·       Budget for Editors to be involved in audio post and grade;

·       Ensure backups are done on set (tapeless workflow) and don’t blame Post for set problems, budget for backups;

·       Involve a Post Production Supervisor early in the production for planning even if you don’t keep them for the full project, they generally have a lot of knowledge that is useful.

How do we improve this… conversation…conversation… conversation…we have to do it, if they won’t…the solution is not easy, but it needs to happen…

Belinda Fithie

Editor / Post Production Supervisor