With Me, Without Me (aka. Color Correction: Before & After)

As promised, today we have a small sampling of before and after screen shots showing the difference that color correction makes, turning the video look into, well, cinema.

Before

 

After

Before

After

Before

After

Before

After

Merry Christmas!

 For many people, this time of year is one of rest and relaxation. A time to step back from the cares of work for a time, to take a break from the grind, but not us. Others may shirk duty, but we soldier on! In all seriousness, vacation pretty much equates “free to work on the movie.” That being the case, we have called in two of our actors for a little ADR, recorded a short cutaway scene, and done yet more color correction. Pretty much everything from scene 100-116 has been color corrected, and the hunt is still on for assorted sound effects. All in all, a productive week, in spite of a hiccup or two.

God bless all, and Merry Christmas!

Another Week, Another War

 Well, well… Here we are again. Another week has come with all its challenges. This week finds me neck deep in the process of color correcting the final fight scene. Since it had white balance issues to begin with it seemed like the logical place to start. Below you can see a small sampling of the work thus far. Enjoy! 

Everybody Fire!

Hero's moment

"..."

Timing is Everything, Catspaw

 Two points if you know where this title came from. This has been the point and purpose of the week, working out and refining the timing on the action scenes. Nothing is more painfully obvious to the viewer than a poorly timed or sluggish fight scene. One of the funny side effects of a real fight versus a choreographed one is that, in the real thing, time seems to slow. In a mock or choreographed one you are so intent on hitting your cues just so that time feels like it is passing faster than it actually is. This leads to a common reaction amongst the stunt guys when reviewing their work. “Why’d you make us so slow?” (Note here that it is assumed that the cameraman is to blame.) The trick therefore is to a) get them to enact their scene with as much energy as possible, and b) make the subtlest adjustments possible in post to smooth out the slow bits. If you simply speed up the footage the end product will look a lot like the fistfights from the old B westerns. What is needed is either a clean cut between two actions or a smooth speed ramp, depending on the situation. Also, if the pacing doesn’t feel right, cut, cut, cut! This is where the original run time of 87:40 will take its hardest hit.

 In other news, the first scene has been screened and reviewed, with a couple adjustments being recommended. The overall first impression has been positive, now to make sure it stays that way through the rest of the run.