Post-production: a forgotten art?
Post-production houses are at odds with the industry to perform: economic pressures, advancing technologies and even some treating post as an afterthought. Matthew Griffin discovered a solution.
Local post houses are re-inventing themselves to fill the gaps left in the market. An integrated solution, or one-stop shop if you will, has been implemented in many facilities and they are servicing the world.
The importance of bringing everything under one roof cannot be felt more than in the entertainment industry. Where time is of the essence and a high quality of product is the bare minimum of expectation. The ‘it can be fixed in post’ attitude is often at the forefront of the minds of these creators of content and these new breeds of filmmakers are populating the world over. Strong local talent and setting a quick pace with the latest technology is the key to success. Whether it is home grown or international content, the work ethics of Australian post houses remains unchanging. John Lee, founder and president of Cutting Edge, a Brisbane-based post facility, agrees.
“Cutting Edge have been offering a one-stop shop service for many years, this was always how it needed to be for a Brisbane based company,” he explained. “[The demand] has come from a need to package and control all aspects of the job for the client. Keeping things under one roof makes re-prioritisation much easier and manageable.”
Post-production in Australia is a multi-faceted and often complex process. This includes not only the way the business is run but what is expected of it, with procedures combining different schools of thought from not only the creative in the industry but from the people who help facilitate the process of filmmaking. A clash of titans, pushing and pulling at the fabric of film and the way it is created.
It takes an industry expert, cinematographer Peter James ACS ASC, to see the holes left by people forcing their way through shortcuts to get a product not always of superior quality.
James’ perceptions on just how important postproduction is to make a film a success is clear. Director of photography on films such as 27 Dresses, Meet the Parents and next month’s Mao’s Last Dancer, post was critical in making those films to his expected quality.
The significance of a digital intermediate (DI), an integrated solution to post-production and seeing a film through to the end is unmistakable. “When you do your DI, you have all the elements there…It is to your advantage as everything is under one roof. It’s convenient and combining it all in the DI is a wonderful way to go,” said James. Leaving the critical part of the process, the final touches to the final product, to those not always qualified can be catastrophic to a motion picture.
This cannot be said of James, whose firm belief is to carry his craft through to the very end. A DOP is not done after shooting, post is just as important.
He spoke of a conversation with a team of filmmakers who didn’t share the same vision, taking the DOP out of the equation and leaving the post to chance:
“I’m still shocked. I didn’t know what to say to them,” he confessed. “They had absolutely no idea what the postproduction process is all about. That’s the end of the job, just give it to the lab…and the DOP is finished… You don’t have anything more to do. I found that absolutely staggering.”
CONTRACTION AND INTEGRATION
The integration of a wide spectrum of processes helps to bring all of these complexities into a simple and less expensive solution. Post houses offering services above and beyond the call of the average facility to not only service their clients but their bottom line.
The benefits of such an option can be felt by both parties and only better serves the Australian film industry. It isn’t all cake though, according to Anthos Simon, general manager of Efilm, the digital post facility at Deluxe:
“You have to constantly re-invent yourself and that adds a lot of cost to the bottom line. It all leads to one thing, which is, unfortunately, less income and less profit. That is why you have seen a lot of closures in the industry…That part of the market is forever changing and not always for the better.”
Is it unrealistic to think that from the time a production is shot and edited, that it cannot be all done under one roof? Australia is answering this question:
“Some [post houses] are, some aren’t,” said Simon. “This is defiantly more of an Australian thing…. LA is such a huge industry, I don’t think you’ve seen the same type of contraction.”
A constantly-evolving technological age is also in the minds of those making the business decisions. New suites are being introduced to keep up with this the constantly moving technology, meaning more money coming in and going out.
Both software and hardware are utilised by specialist individuals who know how to take an idea and make it real. This tech is but the tools of the creative and only as a team, working with clientele, can the idea be fully realised. As new and sometimes untested equipment is being employed by filmmakers, technology can be considerably challenging.“The demand has come from a need to package and control all aspects of the job for the client.”
“Just because a new technology comes out doesn’t necessarily make it better,” argued Simon. “It just puts more demand on the facility to learn about it …When the RED camera came out it was more like a science experiment than a workflow… We’re happy to bring [the filmmakers] on board and work it out together.”
It seems that to stay ahead of the curve, like any creature to stay alive, evolution is essential. This is not just in the film industry. For any media outlet, whether it be TV or radio, changing with the tide is essential. Radio shows are recorded live, stripped down and thrust onto the front pages of the iTunes store while TV is constantly not only updating content but also the services they provide.
From HDTV, adding more channels of content and infrastructure changes, they are outsourcing their resources to service the industry. FOXTEL’s director of broadcast operations, Adam Scott, knows this:
“We have a “one-stop shop” facility – studio, post, sound, design – everything is accessible under a single roof. Services and systems are flexible and clients place a huge value on being able to hook into them easily.”
Adopting a dual business model, the FOXTEL Television Centre (FTC) is the operational division of FOXTEL’s broadcast and mobile platform. They provide their infrastructure to owned and operated channel partners, external platform channel partners and external production companies. This technology continues to roll out in waves as client’s expectations change and more resources become available.
STAFF ISSUES
Scott also sees the other side of the coin; the people within the company are sometimes forgotten to technology and a heavy reliance on this ‘tech’ side overshadows hard work and determination to create a quality product.
“Sometimes the ‘we can fix it in post’ catch cry does apply and it comes down to the talent in your business driving the technology that make this possible…It’s often said that people are your greatest resource. People who are dedicated and proactive are a great foundation to draw upon as a company heads into the future.”
Staffing in the modern age and in such a challenging industry is somewhat of a quandary. Management is asked to hedge moneys circulating in the company without a loss in the quality of work. Staff is being pushed and freelancers are brought in but without constant and stable work, this is still only a short term solution. Most post houses, including Cutting Edge, are forced in this direction.
“Existing staff are being asked to do more and with the lower level of productions happening we are seeing there is less full time staff in most, if not all, facilities increasing the need for good quality freelancers at peak times, said Lee.
Taking on such freelancers is expensive and only quickens to add to his band-aid fix to staffing levels. Such an approach to the workflow of the company is a necessary evil as new suites are introduced. Productions funding is tight and ultimately new avenues of income have to be explored.
Doug McLennan, executive producer at Cornerpost, explained: “You just need to find cheaper, smarter, quicker ways of doing it to keep the industry going…With shrinking budgets you need to get your tentacles out there and find new directions.”
BLURRING THE LINE
It may seem strange to those in the industry overseas, a perceived ‘laid back’ country in an industry that never rests. In reality, this ‘laid back’ country has people working tirelessly within it, with focus and determination. We are not laid-back; we are in control and the overseas industry is realising this, as Prue Fletcher, head of film and television at The Lab believes.
“It’s imperative we have a mix of both local and international clients,” said Fletcher. “Clients are looking at cost saving across the board. With the advent of digital and data acquisition, for many clients it is easier and cost effective to stay under the one roof.”
Offshore clientele is sometimes just as important as local talent as digital media delivery is made quicker and easier to even the furthest reaches of the globe. Technological advancements only help to propel this into our immediate future.
When dealing with the bottom dollar of your company, every avenue is explored. If work is available overseas, then it is in the best interest of not only your dollar but in the experience your internal talent gain. Producers overseas have the same attitudes as they do in Australia, quick and quality. You need both to stay alive.
But with much larger industries overseas, the pressure is heightened. “Overseas business is very important to us,” admitted Josh Pomeranz, managing director of Spectrum Films. “Their expectations do not vary that much from local productions but they do differ in one critical respect – they are generally so much bigger. This does have an impact on resources and staff and the logistics of managing such productions is challenging.” Lines are being blurred in production, but in some cases filmmakers only tend to think of post-production when concerned with visual effects. Post is almost an afterthought and if time and money isn’t spent on the final stage of the film, it could suffer.
A convergence of processes, to consolidate all the elements, is crucial to an outstanding product. Post houses understand this and rather than competing to destroy other facilities, they work together to make the job of the highest quality.
This way of thinking runs concurrent throughout Australia. Cutting Edge concurs on the state of the industry: “I don’t think [the lines] are being blurred enough. I think by involving post-production more at an even earlier stage there can be some significant benefits for producers/directors both financially and creatively.”
Working within such a capricious industry that is always evolving and moving in different directions, it is hard to predict what the future will hold. When you thought it was lunacy to have the internet on your phone or a TV in your fridge, so too the work of production is looking to integrate.
Not only the consolation of processes but ideas, as planning for the job should involve deep thought about the post. Whether problems lay in technology, adequate staff or poor philosophies from creative talent, one thing is for sure: the Australian film and television industry will continue to grow, continue to create quality content and postproduction facilities will be waiting at the ready.
