Halloween is nigh! Who doesn’t love that? Ghosts, goblins, crazy costumes, mountains of candy, and – best of all – horror movies!
When I think of horror movies – especially low budget independent ones – I am reminded of a particularly enjoyable project I worked on a few years ago. I share that experience in this blog entry as a way of illustrating our post production services – and how we would approach those needs for YOU.
The Backstory
The saga began with a group of Georgia-based filmmakers who wished to produce a microbudget feature somewhat reminiscent of the anthology films released by Hammer, Amicus, and other genre studios in the ’60s and ’70s. Four directors would each helm separate free-standing segments, linked together by an overarching framework device.
The group raised a bit of money, hired a cinematographer, and shot the entire movie in less than a week. All went smoothly until creative differences with the original editor led to a parting of the ways. That’s when the project came to me.
Collaboration
The first step was to determine the overall look and tone of the film while at the same time realizing the “visions” of the individual directors. Each of the four segments had to have distinct characteristics, yet share enough commonalities to blend seamlessly into a unified whole. This goal was established through lengthy phone discussions and copious production notes via email.
At this time it was determined that the original linking material – the framing device of the whole piece – was not suitable and would have to be reimagined and reshot. More about this later.
The Edit
Highlights of the assembly process are as follows:
Footage arrived via UPS on a hard drive. Additional footage and other elements were sent via Dropbox as the edit continued,
Rough edits were completed and submitted over Vimeo for notes and approvals.
Second pass consisted of image stabilization, color correction, and other visual fixes.
Color grading and other final touches applied and approved.
Audio sync, foley, sound effects and music cleaned, mixed and sweetened.
Individual segments locked.
Reshoot
As mentioned previously, the framework device of the movie was deemed unsuitable for various reasons, so new material had to be created. The filmmakers reconvened, cooked up a new plot, and prepared for a reshoot. However, it was financially unfeasible to bring back the original cinematographer, so a local one was hired. He did a great job, but there were issues…
Final Edit
The new footage was shot with a vastly different camera, so the overall look was, as expected, somewhat different. In addition, the original footage was garden variety High Definition, whereas the new stuff was in 4K. And at a different frame rate.
But — not a problem, as it turned out. Following a frame rate conversion and a bit of color correction, the new and old material melded nicely.
Conclusion
So that’s the simplified and abbreviated workflow involved in the post production of an independent feature. We helped those filmmakers realize their dream – we’ve done it for others – and we can do it for you. Contact us and tell us what you need.
What of the movie discussed in this example? It is called “Cemetery Tales – Tales from Morningview Cemetery” – and as of this writing it is available FREE on Amazon Streaming. Check it out!
