This week we continue the discussion on postproduction during lockdown and remote working.
Nearly everyone we’ve spoken to has mentioned the pivot or transition to remote working, the “figure it out,” “make it work,” strategy. While it hasn’t been exactly easy or perfect, postproduction seems to have weathered the storm with their flexibility and ingenuity.
Some productions and post facilities, vfx artists, etc. were on their way to making a more remote transition before a pandemic lockdown was ever a thing.
Utilizing cloud based services and storage options have made working with crews in other states, in other countries, more accessible. Who knew we’d have to use the same tech to work with our next-door neighbors.
Technology allowed for a much smoother transition, for the most part post teams for various projects were up and running within days to weeks. If there was any kind of pause it was for initial set up of equipment and software, and waiting for content from production. A halt in production meant no new footage, pickups or even b-roll. Without new footage, editorial primarily focused on what they had to work with already, and set their sites on color correction, sound mixing and other elements that could happen remotely and keep the project moving forward. Then the wait for approvals and sign-offs. Budgets and production timelines appear to have been affected the most by remote work.
Animation and VFX appear to have had less interruption in creating content, and delivering that content.
In addition to editorial; sound editors and mixers were able to do much of their work remote, even ADR and voiceover work was done by sending kits to the talent at their homes where they were instructed via zoom on how to set up mics, speakers, software (in some situations they would use the software already loaded to their home computer, i.e. garage band). The respective artist would record in their home, some even recorded in their closets, whatever it took. An example of this would be the team that needed to record a voice over for their indie project, the narrator had to record their ADR in the hallway of their home to cut the noise and interference.
While recording remotely is more accessible, it is not ideal, it is always preferable to record at a professional sound facility to ensure no outside noises, performance issues, sync or final mix issues…
Security seems to be the biggest concern with any kind of virtual private network (VPN), along with latency, lag and sync issues. But cloud based systems continue to evolve, giving real time access to your secure shared storage servers, accessible remotely by editorial, VFX, animation, graphics, audio, etc.. Much of the time editors and other post crew have their own equipment, their own setups, but then you have to figure out how to give them all access to the same server.
Where there were major security issues, there were more old-school methods put into place. Content would be loaded to duplicate hard drives and delivered to editors, AEs, mixers, color timers and other production and post staff via production assistants or other trusted production team members, socially distanced and contactless where possible. Each were required to secure their drives in safes. The camera masters and other elements remained with limited crew allowed to continue to work on site, who would then upload the content to the server.
There was a lot of zoom direction happening. Lighting kits and a camera or a capable smart phone would be sent to an actor/actress and the director would zoom in and direct them from across the country/globe. We spoke with some talent who actually had family members running the camera for them, or adjusting a light, essentially our families became our crew.
Now that things are opening back up each post facility has it’s own set of covid compliant safety protocols; ppe, masks, distancing, limited staff, sanitizing stations, some do staff testing, others do not… but all and all most say it’s much easier to work at the facility instead of trying to manage everything remotely. Things happen quicker when there’s someone there to answer questions and troubleshoot issues together. Easier to ensure everyone is on same timeline and working towards the same delivery dates. Post facilities suggest production and post teams, directors, DPs, DITs, editorial, post staff, etc. work in separate rooms to limit interactions.
As mentioned budgeting and scheduling have become a bit of a moving target, as productions continue to troubleshoot and come up with ways to work through the continued uncertainty. New line items are showing up such as zoom account fees, kit fees, equipment, storage, hard drives… It may take some inventive adjustment to your budget line items, removing some things no longer relevant and adding in others.
The biggest takeaways are balance, flexibility, figuring it out, making it work and pivoting. Don’t forget this is a collaboration and this still requires teamwork.