Posts
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
