feature post production
understand how the movie is coming together. Even standalone editing operations
need to be part of an infrastructure. Red Union Films has two EDIUS NLEs, which back each other up as well as writing to an archive system. Increasingly, post production is a collaborative business, and so there is the need to move both content and metadata around securely and swiftly. Again, open standards and flexible
formats help greatly here. Whatever storage and network system you employ it should provide workflows and structures which are tuned to the needs of the editing professional. Consumer-based tools will present all your files at the editing workstation, allowing you to choose. The more complex the
environment, the more support you
should get from the workflow infrastructure and the storage network. An extreme example of this is the sort of application created by Grass Valley for Dorna Sports and its coverage of MotoGP. This creates close to 2000 clips each
A still from Powder, a new production from Red Union Films, created using Edius (See story below).
day of live coverage of the motorcycle racing, but because every clip is tagged with detailed metadata at the point of creation, it is simple to route the right raw material to the right workstation. If an editor is asked to create a package featuring a particular rider, for example, just the relevant clips will be loaded into the bin, in chronological order through the race, ready to start cutting immediately. Finally, at the end of any project
you have to create the deliverables. Using your main edit workstation to do this - while the editor can’t edit -
while multiple outputs are created is not the best workflow you could have. If you need more than a single output as a file, the investment in a networked output device to render and package the deliverables is a sensible choice. That keeps the editor - and the main NLE - working. As I said at the beginning, the
choice of editing software is extensive, and prices start at very low numbers. But while consumer end products may appear superficially to offer the right editing functionality, that does not make them ideal for professional work. Even for seemingly simple, standalone applications there has to be integration with multiple systems in order to not waste time on routine tasks. Only then are you able to spend time productively on creative work.
Red Union Films returns to Edius R
ed Union Films is an independent movie production company, based in the north-
west of England. It enjoyed great success with its 2009 feature film Awaydays, and has just completed the adaptation of another Kevin Sampson novel, Powder, about the rise and fall of a rock band. For Awaydays, Red Union Films
invested in its own editing facilities, based on the Grass Valley Edius, and this platform continued to do sterling service on Powder. Owning its own Edius systems has enabled Red Union Films to respond to all the creative variables that happen in independent filmmaking, while allowing it to maintain complete control over production from the beginning to the very end. As producer, David Hughes had a
set amount of money and did not want to rent or dry hire an edit facility - he wanted to own it so he would always be able to respond to whatever was needed. Awaydays was shot in a variety of
formats - from 16mm film through Panasonic VariCam to Phantom highspeed cameras. But this was not a concern for post production supervisor David Harry. While the ability to mix formats on the timeline was absolutely vital, it’s exactly what Edius delivered. The one thing that Red Union Films
learned from doing Awaydays was how stable and solid the Edius
As an indie producer we are always up against time and budget pressures, but Edius handled all the issues seamlessly. We never have to worry about how the system is going to stand up - we know it will do the job we need it to do.
system is. That sold it on Edius. Now, everything that it needs to do in post is based on Edius. Another post production bonus was
that, although Edius is a very powerful system in its own right, it is very easily integrated with other systems when necessary, such as the Steinberg Nuendo audio workstation also owned by Red Union Films. As it did with Awaydays, it took the
final cut of Powder to Sumners Post in Manchester for the colour grading on a DaVinci Resolve. While Edius does
have grading tools, this was a specialist task, and it was very easy to export the file from one system to the other. Everyone at Red Union Films agrees that in terms of quality, creativity, flexibility, and cost effectiveness Edius is the perfect solution for an independent production company. From Red Union Films’ point of view, Edius allows it to compete with the majors. Powder is scheduled for general
cinema release in the UK in August 2011.
David Harry, post production
supervisor, Red Union Films.
18 l ibe l september/october 2011 l
www.ibeweb.com
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