TALENT AND TIPS
EDITOR PROFILE DES
MURRAY MOLINARE
Des Murray, Molinare’s head of editing, has been in post production for over 20 years and now uses Avid DS on a daily basis to online a wide range of television and film projects. He’s convinced there’s no such a thing as a ‘usual workflow’ anymore, however, when pushed to give a snapshot of his day, he says: “Every production these days has its own unique set of parameters, from the camera used to shoot, frame rate, frame size and colour space to the machine used for offline and the deliverables list.” “They all have an impact on our workflow. Generally speaking however, we like to see an offline cut, sync check the conform against it, do as much pre-grade work as is practical, send it off to grade and then online the show in a fairly traditional manner, adding titles and credits and the final polish.”
“I’ve worked on every kind of show imaginable, and still enjoy every minute of it,” says Murray, but feels the most difficult thing these days is staying on top of the rapidly changing technology. “I started my career in the days of linear videotape, and the changes have been huge,” he explains. “I think the biggest change is how much work we get done. When I began, we’d have as long as 4-5 days to complete a half-hour show – I’ll online something like that in less than a day now.” “Avid does a reasonable job keeping up, particularly where Media Composer is concerned,” he adds. “Although I find the DS is often the ‘last to know’ when it comes to new camera formats and codecs, which can be a bit frustrating.”
In a prime example of how editing is changing, Murray recently finished a stereoscopic project on the History of 3d for Sky. “It was presented by Brian May of Queen, who’s a bit of a 3d geek,” recalls Murray. “All manufacturers would have you believe 3d is pretty straightforward but the truth is it’s difficult, complicated and tiring on the eyes! However, after some initial frustrations, we found the DS to be a pretty flexible machine for this type of work.”
“It doesn’t have some of the bells and whistles of some other machines, nor does it have the raw grunt of some other systems, but from an editor’s point of view, on a show with lots of last minute revisions and clients in the suite, DS coped brilliantly,” says Murray. And while May was in the suite, “I even managed to get him to play a tune on my guitar!”
“When I began, we’d have as long as 4-5 days to
complete a half-hour show - I’ll online something like that in less than a day now”
DES MURRAY Head of editing MOLINARE
Des Murray reveals the changing face of editing, after 20 years experience
Clockwise: Pramface, Rev, Brian May’s Brief History of 3d, Everybody’s Fine
DES MURRAY BIOG
Des Murray started as a trainee VT operator in 1990, learning the basics of TV production by making training films and entertainment for the armed forces. He became an online assistant, then an online editor for Scandinavian TV in West London. After a three-year stint as a freelancer, Murray joined Molinare, cutting late-night sports coverage for the then brand-new C5.
TALENT create
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