Post 2017 01

ROGUE
ONE
ILM GOES RETRO FOR
NEWSTAR WARS FILM
JANUARY 2017
POST
www.postmagazine.com
PLUS:
OSCAR PREDICTIONS
20TH CENTURY WOMEN
DIRECTOR MIKE MILLS
VFX FOR SPOTS
POST
JANUARY 2017
OUTLOOK
2017
SERVING THE INDUSTRY SINCE 1986
ON OUR COVER
VOL 32 NO. 1
32 VISUAL EFFECTS
As technology rapidly improves,
people and stories still come first
By Pat Carpenter
Stir Post, The Artery, Sonixphere, Archion,

Alan Bell, Alkemy X, Artifact Design, iPi Soft,
Thinkbox, Nice Shoes, Rising Sun Pictures,
Roundabout & more!
WEB EXCLUSIVES
CAREERS: CG/VFX producer Diego Vida;
Colorist Chris Rodgers
EDITING: Mick Audsley cuts Robert
Zemeckiss Allied
OUTLOOK 2017: (Alkemy X sound designer
Bob Schachner pictured)
THE ONLINE
Outlook 2017 part 2

By Marc Loftus
4
BITS & PIECES
Whats new in post production

STORAGE NEWS
The latest solutions for collaboration

and archiving
DIRECTORS CHAIR
Mike Mills 20th Century Women

By Iain Blair
37 CAREERS
A big picture outlook

By Adam Epstein
38 SOUNDTRACKS
The challenges of
ambisonics sound
By Claudio Santos
39 FIELD TESTED
IMN Creative employs Sonnet

for vertical integration
By Mark Binder
40 PEOPLE
36 AUDIO
The constantly shifting landscape
of audio post
By Howard Bowler
Lucky Post, Calabash, FuseFX, Xytech,
The cutting-edge VFX in Rogue One

From games to film: Assassins Creed
14
MORE OUTLOOK ARTICLES ONLINE:
THIS MONTH IN
By Linda Romanello
34 EDITING
2016: Expanding the toolbox
and a return to storytelling
By Paul Babb
36 DELIVERABLES
A more streamlined delivery
process for post
By Barbara Marshall & Randy Reck
EDITORS LETTER
And the winner is ...
12
35 ACQUISITION
Stepping into the future of
advanced digital television
By Larry Thorpe
from Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures
33 VISUAL EFFECTS
The future of VFX for television
By Andrew Orloff
34 EDITING
Change is the only constant
By Lauren Hertzberg
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story
DEPARTMENTS
Keeping tabs of the industrys

movers & shakers
FEATURES
16
OSCAR PREDICTIONS POSTS TOP

PICKS
The 89th Academy Awards are
almost here, and as usual, Post looks
at some of the year's hottest films
By Iain Blair
22 STAR WARS GOES ROGUE

ILM and The Third Floor give Rogue
One: A Star Wars Story a retro
aesthetic with some new techniques
By Christine Bunish
28 VFX MARKS THE SPOT
Studios mix creativity and tools to
boost brand marketing commercials
By Linda Romanello & Marc Loftus
Realtime performance capturetakes

center stage in theater
Technology plays a vital role in
preserving the past
Job search: Preparing a killer reel
The impact of new technology on
motion capture
WWW.POSTMAGAZINE.COM
JANUARY 2017
POST
AND THE WINNER IS...

A
BY LINDA
ROMANELLO
MANAGING EDITOR
LROMANELLO@
POSTMAGAZINE.COM
THE ONLINE
t press time, the Golden Globe Awards had already been presented and the Screen
Actors Guild Awards have not yet been handed out. While these two awards are
predominantly focused on performance, they can also act as preludes to the Academy
Awards and offer hints as to which way members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts
and Sciences might vote on February 26th on Oscar night.
For the past few months, the buzz has been building over a number of films La La
Land, Moonlight, Hacksaw Ridge, Loving, Manchester By The Sea, Fences, Elle, Jackie,
Arrival, Hidden Figures and Lion, to name a few, and Post has been covering a good number
of these films, both in print and online, speaking with directors, editors, DPs and more.
For some of the years bigger visual spectacles such as Captain America: Civil War,
Passengers, Fantastic Beasts & Where to Find Them, Doctor Strange, Rogue One: A Star
Wars Story (this months cover story, courtesy of Christine Bunish, page 22), Moana, Kubo &
The Two Strings, weve been chatting with VFX pros and animators for details about some
of the films key sequences and biggest challenges.
This month, in a nod to awards season, Posts Iain Blair gives the rundown of the years
most serious Oscar contenders, beginning on page 16, with a focus on the BTS folks from
directors and editors to audio editors and VFX specialists. Post editors have also tossed
around some of our own predictions on which films we think will be the big winners. But
as we learned on Golden Globes night, you cant always predict the unpredictable. La La
Land was hot that night, winning all seven awards for which it was nominated, but will the
momentum last until next month? If so, we should see some BTS awards handed out as well
to the picture editors, audio mixers and such.
The awards leading up to Oscar night can certainly offer clues of things to come, but
nothings a sure bet. Post will be keeping a close eye on the happenings and report back on
the nights big winners.
OUTLOOK 2017 - PART 2

P
BY MARC
LOFTUS
SENIOR EDITOR/
DIRECTOR OF WEB CONTENT
MLOFTUS@
POSTMAGAZINE.COM
POST
ost began its 2017 Outlook coverage in December, and it continues here and online
with lots of insight from throughout the post production industry. James Tucci of
Archion Technologies took time to share his thoughts on the storage industry and what
manufacturers are facing in the foreseeable future.
Capacity, speed, latency and throughput are all factors that will continue to influence
product releases and 4K, says Tucci, is just the beginning. Were going to be capturing 8K,
16K and stereoscopic VR within the next year to two. Even with compression, we will still
see digital storage increase its capacity by five to six times what it is today.
Future storage, he adds, is going to have to increase bandwidth exponentially. The days
of 300MB/sec. working are gone. And stacking small RAID systems to get high bandwidth
is a losing sum game.
Michael Nikonov, the founder of Moscow, Russia-based iPi Soft, also provides insight,
online, into the challenges his company is facing in developing markerless motion capture software. Their tools were used by Iloura on Game of Thrones popular Battle of the
Bastards episode. Accuracy, says Nikonov, and realtime performance are two hurdles that
they are focusing their attention on.
While realtime capture exists in some markerless motion capture systems (the realtime
version of iPi Motion Capture is scheduled for release in 2017), for more sophisticated production pipelines, the barriers to deliver an affordable realtime, markerless solution are constrained in part by the mismatch between huge computing power requirements of markerless motion capture and the actual capabilities of modern personal computers, he explains.
As software developers, we are constantly aiming to improve speed and accuracy. Last
year, we were able to deliver processing speeds four times faster than previous algorithms
at 15fps very close to realtime, for customers using standard, off-the-shelf Kinect devices,
with twice the accuracyWhile significant challenges remain before us, we are hopeful 2017
will bring new hardware and optimizations of software. This will in-turn allow us to release
our affordable solution with realtime speeds and immediate feedback for mocap actors,
resulting in an overall improved and reliable markerless mocap workflow.
Visit postmagazine.com for much more insight into the year ahead.
JANUARY 2017
EDITORIAL
LINDA ROMANELLO
Managing Editor
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lromanello@postmagazine.com
MARC LOFTUS
Senior Editor/Director of Web Content
516.376.1087
mloftus@postmagazine.com
CHRISTINE BUNISH
Film & Video
IAIN BLAIR
Film
JENNIFER WALDEN
Audio
ANGELA AKERS
Art Director
angela@moontidemedia.com
KELSEY ELLIOTT
Designer
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BITS & PIECES
RED INTROS IMAGE PROCESSING ENHANCEMENTS

IRVINE, CA Red has announced a
suite of enhancements to its image
processing pipeline which the company is calling IPP2. Once launched,
the enhancements will extend across
Red cameras, firmware and software,
and represent a significant evolution
to the camera UI and overall user
experience, offering a number of benefits as the industry migrates to HDR.
We continually focus on technology advancement, and the
introduction of HDR displays was a
significant driver to the development
of the new pipeline, says Graeme
Nattress, Red problem solver.
Graeme Nattress
POST
JANUARY 2017
Designed for HDR from the ground

up, IPP2 features new on-set HDR
monitoring controls and full support
for the latest HDR standards.
The robust new color-processing
pipeline includes better management of challenging colors, smoother highlight roll-off, improved shadow detail, more accurate mid-tone
hues and enhanced resolution via a
new demosaicing algorithm.
Customers who own a Red
camera body with Helium sensor
(Weapon 8K S35 and Red Epic-W
8K S35) will be able to monitor
and control the new color pipeline in-camera by installing a free
firmware upgrade. At the same time
that IPP2 was being developed, Red
was planning new camera bodies,
so owners of cameras with Helium
sensors will get the appropriate
hardware in the body to run the new
pipeline in its totality, says Nattress.
They can see the results of the
pipeline while theyre shooting.
In-camera benefits include monitoring in SDR and HDR simultane-
ously, a really practical thing that

gives shooters a feel for the lighting
and environment on-set or on-location, Nattress notes. He also cites
better rendition of what the sensor
sees in the image, better shadow
detail and better color rendition,
especially for saturated colors.
The ASC-CDL (American Society
of Cinematographers Color Decision
List) is now available as part of the
new Red camera bodies so grading
decisions can be made on-set and
carried through to post, he adds.
All Red customers will be able to
enjoy the benefits of IPP2 in post
with their existing R3D files via a
Redcine-X Pro free software upgrade. There are so many different
post pipelines, says Nattress. Weve
tried to give everyone the tools to
get the data they need for the way
they want to work. Anything that
reads the R3D files any codec, any
color correction system will be
able to access the CDL metadata.
All R3D files are now defined by a
single color space and gamma that
is well documented, standardized

and camera agnostic.
REDWideGamutRGB is a new
color space designed to encompass
virtually every color recordable by
Reds current and past cameras. It
simplifies many workflows since all
subsequent color operations have a
common starting point regardless of
camera, look or output.
Log3G10 is a new log-encoding
curve, which precisely encodes the
full tonal range from Reds current
and past cameras. The 3G in its
name represents the mapping of 18
percent mid gray to one-third of the
maximum possible code value; the
10 represents the extent of the log
curve encoding a linear light value up
to 10 stops above mid gray. It serves
a similar function as REDlogFilm and
the Cineon specification, but allows
for a greater dynamic range and HDR
output standards.
Red teams have been touring post
production facilities to make sure the
IPP2 workflow will fit seamlessly into
existing workflows. An updated Red
BITS & PIECES
SDK will support easy third-party

integration, which all third-parties
can use to decode R3D files, enabling
tools and users to integrate IPP2 to fit
their individual requirements. Weve
dialogued with post houses about
best practices for using IPP2, says
Nattress. Working with them has
been a critical part of the process in
developing the workflow.
Cinematographers have also been
part of the beta testing process.

Some of the best feedback weve
received has come from cinematographers who put their existing
footage through the new pipeline,
Nattress points out. They were able
to get the look they were going after
much faster than before with less
manual intervention.
Others have told us theyre happy
with the color handling, skin tones
and highlight roll off, which we were

aiming for with the new system,
he reports. They also like the more
three-dimensional look of the image.
Weve enhanced the way that 3D
depth cues are read in an image,
which produces a very visually appealing image.
With IPP2s comprehensive approach, Red has tackled the technical and aesthetic aspects of the im-
and the black & white White House

parts were shot on video, notes the
editor. He began his cutting in France,
working at Why Not Production in
Paris, where he spent two months
before moving back to Chile. In Chile,
I worked for two weeks at home and
then we moved to a studio.
Seplveda says he normally cuts
in Final Cut Pro, but for Jackie,
he moved to an Avid system. [In
France], everyone is working in the
production studios on Avid, so we
used Avid Media Composer V.8. For
me, it was good to work again with
the Avid because I used that eight or
10 years ago.
Asked to pick his favorite scene,
Seplveda says, I love the scene of
the second White House tour, when
the journalist talks about the monarchy, and there is a flashback to where
Jackie was in the room. She pre-
sented the piano and then the music

stops and we go to a public concert.
I love that scene because it is very
uncommon. You have these normal
flashbacks where the journalists are
stalking the main character. Then you
have the flashback to when JFK was
alive, and then, with the music, you
move back to a year ago when Pablo
Casals leaves the room. Its not practical at all and I love that because with
the music you can go to other points
in the timeline. Music allows you to go
in a non-chronological way. I love that
scene because its very elegant and
very fluid, but we dont think about
the timeline.
Jackie opened in theaters last
month. Natalie Portman, whos
already won an Oscar for her role in
Black Swan, very well could receive
a nomination for her portrayal of
Jacqueline Kennedy. From an editing
age, as well as the workflow aspects

of the image, Nattress explains. On
the post side, theres no guess work
as to color and gamma space now.
Theres just one best possible option.
For further information about IPP2,
a white paper is available at:
https://www.red.com/downloads/
585358faf01b3062ab0009f8.
By Christine Bunish
EDITING JACKIE
CHILE Editor Sebastin Seplveda
recently collaborated with director Pablo Larrain on the new Fox
Searchlight film Jackie, which stars
Natalie Portman as the former First
Lady. The film paints an intimate
portrait of that period of the 1960s in
American history, as seen through the
eyes of Jacqueline Kennedy. The story
immediately follows her husband
JFKs assassination and her struggle
to maintain his legacy
Seplveda has worked with director Larrain in the past, including on his
2015 film, The Club. I came here to
Chile for a holiday, and Pablo invited
me to give feedback about the film,
Tony Monero, Seplveda recalls. For
Jackie, Seplveda spent five months
cutting the feature, which was shot
using a combination of Super 16mm
film and video formats.
Some parts were shot in 16mm,
Sepulveda
standpoint, is Seplveda thinking

about awards season?
Not at all, he states. Its the last
thing that we discuss. We are building
a beautiful, organic object, and we
never discuss those kinds of things.
You cant think how thousands of
people [will] review your work. You
have to do your own work and be
proud thatI love movies. Its a passion. When you love movies, you dont
think of awards.
By Marc Loftus
JANUARY 2017
POST
BITS & PIECES
2C HELPS CMT WELCOME NASHVILLE HOME

MIAMI CMT called on Miamis 2C
Creative (www.2c.tv) to help promote
the move of the popular scripted
show Nashville to the network, as
well as the new season, which began
in January. The creative agency was
asked to build anticipation while reassuring the shows existing fans that
this is the Nashville they already know
and love, just on a new network.
A show like Nashville is so beautiful that putting together a launch
campaign was a little like building a
movie, because you want to capture
the same beautiful cinematography and rich, organic tapestry of
emotions, explains 2C Creatives
live-action director Brian Eloe. Im
really grateful that CMT trusted this
visionthat we could make something stunning in-camera that would
really speak to the core of what the
shows about.
Working closely with the network,
2C conceived an ambitious campaign around two major concepts:
the shows true homecoming to CMT
and its story-arc tease of tragically
flawed or broken characters who try
to piece their lives and relationships
back together. The team surrounded the Nashville cast with a swirling
mix of shiny particles, fragments and
glass shards that slowly reform. The
glamorous world is anchored by the
intense character emotions.
2C had to navigate the talent
schedule and a show that was in
the middle of its production cycle.
Intense previsualization helped to set
the roadmap, determining different
scenarios and knowing what interactions wouldnt be created in-camera.
2C produced a fully-3D animatic,
followed by numerous storyboards,
sketch boards and style frames. Then,
they methodically planned shoots,
dividing between two talent days and
two effects days.
The talent days were all about
capturing the varied emotional performances over greenscreen. As a
bonus, each character was given his/
her own lighting style to reflect different moods. To capture an authentic
voice of the show, 2C worked closely
with the Nashville show runners and
writers, crafting the monologue that
POST
JANUARY 2017
ultimately serves as the narrative of

clip spots.
Early on, 2C decided to create
a stylized environment symbolizing Nashvilles new home on CMT.
However, the overall aim was to create a dreamy, fanciful world versus
something literal, so the decision
was made to create the sets in CG.
In order to give a sense of a familiar
place, the idea was to also pull in elements of the physical show sets. One
major caveat to all the dreaminess:
the particles, fragments and glass
shards needed to feel authentic, so it
became clear that a practical effects
shoot was necessary rather than
trying to formulate those in CG.
We wanted to use glass and
highly-reflective materials like glitter,
so shooting these things was really
the best way to go, explains Eloe.
Elements like this can take months
in CG with no guarantee that wed
get the realness and impactful
nuance we were able to capture
in-camera.
2C began by fabricating 3/4-inch
inch glass replicas of each letter in
the logos for CMT and Nashville, and
used pyrotechnics to blow them up.
Tapping the expertise of cinematographer Chuck Ozeas, the agency
used a Phantom 4K Flex high-speed
camera to capture the explosions
in elegant slow-motion detail. Each
letter was detonated separately
and then meticulously reassembled
in post to recreate the CMT and
Nashville logos.
2Cs design experts, led by design
director Luis Martinez, then got to
work on marrying the live-action
components with special effects.
To create the GC environments
required many weeks of work in
Cinema 4D. As a final touch, a
custom version of the folk song
Wayfaring Stranger was produced
by CMT. This musical cue featured
the vocals of Leigh Nash from
Sixpence Non The Richer fame.
In total, 2C delivered eight different spots, a multimedia toolkit for
use throughout the season, including
unique episodic talent IDs, and all
digital assets required for billboards,
print and Web promotion.
BITS & PIECES
LEFTCHANNELS ANIMATED SHORT FRED

MAKES FILM FESTIVAL ROUNDS
COLUMBUS, OH Leftchannels
(www.leftchannel.com) animated
short Fred, in which the studio completed everything from story development through 3D character animation, is currently making film festival
rounds. Most recently, it was selected
to screen at the prestigious Midwest
Independent Film Festival in Chicago.
Since its debut earlier this year,
Fred has screened at the Animaze
International Film Festival in Montreal;
the Ojai Film Festival in Ojai, CA;
the Route 66 Film Festival (garnering the Best Animation award)
in Springfield, IL; the Great Lakes
International Film Festival in Erie, PA
and Fantoche in Baden, Switzerland.
The point of the piece was to
essentially create a redirect. What
appears to be a traditional cat and
mouse story with the mice coming up
with the device, which takes the story

in one direction then a sudden switch
where the piece becomes about the
personality of the cat, Fred, says
Leftchannel creative director Alberto
Scirocco. He has a mental fantasy
where he fancies himself as a dancer.
We liked the idea of developing a
character that has a complete maniac
approach. Hes living an experience
purely in his head with no processing of whats happening. He sees a
chance to dance and hears the music
and in his mind, its an opportunity to
merely go out and dance. Ultimately,
we wanted to make a very traditional
CG piece with a very traditional story
that has an element of comedy playing on the subtleties of the characters, implying the mental process of
Fred in particular.
According to Scirocco, the piece is
very traditional for the studio, giving

the team a chance to showcase the
fact that they can create familiar,
highly relatable work. Much of our
work is more artistic, intricate work
often exploring more non-traditional
media, so we wanted to show what
we can do in the realm of more
traditional media, says Scirocco.
Our passion in character animation
is the development of the characters

themselves and their personalities.
We wanted to explore the breadth of
the emotional spectrum of Fred. He
is a hero in his own mind. He has a
hapless mindset.
Fred, which Scirocco describes as
a passion project a collaborative
effort among the Leftchannel team
was created using Maya and V-Ray.
BITS & PIECES
MTI FILM RELEASES DRS NOVA 2.3 FOR FILM RESTORATION

HOLLYWOOD MTI Film (www.mtifilm.com) has announced the release
of DRS Nova 2.3, a significant update
to its software for digital film restoration. According to the company,
the new release includes a host of
new and enhanced features created
in response to requests from restoration professionals.All are aimed at
making such tasks as dust-busting,
image stabilization and de-warping
faster and easier.
We listened to people who use
the product every day, says MTI
Film director of product development, Randy Reck. This latest

release is focused on streamlining
routine tasks and making the software more responsive to the way
artists work.
New features of DRS Nova 2.3
include offset tracking for image
stabilization. It allows users to track
objects even when tracking points
move beyond the boundary of the
frame. The feature makes it simpler to stabilize shots with camera
movement or complex motion. The
same functionality will soon also be

available for de-warp operations.
Other improvements include:
Mouse magnifier pan, zoom in
and zoom out via a mouse button; mouse preview view import
frames in reveal or clone mode; dirt
map generator generate dirt maps
utilizing data from the alpha channel of a film scanner; stabilization
and de-warp presets save used
settings and perimeters for routine
tasks; Improved clip import import
large files faster; and streamlined
management for OpenEXR files.

MTI Film has been involved with
film restoration software for more
than 20 years. Its original DRS
software was released in 1997 to
restore films through an integrated
suite of tools for addressing dust,
debris, scratches, mold, warping and
a host of other problems. Customers
include motion picture studios, post
production facilities, film archives
and others seeking to restore motion
pictures, documentaries and other
archival material to pristine quality.
KILLER TRACKS LAUNCHES SCORE

ADDICTION CUSTOMIZATION TOOL
CHICAGO Killer Tracks recently
launched a new track customization
tool called Score Addiction. Here,
the production music librarys director of marketing, Andrew Donahue,
speaks exclusively with Post about
the new release, as well as some of
its key features.
What is Score Addiction?
Score Addiction is a track customization tool accessible through the
Killer Tracks Website and the Score
Addiction site. It can be used to customize individual music tracks by altering the tempo of a track or volume
of each individual stem. Users can
sync the customized track in the tool
to their video. If they like what they
hear, they can download the track.
What is the advantage of using
this tool?
It saves a lot of time. You dont have
to request stems or wait for an editor
to modify the track. Its also a boon to
the creative process. You can review
and customize tracks quickly. You can
experiment with tracks and see how
they work with a video clip.
What type of user does this tool
best support?
Producers, editors, music supervisorsanyone who works with
POST
JANUARY 2017
pictures and music. Its very easy to

use. You dont have to be an editor or
a music specialist.
1-2pg-
What types of projects would this

tool benefit the most?
All types of projects: commercials,
television, features, games. Everyone is
working against tight deadlines so any
tool that saves time and improves the
creative decision making process is a
big help. Our clients across the board
are very excited about this tool.
Killer Tracks is predominantly a
music licensing company, so this new
tool is something a little bit different
for you, no?
Music licensing is what we do, but we
are really in the service business. We
strive to be a resource to our clients
and provide tools to save them time.
We talk to our clients frequently and
stay attuned to their concerns. Our
clients often need to edit tracks and
Score Addiction allows them to do
that instantly. It enhances the service
we provide.
Does the introduction of Score
Addiction signal any type of new
direction for the company as we
move ahead into 2017 and beyond?
We are a technology-based business. Last year we introduced our
enhanced search engine and now

Score Addiction, with more innovations planned in the near future.
Production music is a very competitive business and technology is one
way we maintain our edge. So, yes,
you can expect more from us in 2017.
How has Killer Tracks been so
successful and continued to thrive
through tough economic times and
market changes?
We listen to our clients and respond
to their needs. We have an expert,
dedicated licensing team that advises
them with any questions they may
have when licensing a track. Our
dedicated music search team saves
our clients time by recommendingtracks for their projects. We also
have an exceptional team of people
who are passionate about music and
work tirelessly to ensure our library is

continually refreshed with interesting,
exciting and energizing new sounds.
They have an uncanny ability to spot
new musical trends before they are
trends and anticipate the needs of
the market. They keep the 'Killer' in
Killer Tracks. By Linda Romanello
Andrew Donahue
BITS & PIECES
DJI INTROS INSPIRE 2 AND PHANTOM 4 PRO

LOS ANGELES Unmanned aerial
technology company DJI (www.dji.
com) recently introduced two new
drones, intended for professional
imaging Inspire 2, a ready-to-fly
platform for high-end film and video
creators, and Phantom 4 Pro, a
smart and creative flying camera in
a smaller form factor.
According to DJI, its new Inspire
2 offers powerful capabilities and
is easy to operate. The nimble new
magnesium-aluminum alloy body
increases stiffness while lowering
weight. It has a top speed of 58 mph
and takes five seconds to accelerate to 50 mph. With its new dual
battery system, flight time is up to
27 minutes. A new forward-facing
camera offers the pilot the best
flight view for operating the master
controller, while the camera operator receives a separate feed from
the professional Zenmuse camera
mounted on the main gimbal. The

Inspire 2 supports the brand-new
Zenmuse X4S and X5S cameras, and
will support additional cameras in
the future.
An entirely new image processing
system, called CineCore 2.0, is embedded into the airframe, which allows Inspire 2 to capture 5.2K video
at 4.2 Gbps for Adobe CinemaDNG
RAW videos. Additional video compression formats supported include
Adobe CinemaDNG, Apple ProRes
422 HQ (5.2K, 4K) and ProRes 4444
XQ (4K), H.264, and H.265. When
recording 4K video in H.264 and
H.265, the bitrate is up to 100Mbps.
The companys new Phantom
4 Pro builds on DJIs original
obstacle avoidance system with
FlightAutonomy three sets of
visual systems that build a 3D map
of obstacles in front of, behind and
below the aircraft, as well as infrared
sensing systems on both sides.

New intelligent flight modes make
Phantom 4 Pro a smart flying
camera, opening new vistas for creators, such as the new Draw Mode
that allows operators to draw lines
on the controller display and direct
the Phantom 4 Pro to fly that route.
ActiveTrack recognizes common
subjects such as people and bikes,

then follows them from any angle
while maintaining camera focus, and
includes three new modes New
Circle, Profile and Spotlight.
Phantom 4 Pros US retail price
begins at $1,499 with a standard
controller; the US retail price of the
Inspire 2 aircraft is $2,999.
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BITS & PIECES
STAR: CINEMATOGRAPHER ROBERTO SCHAEFER

SHOOTS FOX PILOT WITH PANASONIC VARICAM 35
HOLLYWOOD Star is a new Fox TV
music drama from Academy Award
and Golden Globe nominee Lee
Daniels (Empire, Precious). Exposing
the cut-throat music industry, Star
follows three talented singers as they
navigate the road to stardom. The series features Jude Demorest as the title character, Queen Latifah, Benjamin
Bratt and Lenny Kravitz.
The series pilot was shot by
cinematographer Roberto Schaefer,
ASC, AIC (Quantum of Solace,
Finding Neverland, Monsters
Ball) on Panasonic (us.panasonic.
com) VariCam 35 cinema cameras.
Executive producer Daniels, who also
directed the pilot, has consistently
worked with Schaefer since their collaboration on 2012s The Paperboy.
Star alternates between fantasy
and reality, so one of Schaefers biggest challenges was to keep his three
young leads looking glamourous, yet
grounded in reality.
Lee didnt want the show to look
like anything on TV, explains Schaefer.
He wanted it to have a raw look. He
loved the way we did The Paperboy,
although there was no way [Fox] was
going to let us shoot on Super 16,
which is how we shot The Paperboy.
We looked for ways to give it an unusual and distinct look.
Schaefer had tested the VariCam
35 on a Pepsi commercial with Daniels

a month before they went into prep
for Star. The commercial was going
to be shot in New York City in a dark
limousine with an African American
actor, says Schaefer. There were
also scenes with a bunch of people
on a subway car where we couldnt
change any of the lighting. I knew that
I wanted to have the option of using
the native 5,000 ISO, so I did a few
tests and I liked what I saw. I shot the
commercial with it and everyone was
very happy, so we decided that was
the way to go with Star.
Star had similar production and
lighting challenges. For scenes that
took place in a low-ceiling warehouse, Schaefer and crew did not
have enough room to hang lights
so they had to work primarily with
practicals. Most of the practical locations ranged from a disco/strip club
to houses and apartments that had
limited rigging capabilities.
We had to shoot all over Atlanta
and some of the moves were massive
and theres always horrible traffic
there, reveals Schaefer. We were
always up against the gun to get the
shots. For the night exteriors, there
were times I was able to use smaller lights, or no lights, because I was
using the [native] 5,000 ISO.
Unlike Netflix and Amazon, Fox TV
does not have 4K delivery requirements, so Schaefer shot the pilot in

full HD (1920x1080) because he wanted the show to have a rougher look
and didnt want editorial to reframe
or zoom in on his carefully designed
shots. He captured 12-bit AVC Intra
444 files, as well as separate proxies
to take home for viewing.
Knowing his director would not
want to view V-Log footage on a
monitor, Schaefer created approximately 10 different LUTs, pushing contrast and allowing highlights to clip. It
has a definite gritty look to it, admits
Schaefer. Its not ugly by any means,
but it just has a very strong look. Its
not one of these totally manufactured
looking shows where everything looks
so smooth.
The pilot was graded at LA's Post
Mango. Schaefer worked closelywith
dailies colorist James Bills to make

sure the final color grade looked
consistent to their dailies. Because
they had the LUTs to drop back in, it
wasnt a big shift, explains Schaefer.
It was basically a one-day grade.
We lifted some faces, reduced some
of the highlights, or did a little bit
of tweaking here and there. Lee and
I were on the same page from the
beginning, so it was really important that when he was looking at the
monitor, hes seeing what were going
for. There were times when I would
click from the LUT to V-Log to look
at the exposure and Lee would look
at the monitor and go, Whats this?
This looks too normal. I would put
the LUT back on and he would be,
Thats better. Knowing that we were
in agreement made it easier and it
didnt change later on.
LAS VEGAS At the Consumer

Electronics Show is Las Vegas,
unmanned aerial vehicle manufacturer DJI (www.dji.com) announced a
partnership with Seagate Technology
10
POST
JANUARY 2017
CM
MY
CY
CMY
SEAGATE & DJI PARTNER ON DRONE STORAGE

plc (www.seagate.com), a storage
solutions company. The two will work
jointly to solve the data demands of
UAV users. As drone cameras gain
resolution and drone flight times grow
longer, DJI and Seagate are focusing
their efforts to securely and efficiently
store, manage, download and share
the hundreds of gigabytes of data
that can be generated from a single
drone mission.
DJI is proud to pioneer advances
in drone technology, and we are excited to work with Seagate on developing innovative ways to manage the
increased data flows generated by our

most sophisticated products, says
Michael Perry, director of strategic
partnerships for DJI. Our unparalleled
UAV expertise and Seagates deep
data prowess mean our customers
can look forward to smart, efficient
and reliable ways to manage their
growing drone data storage needs.
The DJI Inspire 2 UAV captures
5.2K video, and as such, a 25-minute
flight can generate about 120GBs of
data. Higher resolution cameras drive
the need for more efficient solutions
for UAV users to offload, playback,
share and backup their footage.

Seagate is honored to partner
with DJI to help UAV users tackle their evolving and unique data
needs, adds Tim Bucher, senior
vice president of Seagate Consumer
Solutions. Seagate is committed to
working together with DJI to evolve
UAV workflows so users can focus on
what matters most capturing data
in flight to bring new and amazing
experiences to the world.
The companies intend to announce their first product collaboration later this year.
STORAGE NEWS
G-TECH EXPANDS G-DRIVE LINEUP

WITH SOLID-STATE TECHNOLOGY
AND USB-C CONNECTIVITY
ATTO ADDS CONNECTIVITY TO

10GB ETHERNET NETWORKS TO
THUNDERBOLT 3 PORTFOLIO
SAN JOSE, CA G-Technology

(www.g-technology.com) is expanding its G-Drive portfolio, with
its first solid-state portable drive,
the G-Drive slim SSD USB-C. The
new drive brings faster interface
speeds with USB-C connectivity
and expanded external storage
for next-generation computers
such as the MacBook and the
new MacBook Pro, intended for
both consumers and creative
professionals.
Available in 1TB and 500GB
capacities, the G-Drive slim SSD
USB-C delivers fast, solid-state
drive performance of up to
540MB/s. It features the 10Gb/s USB 3.1 Gen 2 interface, taking
full advantage of the SSD performance. The included high-quality
Type-C to Type-C cable and Type-C to Type-A cable allows this
drive to operate with any computer featuring Thunderbolt 3, USB-C
or USB 3.0 ports. Requiring no external power source, the G-Drive
slim SSD USB-C will ensure that high-quality videos, photos and
music will be readily available.
Plug-and-play for Mac, this sleek drive is available in space gray and
silver. It's intended as a companion for a MacBook or MacBook Pro.
The MSRP for the 500GB capacity is $229.95 and the 1TB is $379.95.
AMHERST, NY ATTO Technology, Inc. (www.atto.com) continues to offer a complete portfolio of Thunderbolt connectivity solutions with its new,
now-shipping Thunderbolt 3 to 10Gb Ethernet devices.
ATTO introduces the new ThunderLink 3102 Thunderbolt 3 to dual 10GbE
and ThunderLink 3101 Thunderbolt 3 to single 10GbE devices. These optical
SFP 10GbE devices allow for connectivity to widespread 10GbE infrastructures and continue ATTOs long-standing commitment to offer a full portfolio of Thunderbolt 3 products, including 16Gb and 32Gb Fibre Channel as
well as now shipping 40GbE devices. ATTO also maintains a full portfolio of
Thunderbolt 2 products to provide a flexible solution for all major storage
protocols and operating systems.
ThunderLink 3101 and 3102 devices feature USB-C connectors, providing
connectivity to the latest high-performance Windows Thunderbolt 3 mobile
workstations with planned support for Mac platforms.
All required modules for connectivity are included and have been tested
for interoperability. A full list of ATTOs Thunderbolt devices is available on
ATTOs Website.
SYMPLY INTROS 4K RAID STORAGE FOR PRO MEDIA WORKFLOWS

TORRANCE, CA Symply Inc. (www.gosymply.
com) is now shipping SymplyRAID, a high-performance, high-throughput RAID storage system with
low latency and massive capacity for large-scale
media workflows.
12
POST
JANUARY 2017
According to the company, SymplyRAID offers

seamless integration into existing broadcast and
post facilities, including Xsan and StorNext workflows, enabling installation in minutes via userfriendly SymplyGO management and monitoring
software. Developed in conjunction with Promise

Technology, the system features a next-generation RAID controller design based on the latest
Intel storage processor. With fast dual quad, 16Gb
Fibre Channel connectivity, SymplyRAID can
scale to nearly 1PB while delivering the consistent performance and low latency that is critical
for handling the complex demands of media and
creative workflows.
Based on a high-density, rack-optimized design,
SymplyRAID includes 24 drives in 4U for maximum space efficiency. The high-availability RAID
storage systems offer complete redundant power,
cooling and RAID controllers with no single point
of failure. SymplyRAID is available in 3U 16-drive
and 4U 24-drive configurations with capacities
for any need, whether large or small. Performance
and capacity scalability is easy with the addition of
SymplyRAID expansion systems. SymplyRAID starts
at an MSRP of $22,999.
STORAGE NEWS
FACILIS SEES INCREASED GROWTH IN ASIAN REGIONS

HUDSON, MA Facilis (www.facilis.com) is
seeing strong growth in sales throughout 2016
in the Asia Pacific (APAC) region. Recently, the
company announced a number of new high-profile customer installations of its TerraBlock shared
storage systems. These include Philippines-based
ABS-CBN Corporation iPost (Integrated Post
Production), which purchased four TerraBlock
24D Hybrid 24 systems, as well as Facilis first
ever Hong Kong-based customer, Taoist religious
and cultural broadcaster, Fung Ying Seen Koon
(FYSK) (pictured).
In both of these customer projects, the active
support of local channel partners was an important factor. With ABS-CBN, the order was secured
by Facilis, working in partnership with local authorized reseller, Singapore and Philippines-based
Media Village.
How the TerraBlock system supports the
production facilitys network of 30 Avid Media
Composer workstations working together collaboratively was specified and designed by Media
Villages team of workflow designers.
We evaluated several other shared storage
systems prior to making our decision and the
Facilis TerraBlock out-performed all of its rivals,
says Jessie Yamzon, the head of post

production at iPost. Price and performance combined with its ease of
maintenance were major factors that
also led to the decision.
At FYSK, the input of Facilis newly
acquired local channel partner was
equally strategic. Central to this project
is Pictures Planes, a Hong Kong-based
systems integration specialist which
has helped FYSK redesign, construct
and commission the TV channels new
IT and broadcast infrastructure, studio
and production facilities.
Pictures Planes has become a Facilis
Channel Partner and it is experiencing
significant interest for the TerraBlock
product from many of its established
customers. We are impressed with TerraBlock,
comments Francis Yeung, director of product and
marketing at Pictures Planes. It is a flexible and
stable shared storage system that is well suited to
the dynamic and competitive Hong Kong market.
We are optimistic of further major sales in the
months to come.
Simultaneously, Facilis recently announced
new customer installations within the Indian

subcontinent. It has announced the completion of
a project that sees its TerraBlock shared storage
system supporting a network of eight Avid edit
suites, establishing nonlinear workflows at Indian
international broadcaster, Powervision TV, a satellite TV channel with its own studio complex and
play-out station based in Tiruvalla in Southern
Indias Kerala State.
IDC NAMES DDN A GLOBAL

LEADER IN OBJECT STORAGE
SANTA CLARA, CA IDC (International Data Corporation) (www.
idc.com), global provider of market intelligence, advisory services
and events for the information technology, telecommunications and
consumer technology markets, has once again named DataDirect
Networks (DDN) (www.ddn.com) as a leader in object storage in its
IDC MarketScape: Worldwide Object-Based Storage 2016 Vendor
Assessment. This marks the fourth year that DDN has been ranked
as a leader in object storage by the IDC MarketScape report.
DDNs suite of WOS object storage solutions includes the
WOS7000 and WOS8460 appliances; and WOS as software-only, saw
strong traction and exceeded 10 percent of all WOS customers in the
past year. Leveraging its HPC expertise and continuous object storage
innovations, DDN WOS is making it radically easier for IT organizations
to realize object storage efficiencies across expanded use cases, such
as active archive, collaborative communities and replacing legacy
backup infrastructure.
The report highlights DDNs experience with high-performance
computing workloads and its diversified portfolio that offers numerous
new products tailored toward specific verticals such as MediaScaler for
media and entertainment.
Incredible weather shot on DCI 4K by cinematographer Martin Lisius.

Licensed for feature films, commercials and docs.
Only at StormStock
www.stormstock.com Tel. 817.276.9500
JANUARY 2017
POST
13
DIRECTOR'S CHAIR
MIKE MILLS: 20TH CENTURY WOMEN

he multifaceted Mike Mills isnt just
an acclaimed writer/director whos
best known for his independent
films, Beginners (2011) and Thumbsucker
(2005); he also works as a graphic designer and artist whose exhibitions at the
Alleged Gallery were documented in the
book, exhibition and film Beautiful Losers.
Hes designed album covers for Sonic
Youths Washing Machine, Beastie Boys
Hot Sauce Committee Part Two, Wild
Flag and Airs Moon Safar, the book cover
for Miranda Julys No One Belongs Here
More Than You, for many years all graphic
design for Kim Gordon and Daisy Von
Furths clothing companies and X-Girl,
and so much more, including music videos for such artists as Air, Moby, Blonde
Redhead, Yoko Ono and Pulp.
Its his role as a filmmaker thats
gotten him the most attention. His
last film, Beginners, won an Oscar for
Christopher Plummer, Best Film and Best
Ensemble Cast at the Gotham Awards
and was nominated for Best Director, Best
Screenplay and Best Supporting Actor by
the Independent Spirit Awards.
If his semi-autobiographical Beginners
was a love letter to his father, then his
latest film, 20th Century Women, is a
love letter to his mother. A multilayered,
funny and poignant celebration of the
complexities of women and family set in
Santa Barbara. The film follows Dorothea
Fields (Annette Bening),a determined
single mother in her mid-50s who is
raising her adolescentson, Jamie (newcomer Lucas Jade Zumann) at a moment brimming withcultural change and
rebellion.Dorothea enlists the help of two
youngerwomenin Jamies upbringing
via Abbie (Greta Gerwig), a free-spirited punk artist living as a boarder in the
Fields home, and Julie (Elle Fanning), a
savvy and provocative teenage neighbor.
Here, in an exclusive interview with Post,
Mills talks about making the awards-buzzy
film (its already scooped up two Golden
Globe nominations) and his love of post.
their triumphs and regrets. I set it at the

end of the 70s in Santa Barbara, where I
grew up, because it was this time when so
much change was just around the corner,
but people didnt really know. It was a sort
of innocent time compared with what
came right after in the 80s AIDS, all
the greed, the start of the Internet and so
on. In a way its a story about the Greatest
Generation meeting Generation X as
my mom was born in the '20s and I was
born in the late '60s, and its also a sort of
love story between a mother and son, a
love story that is deep and meaningful but
one that also examines just how fleeting
those moments are when you feel a really
true connection with someone you love.
So there were all these different ideas at
play, and it took me three long years to
write, and to get it right.
This is another semi-autobiographical

film. What was the genesis of the project?
I always write from memories and about
real people, and my scripts dont follow
all the usual script formulas. I like to deal
in real emotions and real moments in
peoples lives, their humor, sadness and
Did you view it as a companion piece

to Beginners, which was based on your
father and the revelation that, at the
age of 75, he decided to finally embrace
the fact that he was gay?
In one sense, yes, but I was always far
closer to my mother. She was a very
BY IAIN BLAIR
THE WRITER/
DIRECTORS LOVE
LETTER TO HIS
MOTHER
14
POST
JANUARY 2017
The film was shot over 35 days, much in Santa Barbara.
strong woman and this story was

inspired by that very real person and a
very real place. My father was present
and yet not when I was growing up,
and most of my childhood was actually
spent with my mom and my two sisters.
They were a very big influence on my
life, and Ive always gravitated toward
women even when I didnt understand them.
How much of your real mother is
in Dorothea?
Quite a bit, as she was a huge Humphrey
Bogart fan and loved all his movies, and
she really did work at a company where
she was the only woman, and she really
did want to be a pilot and fly planes.
What did Annette Bening bring to
the role?
Everything. Shes so smart and has this
amazing ability to hold these contradictions in her face, and shes so free
and brave on camera. I tried to write a
very complex character, and Annette
brought to life everything I was trying
to do.
DIRECTOR'S CHAIR
How was the shoot?

It was no problem, although we only had 35
days. We shot some stuff in Santa Barbara, but
Dorotheas big, rambling house, which functions
almost like another character in the story, we found
in LA I had a great DP, Sean Porter (whose credits
include Kumiko, The Treasure Hunter, The Green
Room), production designer Chris Jones, who did
Henrys Crime, and costume designer Jennifer
Johnson, who did Beginners with me. And I spent
a couple of weeks with the cast before the actual
shoot, where wed all just hang out and do stuff
together, so everyone feels very comfortable with
each other. By the time you start shooting, it feels
like a real family that way, I feel.
Lets talk about post. Do you like the process?
I absolutely love it. Its all the magic coming together and youre seeing all your elements and its
much more than just the live action you shot. Its all
the sound and music, the stills, plus other footage
we gathered and added, so its very exciting until
I start freaking out. By that, I mean that I always love
the first assembly, but then I find you hit a point
where you start to get lost and you go off into this
dark forest. Its terrifying. Its always a little bit of
a tightrope walk to get it right, and whenever you
have a problem, usually you dont see it coming.
You think its all fine and then youre surprised. This
is my experience, but inevitably about two thirds of
the way through, you know where the problems are,
youre trying to solve them and then you have all
these epiphanies.
Where did you post?
I cut it at my offices and then we did all the initial
sound mixing over at the home of the supervising
sound editor, Frank Gaeta, and then the final mix
withRick Ash at Post Haste Digital.
You edited the film with Leslie Jones, who was

also one of the editors on Warren Beattys Rules
Dont Apply. How did that work?
She would come by the set when we were shooting, and shes the mom of a teenager and a very
seasoned editor, so all that helped. She gave me
great notes on the script before we even started
shooting, and then shed start work and then send
me cuts, and the DP and I would then adjust our
coverage based on what shed done. And once we
sat down together, it was a very intimate process.
"We used two Avids and cut for about 29 weeks,
which was a nice relaxed schedule. Editing is like
writing and you just keep going and it really rewards
stamina. You find that you can take one shot out of
a scene, for instance, and suddenly the scene before
plays just as I wanted, so theres a lot of very small,
incremental fixes that youre doing. And then much
bigger things happen magically because of all those
very small fixes and changes. Its very exciting.
"One of the big challenges was the fact that we
had a big ensemble cast, so how do you weave in
and out of the five main characters? How do you
keep the focus on Dorothea, even when shes not in
the scene? How do you keep the momentum going
around her and all her relationships? And it wasnt
just that. We also had to weave together all the different modes of filmmaking, as its sometimes naturalistic filmmaking, then it breaks into these little
narrative essays, theres drama, theres comedy. So
we had a lot of disparate elements to pull together,
almost like a collage.
This is obviously not a VFX-driven piece, but in
period films the VFX play a big role, and there
are a lot of car-driving scenes with very trippy
color-smearing effects.
Yes, and thats because cars were these truly
transformative devices back then if you were a
Leslie Jones cut on an Avid.
teenager. They represented freedom, the ability to

get up and go wherever you wanted without your
parents supervising you, and so I thought itd be fun
to try and give a sense of the euphoria, the almost
hallucinogenic feeling of driving around like that.
We did all the VFX at A52, this really cool boutique
place in Santa Monica, which works with Rock,
Paper Scissors and Elastic. Pat Murphy was the VFX
supervisor and Flame artist, and he did some great
work on it. Ive worked with Pat for over 15 years
now on all the commercials I do, and we also had
some 3D and 2D VFX artists and a roto artist. We
also used a lot of speeded-up footage, with a very
specific algorithm, and of course there was quite a
bit of clean-up work as well, taking out all the modern stuff. The great thing about shooting in Santa
Barbara is that its hardly changed at all in many
places, so it was great for shooting all the exteriors.
Can you talk about the importance of music and
sound in the film?
Its hugely important and Frank Gaeta collected all
the backgrounds, which are crucial. When it works
well, you dont really notice it, and he went up to
Santa Barbara and recorded different air tones, the
train sounds, the familiar crow sounds in Montecito
and he has a great ear for details like that.
The final mix was at Post Haste Digital.
Did it turn out the way you first envisioned it?

It did. Its pretty close. Its weird, unusual, it doesnt
follow the rules, but I think its kind of elegant.
JANUARY 2017
POST
15
POSTS TOP PICKS
OSCAR PREDICTIONS
T
BY IAIN BLAIR
La La Land
he 89th Academy Awards are almost here, and as usual, the

spring/summer releases and biggest (i.e. most popular) films
of the year, including such billion-dollar juggernauts as Captain
America: Civil War, Finding Dory and Zootopia, along with other
Top Ten global grossers (The Jungle Book, The Secret Life of Pets, Batman
v Superman, Deadpool, Suicide Squad, Doctor Strange and The Mermaid)
will have to vie for voter attention with the crowded fall and winter crop of
potential contenders.
For tis the season when the studios momentarily turn their backs on
money-making monsters, superheroes and escapist fare (i.e. every one of
those Top Ten blockbusters), and give their full attention to such serious,
Oscar-worthy prestige projects as Sully, Loving, Manchester by the Sea,
Moonlight, La La Land, Silence, Paterson, 20th Century Women, Hidden
Figures, Florence Foster Jenkins, Arrival, Fences, Hell or High Water, Lion,
Neruda, Live By Night, A Monster Calls, Allied, Billy Lynns Long Halftime
Walk, Elle, Hacksaw Ridge, Nocturnal Animals, Jackie, Captain Fantastic,
Passengers and Rules Dont Apply.
So will Oscar as usual largely turn a blind eye to popular, popcorn hits
(except in sound and visual effects) in favor of the year-end releases?
Impossible to tell, but with all that in mind, we now look into our crystal
ball and present our annual top picks list of likely nominees.
BEST PICTURE/ BEST DIRECTOR
These big races are still up in the air, because at press time, some of
the highest profile releases of the season, including Silence, Passengers,
Fences and Paterson, still hadnt been fully unwrapped. And the Best
Director race is looking particularly murky still, as the highly anticipated
Martin Scorsese, Ben Affleck and Morten Tyldum releases could blow
other likely contenders out of the water, as these three directors are all
Oscar favorites. So are Warren Beatty (see Decembers "Directors Chair"
interview) and Clint Eastwood; Only Beatty and Orson Welles (for Citizen
Kane) have been nominated by the Academy as an actor, a director, a writer and a producer for the same film and Beatty is the only person ever
to have done it twice, for Heaven Can Wait, and again for Reds which won
him Best Director gold. Eastwood is a five-time Oscar winner (Best Picture,
Best Director for Million Dollar Baby and Unforgiven, the Irving G. Thalberg
award) and still a potent force at the box office (Sully has grossed over
$150M against a lean production budget of $60M.)
After the wild excesses of The Wolf of Wall Street, the austere, powerful Silence once againreteams Oscar winner Scorsese with production
designer Dante Ferretti, longtime editor Thelma Schoonmaker and DP
Rodrigo Prieto, and the result is a passion project decades in the making
that is certain to appeal to many Academy voters.
The iconic Taiwanese/American director Ang Lee has long been another
Academy favorite; hes won three Oscars twice for Best Director (2012s
Life of Pi and 2006s Brokeback Mountain), and once for Best Foreign
Language Film (2000s Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon).
Always an innovator, Lees most recent film, Billy Lynns Long
Halftime Walk, a drama about the effects of combat, is a fully-immersive
ultra-HD 3D experience using an increased frame rate of 120fps that
might tempt Oscar voters despite some critical blowback that the films
a bit too immersive.
Mel Gibson, who earned very strong reviews for his powerful but harrowing World War II movie Hacksaw Ridge, may also be a contender. The
battle scenes are stunningly staged, and editor John Gilbert (The Lord of
the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring), sound editor Robert Mackenzie (also
supervising sound editor on Lion) and the visual effects by SlateVFX and
Cutting Edge are all Oscar-worthy. Gibsons direction is assured and inspired, but is the Academy ready to welcome him back again?
JANUARY 2017
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OSCAR PREDICTIONS
Or could it be a year where Oscar bypasses the old guard in favor

of the young turks, including such frontrunners as Barry Jenkins
(Moonlight), Damien Chazelle (La La Land), Denis Villeneuve (Arrival),
Jeff Nichols (Loving), Kenneth Lonergan (Manchester by the Sea),
David Mackenzie (Hell or High Water), Tom Ford (Nocturnal Animals),
J.A. Bayona (A Monster Calls) and Mike Mills (20th Century Women)?
And despite last years very public soul-searching about Oscars
lack of diversity, women and people of color are still likely to be sorely
under-represented again this year, with only Denzel Washington
(Fences), Andrea Arnold (American Honey), Barry Jenkins (Moonlight),
Rebecca Miller (Maggies Plan) and Mira Nair (Queen of Katwe) looking
like possible contenders.
Jeff Nichols (see Novembers "Directors Chair" interview) looks likely to get some Oscar love for his assured and empathetic direction of
the interracial marriage drama Loving, which follows his well-reviewed
sci-fi drama Midnight Special earlier this year. Also in the running is
the other Canneshit, Hell or High Water, directed by David Mackenzie
and starring Chris Pine and Ben Foster as bank robber brothers who
are chased by a Texas Ranger (Jeff Bridges). His latest genre mashup might look like a standard-issue, nail-biting, bank-heist thriller, but
its also a lyrical western, a road movie and a timely commentary on
current political and economic issues in America.
It had to be a balance between the genre bank robbery elements and the deeper exploration of land and space and people
lost in the erosion of change, notes Mackenzie. And they arent really
verbal and articulate; they communicate as much in their silences
as their sentences, and the porch moments feel to me absolutely essential to the film and we a l l felt instinctively drawn to them
whenever the opportunity arrived. I love the contrast between the
huge, empty horizons and the sanctuary of the porch.
The film was shot using both digital Arri Alexa XTs and
classic Cinemascope to create a look thats both very contemporary but also timeless, and was posted in New Mexico, Glasgow and
in LA. We did some ADR at Margarita Mix, PostWorks and the final
mix at Wildfire with Chris David, reports the director. As for the VFX,
the biggest was the brush fire. Vitality VFX did that and it took quite a
long time to get right. And I want to give a special shout-out to Jeremy
Cox, who also did a lot of very subtle VFX work condensing shots,
adding signage and so on. Its the first time Ive had so many VFX like
that, and it was a revelation to me. The DI was done at Light Iron with
Corinne Bogdanowicz.
Barry Jenkins is another up-and-comer who deserves Oscar
attention. Moonlight may only be his second film following his
assured 2008 low-budget debut, the San Francisco-set Medicine for
Melancholy but hes already established himself as a filmmaker to
watch, and after the implosion of Nate Parkers once red-hot Birth of
a Nation, his films chances are looking better and better. Written and
directed by Jenkins, Moonlight chronicles the life of a young black
man from childhood to adulthood as he struggles to find his place
in the world while growing up in a rough neighborhood of Miami. At
once a vital portrait of contemporary African American life and an intensely personal and poetic meditation on identity, family, friendship
and love, Moonlight focuses on the particular, but reverberates with
universal truths.
The low-budget indie was shot on location in Miami, in just 25 days,
and Jenkins edited the film with two editors Nat Sanders, who cut
his first film, and Joi McMillion, who works with Ryan Coogler. We
used the Atomos Samurai, as they werent on set we didnt have
the budget to fly them out, and anyway, they were cutting Season 5
of HBOs Girls when we started, he explains. So the way this system
works is that our DIT on set was basically duplicating all the dailies
18
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Passengers
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story
The Jungle Book
Suicide Squad
OSCAR PREDICTIONS
in HD, and it was like a mirror image of the actual

dailies, with a very simple LUT placed on them, and
then they were shipped to LA. And then Nat and Joi
worked off that, for the whole process. Jenkins says
that he wanted the sound in the film to be totally
immersive, and mixed it at Wildfire in LA. While not
a VFX-driven piece, the VFX played a significant
role in the final look, and VFX house Significant
Others worked hand in hand with colorist Alex
Bickel at Color Collective in New York. The DI was
done at Deluxe.
Kenneth Lonergan and his intense family drama
also look like locks for nominations, especially as the
film got four SAG nominations, a crucial barometer and boost for Manchester by the Sea as actors
make up the largest of the Academys 17 branches.
Both an ensemble piece and an intense character
study, Manchester by the Sea tells the story of how
the life of Lee Chandler (Casey Affleck), a grieving, solitary Boston janitor, is transformed when he
reluctantly returns to his hometown to take care of
his teenage nephew Patrick (Lucas Hedges) after
the sudden death of his older brother Joe (Kyle
Chandler). Its deeply poignant, unexpectedly funny
and an exploration of the power of familial love,
community, sacrifice and hope.
Lonergan and editor Jennifer Lame (Mistress
America, Paper Towns) cut the film at TechnicolorPostworks in New York, and the director reports
that the team had a lot of creative fun working
with the films extensive flashbacks which gradually reveal the harrowing events from the past that
affect Lees present. Lame notes that, initially at
least, all the time jumps gave her some trepidation,
and she says that the reason the abrupt flashbacks, didnt become too confusing was because
of Lonergans assured script and direction. She also
sees the flashbacks as a core part of Afflecks characters emotional narrative.
The biggest challenge in the movie was the
pacing and trying to figure out the meaning of going back in time, Lame explains. Its an emotional
journey so we tried to be respectful of the emotion and not exploitive of it. Early in the process,
Kenny was deciding on whether to have a device to
shoot the flashbacks whether to shoot them on
different stock or aspect ratios. Eventually he decided not to do any of that,which I think was right.
The way I decided to think of them was that they
werent flashbacks at all. It was like we were cutting
two movies at once the present of Lees life and
then Lees life before the event in the middle of
the film. If you look at the flashbacks, they are not
memories, they are narrative. They are like mini
movies in themselves.
Lonergans film is, like several other contenders,
a small-budget indie. So just how important are the
Oscars and other awards for such movies? Its very
important to getting people out to see smaller films
like ours, he says. We opened on just 300 screens,
and now were expanding to over 1,000, so the at-
tention and word of mouth is vital. And that means

that the film will now play in Texas and Oklahoma
not just in New York and LA, which I hope shows
distributors that theres a sizeable audience out
there for dramas like these.
VISUAL EFFECTS /
POST WORKFLOW /
EDITING & SOUND
Some of the years biggest hits Captain America:

Civil War, The Jungle Book, Batman v Superman,
Deadpool, Suicide Squad, Doctor Strange also
feature some of the years most spectacular VFX.
And some of the best were on display in the global
blockbuster Deadpool, Tim Millers feature film
directing debut. Dark, disturbing, violent, irreverent,
action-packed, seriously
funny and unashamedly potty-mouthed, the
R-rated Marvel comic
book adaptation starred
Ryan Reynolds in the title
role and was a surprise
hit, delighting hard-core
fanboys everywhere and
raking in $782 million
globally on a budget of
$58 million. Even more
impressive is how Miller
transformed a modest
career working in animated shorts into that of a
potential A-lister with a
fresh take on the comArrival
ic book culture. Having
honed his writing/directing skills over the years, he was also able to draw
on his VFX background and his own company Blur,
which did the title sequence for David Finchers The
Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. The films many VFX
vendors included Weta, Luma, Ollin, Digital Domain
and Rodeo FX, among others.
Editing, sound and VFX in the blockbuster
Suicide Squad may all get some Oscar attention,
and director/producer/screenwriter David Ayer is
no stranger to Oscar gold as his Training Day won
the Academy Award for Best Actor for Denzel
Washington. Ayers behind-the-scenes stellar creative team included editor John Gilroy and visual
effects supervisor Jerome Chen, and he reports
that Chen, who did the VFX on Ayers Fury, and did
the Spider-Man films and Beowulf and The Polar
Express for Bob Zemeckis, came in right at the start.
We did extremely complex CG characters in this, so
we spent a lot of time figuring out how to go about
doing it and what were the best techniques and so
on. It took a lot of time and work, and we also had
to figure out all the computer time and the render
farms we needed to generate the shots, so all the

VFX were embedded in the shoot from day one.
We set up witness cameras to record everything the
crew did, we had constant telemetry and a ton of
data gathering.
Post was all done on the lot at Warners. Gilroy,
whose diverse credits include Nightcrawler, Pacific
Rim, The Bourne Legacy and the Oscar-nominated
Michael Clayton, set up editorial in Toronto, so it
was up and running from the beginning, and he
tried to keep up with the shoot as much as possible, as we shot on film so theres the lag between
photography and the dailies reaching editorial,
Ayer notes. Well-known as a big shooter, Ayer shot
over 1.5 million feet of film so its a lot of work
just to watch it and keep the assembly up to date.
And then we did the main editing back on the lot. I
love editing even though its baffling and frustrating

and wonderful, all at the same time. The challenge
is always that you can make an infinite number of
films out of the same footage, and whatever your
ideas and dreams are going in, theyre going to
be shattered along the way because the movie
wants to be what it wants to be, and you can only
fight that so much. Youre wrestling every day to
find the right film.
All the VFX played a big role, and the film
ultimately used thousands of VFX shots and a lot
of vendors, with the main ones being MPC and
Sony Pictures Imageworks. The DI was done at
The Shed in Santa Monica, which runs Baselights
latest Generation VI system with more grading
power. Ayer and his DP did the DI with colorist Yvan
Lucas, who co-founded the company. The DI is so
important and its almost my favorite part of post,
says Ayer. I get in there and look at every shot, and
Yvan and the DP would do a pass and then Id do
one, and wed keep passing the baton like that until
we were all happy. For me, its where the film really
JANUARY 2017
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OSCAR PREDICTIONS
comes to life. After seeing it in dailies for so long, its

such a pleasure to see it like this. We did everything
from the overall look to saturation and contrast
matching, and some re-composition now and again.
We shot the film in a very precise way and composed shots very specifically, but the DI lets you do
some re-comps if needed when you simply dont
have the time on the day of the shoot, especially
with exterior stuff.
Two more blockbusters with a ton of VFX each,
along with impressive editing and sound elements
the epic action adventure The Legend of Tarzan
and Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, a
return to the wizarding world created by Harry
Potter author J.K. Rowling both come from the
same director, the prolific and hard-working David
Yates, who previously directed the last four of the
blockbuster Harry Potter films. And both Tarzan
and Beasts relied heavily on Yates go-to, behindthe-scenes creative team, including editor Mark Day
Fences
(Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Parts 1 & 2),

and Oscar winner and VFX supervisor Tim Burke
(the Harry Potter franchise).
A veteran of colossal projects with thousands
of moving parts, Yates began integrating post and
all the VFX on day one on both films. We used
the same process we established on Potter, where
wed edit a sequence, let it sit for a bit, then after a
few days or a couple of weeks wed go back in and
fine-tune it, and then wed turn it over to the VFX
guys, he explains. Theyd do their initial blocking
and then wed fine-tune it again. And its a remarkably fluid system in the sense that six months later
when the pictures done and its all shot, I go back
again and do another fine-tune. That gives you an
enormous amount of flexibility if I wanted to change
my mind about anything, and wed be swapping
out shots and changing shots quite late into the
process. And the VFX vendors were always great
and accommodating, even though I put them under
20
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pressure a lot. They were always very helpful when I

changed my mind about something.
Post was all done in London at De Lane Lea,
with some pre-mixing at Pinewood. Yates also
used the back-to-back productions to test a new
workflow and way of working with regular editor Mark Day. Usually I shoot, he assembles, and
were a well-oiled team by now, but we actually
changed the way we work recently. On Tarzan, Id
shoot, hed assemble it the next day, then Id watch
it, give notes, hed tune it a bit, then wed look at
the scene again a couple of weeks later. So wed
be constantly changing scenes during the shoot,
and Id rush over to the edit every time I had a
spare 30-minutes on the floor because of a lighting
change. So every shooting day was about shooting
and editing. But on Beasts I decided to experiment,
and not see Mark every day, and just let him get
on with it. So on Beasts I spent all my time on the
floor, or with my storyboard guys or previs team,
Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them
focusing on conceiving stuff, and then I saw Mark

every few weeks and that proved to be far less
schizophrenic than bouncing back and forth from
shooting to editing. So thats how were going to
do it from now on.
With all the recent advances in VFX, Yates and
his longtime VFX supervisor Tim Burke, who did
all the Potter films with him, were able to create
real beasts of the jungle as easily as the fantastic
beasts, and used a variety of vendors, including
Framestore, Double Negative, Rodeo FX, Cinesite
and MPC. In the end, for Tarzan we had over 1300
VFX shots, with everything from the gorillas and
lions to zebras, ostriches and hippos, and we really
raised the bar on the VFX, especially the scenes
where Tarzan has to interact directly with an animal, adds Yates. For Beasts, we had over 1500
shots, and it was a little freer as youre not having
to replicate a real lion or tiger.
Chilean director Pablo Larran, whos been hailed
as one of the most ambitious, iconoclastic, daring

and important political filmmakers of his generation, also has two new films, albeit much smaller
productions; Jackie, about one of the greatest icons
of the 20th century, starring Natalie Portman as first
lady Jackie Kennedy, and set in the immediate aftermath of the Kennedy assassination, and Neruda,
which focuses on the life of Pablo Neruda, one of
the greatest poets of the 20th century.
Neruda is Chiles Oscar submission, and Jackie,
Larrains first English-language film, is also getting
a lot of Oscar and awards season buzz. He worked
with editor Sebastian Sepulveda on Jackie, and the
duo began cutting in Paris while they were shooting, and then finished cutting it at Primo Solido,
in Santiago, Chile. As with any period piece, the
VFX play a big role, and Garage, a VFX company
in Santiago, did about 80 percent of them, and
Mikros and Digital District in Paris did the rest. While
Larrain shot Jackie in Paris on film and on Super 16,
Captain America: Civil War
he shot Neruda on Reds in Chile, Buenos Aires and

Paris. I still love shooting on film more than digital,
but we had a great experience with the REDs, he
states. We did all the editing in Paris with Herv
Schneid, with a little help from Sebastian Sepulveda
at the end. I took over the cut when the original
editor couldnt finish it in time for its Cannes debut,
Sepulveda reports. I worked on it for two weeks,
and we changed quite a lot of things especially the music and the order of various scenes.
Sepulveda did the fine-tuning in Chile while simultaneously cutting Jackie.
And finally, its interesting to note that, at press
time, the Oscar shortlist for VFX also includes
along with such expected contenders as Captain
America: Civil War, The Jungle Book, Doctor
Strange, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, Arrival and
Passengers the animated Kubo and the Two
Strings. Will the stop-motion film beat out the big
boys on Oscar night? Stay tuned.
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STAR WAR S
Go E S RoGuE
ILM AND THE THIRD FLOOR GIVE ROGUE ONE: A STAR WARS
STORY A RETRO AESTHETIC WITH SOME NEW TECHNIQUES
BY CHRISTINE BUNISH
22
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JANUARY 2017
ROGUE ONE
he first in the Star Wars Anthology

series, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story
takes place shortly before the events of
the original Star Wars, when Rebel spies, led by Jyn
Erso, set out to steal the design schematics for the
Galactic Empires new superweapon, the Death Star.
The film is produced by Lucasfilm and distributed
by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures.
The idea of the anthology stories is to explore
stories in the Star Wars universe in ways we havent
seen before, says Nigel Sumner, VFX supervisor
at Industrial Light & Magic (ILM; www.ilm.com).
Director Gareth Edwards and DP Greig Fraser have
created unique visuals through cinematography,
lensing and lighting, but the design language segues directly to A New Hope theres a wonderful
legacy look and feel to Rogue One. Id love to see a
double feature with both films!
Sumner saw his first Star Wars film Return of
the Jedi when he was seven. It held such a warm
place in my heart, he says. Little did he know that
hed grow up to work on episodes 2 and 3 at ILM
and play a major role in a new chapter in the Star
Wars franchise.
Rogue One is comparable to other Star Wars
pictures in the number of VFX shots: These films
tend to have a high shot count, notes Sumner.
While prepro was centered at ILMs San Francisco
and London studios (principal photography was

done at Elstree Studios near London), VFX-shot
production involved the creative talents of all four
ILM facilities: San Francisco, London, Vancouver
and Singapore. For every project we reinforce
and strengthen the pipelines already established
between studios, Sumner explains. The volume of
work required for a picture of this scope and scale
can really challenge a system.
Work was placed strategically among the
studios, he says, with sizable chunks owned creatively by each studio, from layout to final effects
and compositing.
The Third Floor (www.
thethirdfloorinc.com)
created previs, techvis
and postvis for the movie under previs supervisor Barry Howell and UK
lead Margaux DurandRival. The team began
working with Lucasfilm
and ILMs art departBARRY HOWEL,
ments in San Francisco
THE THIRD FLOOR
in November 2014, then
started production in the UK at the beginning of
2015 with artists from The Third Floor London.
The company brought its own Star Wars heritage
to the project: Its six cofounders met on the third
floor of the Main House at Skywalker Ranch during
the making of episode 3. When we finished, we had

enjoyed working together so much that we decided
to form our own company, says Howell. Now were
one of the largest previs companies around, employing over 250 people worldwide, so it was quite
enjoyable to be able to return to our roots and work
with some of the same colleagues again.
In providing previs for Rogue One, The Third
Floor was asked to show the feel of the movies aesthetics the mood, the atmosphere, the
lighting so you felt like you were watching the
first pass of the movie, Howell explains. Gareth
was very clear about wanting to feel the emotion.
Lighting played a huge part in his storyboards,
which were more like mood paintings. He wanted
us to capture that in the previs.
The Third Floors previs touched all of the
big action pieces as well as vehicle interiors and
smaller emotional moments you dont normally
associate with previs, he says. The most fun was
developing ways to reveal the Death Star and the
destruction it brings.
We knew it would be the big moment in the
movie, the moment everybody remembers, so we
wanted to nail it as best we could, Howell recalls.
Gareth gave us sketches and the variables and
let us play. We provided options that progressed
through multiple iterations that integrated old and
new elements.
Although The Third Floor employed its usual
The Third Foor's previs touched all action sequences.

JANUARY 2017
POST
23
Creative teams worked with K-2SO actor Alan Tudyk.
The Third Floor used proprietary tools.
The production aimed for a 'legacy' look.
24
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JANUARY 2017
suite of proprietary software for previs and postvis,

the company invented Random Cam for Rogue
One. The Third Floor had previously provided previs
for Edwards Godzilla and realized that the director
wanted to introduce those happy on-set accidents,
that sense of randomness into previs.
So The Third Floor wrote a new script that takes
the previs environment and the object of interest,
sets up variable camera angles and auto-generates
different perspectives. You wouldnt want to use
the majority of those images, but there are always
a couple of new and unique ones, says Howell.
Gareth sorted through the images for the big destruction scene on planet Jedha and gave three or
four to a concept artist to paint over. Moviemaking
often falls back on tried and true ways of showing
action, and this allowed us to view shots with fresh
eyes using angles one would not normally think of.
Rogue One was shot with Arri Alexa 65 65mm
cinema cameras. The 6.5K image sensor captures a
wonderful amount of detail, but its a lot of data to
transfer and that adds to the volume component,
says ILMs Sumner. A large percentage of shots
were driven and created in 4K; the rest were created
in 2K and upscaled.
According to Sumner, one of the biggest challenges was tying the ethos of 2016s Rogue One
into 1977s A New Hope. The technology at our
disposal is very different now, but we wanted to recapture the essence of the original movie and recreate it in this storytelling. Part of that is achieved
with the characters, creatures and designs, but it
was up to us to come up with new ways to bridge

the aesthetic and technical gap while retaining the
ethos of the movie.
One method involved the legacy vehicles seen in
Rogue One. When the animators built the models for the vehicles in the original Star Wars, they
detailed them with model kits. Our model supervisor Russel Paul embraced the same notion, says
Sumner. He tracked down the original model kits,
scanned them in 3D and we populated a parts
library to help build out digital models of the iconic
vehicles and flesh out detail on new vehicles using
the design language of 1977. For me, accessing the
practical models from our archives was a childhood
dream come true!
Environment supervisor Enrico Damm and his
team used Autodesk 3ds Max and Chaos Groups
V-Ray to craft set extensions for the planet Jedha
based on location photography in Jordan and
to recreate stunning aerials shot in the Maldives.
They also utilized SpeedTree to create the lush
tropical landscape surrounding the Imperial base
on Skarif.
ILM also introduced a successful new approach
to shooting virtual sets, which involved a basic form
of set construction. It didnt make sense to do a full
set build for most scenes in the cockpits, so we created a low form factor, proxy version of the set for
the actors to work in and the DP to frame and light,
then we replaced that with mattes of the virtual
set, Sumner explains. That gave us an advantage
over bluescreen because there was more natural
Director Edwards (left) on-set.
base lighting and ambience from the shape of the

environment. It provided a grounding in lighting the
foreground characters we wouldnt have had with
traditional bluesceen.
The Third Floor created footage to project onto
massive LED screens when the actors were inside
any spaceship. We customized a plug-in that
allowed us to create a 4K 360-degree spherical image using our previs environments, Howell explains.
We could provide these to ILM for projection on
the LED screens through TouchDesigner. As the
environments almost encapsulated the actors, it
was possible to light them and the set with proper
lighting and color temperature so the plates would
integrate well with the final composites.
Because of the nature of how Gareth shoots,
often keeping the background out of focus, some
of the footage we saw in the dailies with the LED
screens looked almost like a first pass at a final,
he notes.
The Third Floor went beyond its usual toolset to
tackle some of the more complicated LED scenes.
We knew we couldnt replicate volumetric clouds
with Maya so we used the Unreal game engine,
which worked very well, Howell reports.
ILMs proprietary on-set motion-capture system,
nicknamed iMocap, was used for the character of
K-2SO. The reprogrammed security droid now serving the Rebels is played by actor Alan Tudyk. We
wanted to capture K-2SO live on-set with the other
actors, says ILM animation supervisor Hal Hickel.
He saw the original Star Wars at age 13 and grew
up to work on episodes 1 and 2 and special edition

content for episode 4.
We developed iMocap 10 years ago for Davy
Jones and his crew in Pirates of the Caribbean:
Dead Mans Chest, he explains. Since then live,
on-set motion capture has become more commonplace when the character is roughly human size and
you want it to interact with other actors. K-2SO is
about seven feet tall, so Alan wore high-tech stilts
with motorized ankles, created by Neil Scanlans
team, that gave him a natural gait and made him
the right height for eye lines.
Hickel notes that before principal photography
began in the UK, Tudyk rehearsed with the painter
stilts on ILMs motion-capture stage. He could look
in our monitors and see himself as K-2SO in realtime, which allowed him to figure out certain things
like how to carry his body and his arm movements,
before shooting began.
ILM animators were charged with extracting
Tudyks motion-capture performance and applying
it to his CG character making sure that we didnt
change his performance but preserved it, says
Hickel. K-2SO had to portray Alans intentions as
an actor and communicate faithfully what he was
going for.
Although Hickel reminds us that droids in Star
Wars dont have expressive faces, the animators
gave K-2SO extra expression in his rotating and
darting eyes. That was fun to play with. We even
tried a blink but decided that went one step too far.
Perhaps the biggest challenge for ILM animators
The feature was shot in Arri's Alexa 65.

JANUARY 2017
POST
25
ILM upgraded to Pixar's RenderMan/RIS for the film.
Autodesk Maya was the primary animation tool.
in San Francisco was creating two iconic digital

human characters: Grand Moff Tarkin, played by the
late Peter Cushing, who appears in about 40 shots,
and [the late] Carrie Fishers young Princess Leia,
who is seen in one shot.
It took a lot of hard work by a rock star team
who took a really rigorous approach, says Hickel.
Its easy to get midway and when problems arise
be tempted to use band-aids to fix things and get
the shot done. But we knew wed have to take a
rigorous approach to evaluating the model, comparing it to archival footage, painting and shading the
model. If there were any problems we couldnt use
cosmetics to hide them we had to lift the hood
and really fix things.
Animators replaced the head of the actor performing the Tarkin character with a younger Peter Cushing
26
POST
JANUARY 2017
head; sometimes they replaced his entire body with

CG. An interpretation has to happen Guy Henry,
the actor playing Tarkin, wasnt doing a Peter Cushing
impression. We had to make sure his performance fit
in the scene but that it felt like Cushing, says Hickel.
We all got very focused on the details. Toward the
end of the process, when we were getting notes from
Gareth, we were beyond discussing skin and teeth
and really got into the acting.
Like most Star Wars films, the epic space battle
surrounding the Shield Gate was a massive undertaking for animators. What made it interesting and
fresh was Gareths direction: It was like shooting live
action with immersive sets on our virtual production stage, says Hickel. During rehearsals and the
early takes, he and the camera operators hunted for
angles as the scenes played out they figured out
the best place to be in the middle of the action so
we could follow through with the animation.
To achieve this, We pre-animated beats of the
battle action and loaded it into the virtual cameras
on a loop. On our virtual production stage, here
in San Francisco or in London, Gareth could look
through the viewfinder and see how the action
played out over and over. He could conceive shots
and find angles, he could ask us to attach a camera
to a particular ship. Its an interesting way to work
beyond storyboards and previs, Hickel notes.
Autodesk Maya was ILMs workhorse tool for
animation and some modeling. ILM also relied on
The Foundrys Nuke for compositing, Side Effects
Houdini for particle effects and ILMs proprietary
software Zeno, Plume for simulation and rendering,
and the newly-developed ILM Flux for digital char-
acter reconstruction based on archival footage.

During the films 18-month production schedule,
ILM made the switch to Pixars RenderMan/RIS
interactive rendering, says Sumner. From a lighting
and rendering standpoint, it was a new paradigm
and gave us a new shader set.
RIS had a few on-set applications, including
on-set LED lighting. When they were shooting the
cockpit on a gimbal, we pre-rendered a number of
sequences that were played back on an array of
LED panels for natural, interactive lighting on the
environment and the actors, he says.
Rogue One also marked the first time that the
output of our realtime rendering engine was used
in a film. Weve been working with Lucasfilms
Advanced Development Group in San Francisco on
realtime rendering for features, says Sumner. A
handful of shots for K-2SO were lit and rendered
through this pipeline and composited into shots.
Its a very positive advancement, and I hope well
continue to use it in the future.
The Third Floors postvis fed editorial in London
where artists filled in backgrounds or added CG
characters and elements to produce temp comps.
Sumner notes that it was humbling to work
under ILM chief creative officer John Knoll on
Rogue One. For four years, from the movies
inception to completion, he was the cornerstone,
says Sumner. From the concept of the story
through the initial drafts and acting as senior VFX
supervisor on the show and one of the executive
producers, he poured his energy and creative
passion into Rogue One. We all wanted to do the
best job we could do for him.
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V FX MARKS
THE SPOT
STUDIOS MIX CREATIVITY AND TOOLS TO GIVE
BRAND MARKETING COMMERCIALS A BOOST
Filmworkers is now in its third year providing visual effects

and post services for the Capital One Quicksilver campaign.
VFX FOR SPOTS
any studios today are charged with creating

outstanding VFX for TV spots to help catch
viewers attention. With a healthy mix of creativity
and the right tools, creatives are able to wow audiences, and help drive the brands messaging. Here,
post pros weigh in on the topic.
THE COLONY LIPTON
The Colony (the-colony.com), located on
Broadway in New York City, recently completed
work on two VR 360 spots for Lipton promoting
its Enticing Chai and Magnificent Matcha teas.
In each spot, a woman is enjoying a brief escape
while drinking her Lipton tea. The spots invite consumers to Find Your Focus.
In one spot, a woman sits in her kitchen enjoying the tea. The viewer is immersed in the tea cup
where tea leaves swirl like schools of fish. In the
distance, imagery of cherry blossom trees, Asian
temples and yoga poses suggest a relaxed state of
mind. The viewer ultimately transitions from inside
the tea cup, back to the kitchen setting, where the
woman appears relaxed after her escape.
A second spot follows a similar approach, with
imagery of Middle Eastern temples and smooth
sailing river boats suggesting tranquility. Again, the
viewer moves from within the tea cup back to the
kitchen environment.
According to David Gaddie, the creator of the
online pieces and the owner of The Colony, the
project came to the studio via Carrot, a Viceowned agency.
It was pretty tight, he says of the delivery
requirements. I think it was two months total
from award to completion of both. I think we had
six weeks for first one and an extra two weeks to

complete the second one, but we were working on
them in parallel.
Operating as a production company, The Colony
also tapped its visual effects, animation and post
production subsidiary Afterparty VFX to complete
the project. The Colony already had experience
working on virtual reality projects, having created
a comedic 360 spot for Holiday Inn Express that
presented a hot shower experience virtually.
For the Lipton project, they were presented
with a script that indicated that the viewer would
be in the tea cup and see four scenes from within
the cup.
It described the scenes to an extent, Gaddie
recalls. I would say 50 percent of what we see was
represented in the agency script. But what wasnt
represented was how we were going to transition from scene to scene, and what we would see
within the scenes specifically. We had to figure out
the execution and the transitions, which became
the biggest challenge. How to transition from one
scene to the next and make a still scene very beautiful and fluid in those transitions.
The production team decided to shoot the live
action with a Red Dragon camera rather than a
dedicated 360 camera. We fitted the camera with
a 180-degree fish eye stills lens, which gave us a
circular 180 view of our scene, he explains. With
the one camera, we could see half of the 360
universe. It allowed us to keep the other half of the
scene clear to be able to light [it]. One thing that
is frustrating about 360 videos is that because you
see everything, theres no place to put lights and
equipment, which is why a lot of 360 videos look
The Colony relied on V-Ray, Maya and Realflow for Lipton.
like no one has done any work lighting them.

Footage was captured with the 180-degree
lens in 6.5K. Even though you are making things
for 360, you generally make most things work
within the 180-degree field anyway, says Gaddie.
People get irritated turning around in circles. It
made sense to stage the action within the 180degree field.
The team then turned the turned the camera
around and shot some plates to complete the 360
view. This allowed them to light the scene for the
main camera angle and then remove the lights and
completed the 360 view without any gear appearing in the scene.
We stitched it in Cara, the 360 VR plug-in
for Nuke, which is a very good tool, says
Gaddie. Thats become a really solid tool for
360 compositing.
The Colonys core team of seven artists was
joined by a handful of regular contributors to
the studio, bringing the team to around a dozen.
This included outside modelers, lighting experts
and compositors.
The 3D cup and tea leaves were modeled in
Autodesk Maya. Realflow was used to create the
swirling motion of the tea and the leaves within the cup. The studio used V-Ray to render the
project, which will appear as pre-roll on YouTube.
Visitors to the site who search for 360-degree VR
content will see the Lipton spots in front of the
searched content.
The Colony also has a breakdown video of
the Lipton spots, which can be found at
vpostmagazine.com.
By Marc Loftus
The Colony studio.

JANUARY 2017
POST
29
VFX FOR SPOTS
using Maya for CG. For a good bit of the character

animation, he says the team brings animators playblasts into Photoshop and makes some sketchovers
to guide new positions.
By Linda Romanello
Charlie Tuna's new CG look for Starkist is completed in Maya; Cameron Brue is the new spokeswoman.
CALABASH STARKIST TUNA

Calabashis a Chicago-based animation production
studio known for its award-winning animation for
the advertising and entertainment industries for TV,
the Web and the big screen. While the Calabash
creative team, headed up by creative director
Wayne Brejcha and executive producer Sean Henry,
is known for producing several acclaimed short
films, including Stubble Trouble, which was nominated for an Academy Award in 2002, it is best known
for the character animation and development of
some of Americas most beloved and recognized
brand icons, including the Trix Rabbit, Lucky the
Leprechaun, Sonny the Cocoa Puffs Cuckoo, the
Hamburger Helper hand, the Green Giant, Mr. Clean,
Little Caesar, the Keebler Elves and Charlie Tuna.
Here, Brejcha and director Steve Spaz Williams
discuss the making of the most recent Charlie
Tuna spots for Starkist, featuring Fuller House and
The View star Candace Cameron Brue that promote
the delicious and healthy smart choice tuna and
salmon Creation Pouch options.
According to Brejcha, who worked alongside
Williams and production company Phasmatrope
Studios, his team was tasked with putting a really great Charlie Tuna believably into the same
space with Candace, appear to be lit by the same
light in the practical scene, and be his recognizably charming self, as he presents photorealistic
Starkist packs for Candace to take from his nimble little fins.
Charlie rides on an oversized fish hook, which
descends from above, and the team needed to
design a hook that Brejcha describes as theatrical
and hospitable. Charlie is also accompanied by little
sprites of bubbles that emanate from his movements. We envisioned the bubbles behaving like air
bubbles underwater, something like the cascades of
bubbles that stream from a diver in a pool,and not
30
POST
JANUARY 2017
like a soap bubble toy gone haywire, says Brejcha.

While Brejcha explains that Charlie Tuna spots in
the '60s were all hand drawn, beautifully executed
cell animation with painted backgrounds. The first
spots Calabash did for StarKist had hand-drawn
Charlie in live-action settings, the Calabash team
has more recently contributed designs and guide
drawings for a 2013 3D Charlie, in partnership with
Ben Porcari at IBC. In 2015, Henry created a new
model and rig for Charlie.
I think these new spots boast the most cinematic lighting and camera angles that Charlies ever
been in, says Brejcha. "Id say its a new highwater
mark for the live action, directed by Spaz Williams,
and its pretty sophisticated interaction as Candace
takes the tuna packets from CG Charlie. We were
pretty detail-oriented with the lighting as well, using
a 360-degree photoscan taken on set to provide
the initial lighting for Charlie, which we still had to
fuss with a little bit to bring out the best in Charlie.
This Starkist commercial, having involved live
action with a composited Charlie, was more of what
I was used to from the ILM and directing days, adds
Williams. Shooting live action has a whole new set
of rules. Namely, the prep. Exact camera angles
have to be pre-established prior to showing up to
set. The set has to be as close to the boards as possible, but naturally there are always differences that
have to be overcome on the fly. The other aspect
is the number of people on set; all having specific
jobs. In the case of this last Starkist [spot], I believe
we had about 80 to 90 people on set. Being the
director, and having to move quickly and attempt
to move efficiently, it takes many commercials
and years, in my view, to become familiar with all
aspects. I personally have found that staying calm,
regardless of the problem and magnitude of the job,
is one of the most important factors.
According to Brejcha, the spots were completed
GASKET STUDIOS BEST BUY

Gasket Studios (http://gasket.tv) in Minneapolis,
MN, offers design, animation and visual effects
services for commercial projects, and beyond. The
studios spot work includes jobs for Google, Target,
Cinnamon Toast Crunch and Blue Cross Blue Shield.
They also regularly collaborate with Activision,
creating videogame cinematics, intros and outros for titles like Snoopys Grand Adventure! and
Ghostbusters. The Ghostbusters work helped to
expand their list of services into virtual reality.
There was a piece for Ghostbusters we were
able to do with VR, says Gasket owner/creative
director Greg Shultz. The next step for us is watching what people are doing with VR and also investing in VR. We are making apps and games and stuff
like that. We are really trying to find our foothold
in how we stream it, and visual effects composite
in it, and how we create engagement instead of a
passive experience.
Shultz sees VR as a growth opportunity for the
company in the year ahead. I think you need to
know it and talk smartly about it, he says of the format. We are doing internal pieces to tackle every
question. Weve done so much augmented reality in
the past, it was really a baby step for us to get into
VR. We kinda understand that world really well.
Shultz points to
the companys digital
holiday card, which was
in development when
Post connected with
him in mid-December.
The internal VR project
will allow recipients to
interactively build a
snowman, take pictures
GREG SHULTZ
and share them online.
More and more, people want to be able to be
a part of a brand and be able to touch a brand
and experience a brand, so internally, you will learn
what Gasket is by building a snowman, he explains.
Thats what I think people want from a brand and/
or dont want. Some people just want to be entertained or educated, so if we can work in both of
those, thats what were trying to do.
Outside of VR, Gasket recently completed a
package of twelve 4K videos for Best Buy that
the electronics retailer is using online and in its
stores to highlight picture quality as well as inform
customers. The studio had just under a month to
create the video collection, each of which runs :10
to :15 in length.
In one video, for example, simple animated
figures demonstrate the right and wrong way to
VFX FOR SPOTS
Gasket completed 4K videos for Best Buy.
Filmworkers completes visual conception, VFX supervision, 2D/3D finish and delivery for Capital One.
move and hang a flat-screen television. Consumers

can get helpful tips from the videos, which also
suggest contacting a Best Buy Blue Shirt for professional delivery and installation. The videos make
use of the companys blue and gold color scheme,
reinforcing the Best Buy brand. Gasket has been
working with Samsung on a similar package for
their smart TVs.
Gaskets toolbox includes Autodesk Maya, which
is uses at its main animation application, along with
Adobe After Effects and Autodesk Flame. At press
time, the studio was working on a VFX-driven
project for an undiclosed client that involved a
table-top shoot and integrating custom CG characters into live action.
By Marc Loftus
and post services for the popular campaign,

Filmworkers was involved in this latest project
from pre-production, preparing storyboards and
concept drawings for the digital effects.
Our campaign work relies on our skills to
be a creative partner with the agency and production company, says creative director Rob
Churchill.Our involvement starts at visual conception through finish which includes concept art,
style frames, storyboards, 3D animatics, VFX supervision, expert 3D and 2D finish and delivery. The
Capital One Quicksilver campaign is an extremely
successful one that we have contributed to for a
number of years. As a VFX company, we like to
think that our best spot will always be the one we
have yet to work on. To creatively outdo yourself is
the goal and what agencys love about us.
In one of the spots, titled Chasm, Jackson is
featured walking across a giant cavern on a bridge
made of levitating stepping stones. For that production, Churchill designed a rig for Jackson to
use on the set to simulate the effect of unsteady
stones. One in post, Churchill and senior art director Daniel Pernikoff supervised the companys dedicated team of visual effects artists and compositors in creating the monumental, photo-realistic
environment that surrounds Jackson. That included
meticulously detailed 3D matte paintings showing layers of canyon and mountains receding to
the horizon, as well as clouds, shadows and other
details that cement the illusion.
Chasm has, for the first time, Sam Jackson
navigating a more naturalistic world, explains
Churchill. Creating a levitating bridge over an
enormous chasm was a creative thrill for the
studio.It is entirely 3D, with elaborate textures
created for just that spot to keep this world unique
to Capital One.
We pre-visualized the environment before
FILMWORKERS CAPITAL ONE

Chicago-based Filmworkers, which also has locations in Dallas and Nashville, has been fortunate
enough to work on a number of high-profile
campaigns over the course of the companys
30-plus year history. Some of these include campaigns for GM, Chrysler, Toyota, Ford, Firestone,
Nintendo, State Farm, Allstate, Kool Aid, Bayer,
Mars Brands, SC Johnson, McDonalds, Samsung
and Nike. Outside of the heavy VFX work the
studio is known for, its Nashville office also works
on music videos.
Among its successful branding campaigns is
the studios continued visual effects work on the
fresh new series of spots for Capital One featuring actor Samuel L. Jackson. The four new spots,
which were conceived by DDB, Chicago, directed by Spike Lee, and produced by Pony Show
Entertainment, for Capital Ones Quicksilver card
set Jackson in a number of stunning and highly
creative digital environments.
Now in its third year in providing visual effects
production began so that that Spike Lee and his

team could use them in designing shots and choreographing movement during the shoot, further
explains Pernikoff. That not only helped production work more quickly, it gave us a head start on
post production, allowing more time to focus on
creative refinements.
Churchill says that one of the big challenges
in creating the series was getting teams of artist
all working together on a dozen spots with very
sophisticated visuals. I say a dozen because the
Quicksilver finish timetable matched that of the
Jen Garner Capital One Venture Card spots we
were finishing with equally high-end effects. We
had to expand our pipeline to match the workload
in a very short amount of time. Like our artists, our
engineering team worked tirelessly to get what
was needed done. Because of this expansion, we
have expanded our output tremendously.
The spots were completed using a combination of Maya, Houdini, Nuke, Flame, After Effects,
Photoshop, Illustrator and whatever tool we need,
we have them all, says Churchill.
Churchill adds that DDB and Spike Lee always
bring in very high caliber people and give them
plenty of freedom and encouragement to do their
jobs. The ability to work on a great campaign like
this and build massive CG environments made it a
visual effects artists dream come true.
Addressing the overall quality of visual effects
work found in spots for television, he adds, VFX
tools are constantly changing and the quality
of those tools always improve.Artists need to
be committed to getting the most out of them
creatively and technically.Within the studio, we
are set up like a feature film pipeline. We strive to
achieve that level of finish in all of the campaigns
we are honored to work on.
By Linda Romanello
JANUARY 2017
POST
31
OUTLOOK 2017
OUR CONTINUED LOOK
AT INDUSTRY TRENDS
Post has a long tradition of dedicating its December issue to the key
trends and technologies that are making serious inroads in the post
community, as well as looking at the year ahead. For the first time,
Post continues its report into the start of the new year. Picking up with
where we left off in a special collection of Outlook contributions,
industry pros continue to share their views on what the post community
saw over the past year and what we can expect in 2017.
We also invite you to visit our Website postmagazine.com
for a host of additional Outlook contributions (see TOC for list) from
studios creating content, as well as technology developers serving
the Post community.
VISUAL EFFECTS
AS TECHNOLOGY RAPIDLY
IMPROVES, PEOPLE &
STORIES STILL COME FIRST
BY ISMAEL
OBREGON
ISH
CCO
OISHII CREATIVE
LOS ANGELES
OISHIICREATIVE.COM
32
POST
f I can describe the state of our

industry in one word, it would be
compression. The high-end
quality VFX once reserved primarily for
feature films and TV shows is now a
mainstay in other sectors, such as
commercials and on-air promos.
Financially, its become cheaper, faster
and easier to create a blockbuster-level
VFX for smaller projects.
JANUARY 2017
Recent college grads and others who

didnt have access to the latest technology before are now able to command top
VFX jobs, while clients are demanding
high-end creators to work at a lower-end
pay scale. Everything is increasingly being compressed into this middle ground;
however, I see this as a positive. Theres a
push for innovation that goes above and
beyond the standardization of what was
once considered leading edge technology. It forces our industry to develop more
practical creative processes, tools and
systems, and embrace promising new
means of content and platforms, such as
VR, AI and data mining for design, and
propel the evolution of creative culture.
One major area of growth is our
deeper understanding of human behaviors, regardless of what technology we
VISUAL EFFECTS
OUTLOOK
THE FUTURE OF VFX FOR TELEVISION

elevision production has always
been a cyclical process. Shows
begin airing in the fall, take a
brief hiatus around the holidays, wrap
in the spring, an influx of pilots are
produced ending in a summer
hiatus. But with new distribution
models from streaming services like
Netflix and Amazon, and premium
cable networks such as HBO and
Showtime, we are seeing a demand
for production year-round. This in turn
calls for nonstop post production.
For the first time in 14 years, we saw
practically no hiatus in 2016.
Though series in these new age
distribution models do not fall under
the same timeline and production
pipeline as standard broadcast series,
the amalgamated amount of time
spent on a series is not much different.
They often have shorter seasons of
between eight to 12 episodes with a
rolling post cycle, rather than closing
out the post sequentially as episodes
are delivered throughout a season.
This rolling delivery cycle allows us to
take a bigger picture approach to the
visual effects on a series and spend
more time on asset generation on the
front end. On a typical episodic show,
we get the script as we go into the
first production meeting. However,
with series on alternate distribution
models we have more time to generate
assets and develop the visual arc to
reach feature-level quality for television effects.
Creative crossover between feature
film and television is reaching its peak,
both in terms of directorial talent and
the escalation of ambitious conceptual

projects. These factors have upped the
game in creative visual problem-solving for VFX in the episodic arena.
While we have been lucky to be able to
work on VFX for episodic projects with
visuals furthering storytelling consistently since our launch, this migration
of feature talent to the television space
has massively accelerated the demand
for visual effects aiding in the delivery
of a signature series aesthetic. This also
means that the expectations for top
notch, feature-level quality are higher
than ever.
We have always worked hand-inhand with production designers, but
we are being called upon more and
more to offer adjunct art department
services, working closely with the
design team to craft key art and help
achieve the production designers visual aesthetic. From virtual set design
to creature design, we are seeing a
major increase in the instances where
we are collaborating directly with the
production designer and/or director
to design and execute a cohesive
visual style that carries throughout
an entire season, rather than on an
episode-by-episode basis.
Virtual sets have been a major
part of Zoic for over eight years, but
there has been a drastic uptick on the
overall acceptance and adaptation
of the process as a part of a wider
toolbox of visual effects approaches
for television. At Zoic, we have worked
on a number of series that leverage
virtual sets as a foundation for their
visual effects, such as ABCs fantasy
use. Its important for companies to understand the viewer, user or participants
POV and their psyche, because it all
comes back to how you tell the story. You
can create a beautiful sci-fi film using the
best tools available, but when you combine these visuals with a well-told story, it
becomes a much deeper experience that
far surpasses the luster and gloss of new
technology and VFX. Audiences want to
be swept away not only visually, but also

emotionally. Now, were masters of those
techniques, but the question is, what are
we going to do with them?
I think most companies do a good job
of keeping up with technology. However,
in order to best wield its power, we must
remember that technology can never
replace our story and that tools and
tricks should never be our crutch. Only
series Once Upon a Time and the upcoming Freeform supernatural drama
series Beyond. Now, however, we are
finding that more and more series that
arent exclusively virtual set shows are
incorporating corner-to-corner 3D CG
virtual sets as a solution for instances
when there is no appropriate practical
environment. There is finally a widespread adoption of the use of virtual
sets as a means to say yes to scenes
or sequences calling for an environment that either does not exist or is
not feasible in terms of budget, time,
etc. Also, more times than not, these
are photoreal virtual locations that really give creators, writers and producers more flexibility to be creative with
their storytelling through locations
and environments.
An increase in the creative talent in
the television industry has, of course,
meant that the creative bar has been
raised on what is expected for visual
effects in television. These seasoned
feature filmmakers and showrunners are
accustomed to a certain level of realtime
collaboration when it comes to visuals
and storytelling. Looking into 2017, the
products leveraging GPU accelerated
render tools are going to continue to
stand out in the marketplace. These
technological advancements are really
going to provide the technical back-end
necessary to increase and improve
realtime creative discussions on
high-level visual effects and visual
concepts. With superior creative
interaction, we will only continue to
push the boundaries of what is possible
in VFX across all mediums.
BY ANDREW
ORLOFF
ECD/VFX SUPERVISOR
ZOIC STUDIOS
LOS ANGELES/NEW YORK/
VANCOUVER
ZOICSTUDIOS.COM
NEW MODELS
FOR DISTRIBUTION
PAVE THE WAY
FOR HEIGHTENED
CREATIVITY
after youve established a strong

foundation that distinguishes who you
are and what you stand for, will technology enhance the narrative journey you
create for others. True innovation
happens when the forces of culture,
creativity and consumerism collide.
Were still telling the same stories we
always have, but were just using new
tools to tell them in a different way.
JANUARY 2017
POST
33
OUTLOOK
EDITING
2016: EXPANDING THE TOOLBOX

& A RETURN TO STORYTELLING
reativity and storytelling have
always been at the foundation
of editing, but it has been
refreshing to see that clients are really
shifting the focus back on how they
can connect with their audiences on a
more personal level and that has
been an exciting endeavor on the
editing side. I find that I am called upon
more often to deliver this type of
storytelling in pieces both shorter and
longer than 30 or 60 seconds. With
short form social media video content
and longer form digital content, there
is a call for interesting stories told
outside of what is typically expected in
promos and advertising.
Though budgets may not be
growing in the way that we may all
like, there is certainly more work now
than ever before. Between traditional
broadcast, social media, digital series
and beyond, there is content everywhere you look, and on every screen.
BY PAT
CARPENTER
CREATIVE DIRECTOR/EDITOR
NORTHERN LIGHTS
NEW YORK
NLEDIT.COM
But now, you have to be smarter about

how you approach your workflow and
surround yourself with lots of creative
people. Since joining Northern Lights in
June, I have really been able to see the
value firsthand of working alongside intelligent people that bring their talents
together to craft creative solutions.
The nimble collaboration between
editorial, graphics, audio and production is critical to delivering projects on
deadline and on budget, and it really
is the future of where the industry is
going. Being able to provide high-level
creative talent in-house allows us to
work with the shifting budgets to continue to provide excellent creative work
for our clients.
For an editor, software is a personal
preference that equally impacts workflow and overall creativity. In 2016, I really noticed a significant rise in the popularity and use of Adobe Creative Suite.
The ease of integration between the
applications allows for seamless internal

collaboration, and I have seen the popularity for the Adobe products steadily
increase as a result of this across the
board, from post facilities to networks.
As an editor, I enjoy working with both
Avid Media Composer and Adobe
Premiere Pro, but I am finding more so
than ever that clients are now requesting the use of Adobe products on projects. As a self-professed techno geek, I
find the challenge of working between
two editing software systems exciting.
With Avid right now, it is beneficial to be
able to collaborate with multiple editors,
and the 2017 update for Adobe is going
to be a major game-changer in this
shared workflow scenario.
It truly is an exciting time for us
creatives. The demand for new tool kits
and the shifts in the industry are
allowing us to get back to doing what
matters creating the most compelling
content through the art of storytelling.
CHANGE IS THE ONLY CONSTANT

ne thing thats constant in
advertising and in our market is
change. That sounds like the
setup for a joke, but its true. While we
cant predict the future, we strongly
believe that offering clients a vast array
of creative solutions is a big part in
staying ahead of that unknown curve.
With this in mind, in 2017 we are
expanding our finishing department
Jogger in New York to include additional online capabilities and a design department. Jogger already has a strong
presence in LA and London, and we are
excited to bolster our offerings on the
east coast. We have found that when an
editor is part of the design process, it
adds continuity and community to the
big picture creative. Having the ability
to integrate design during the offline
leads to a seamless workflow and deeper creative exploration. By expanding
our design department we can help
develop the design ideas with agency
creatives at their point of origin.
BY LAUREN
HERTZBERG
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER
CUT+RUN NY
NEW YORK
CUTANDRUN.COM
34
POST
JANUARY 2017
It is also important for the Cut+Run

family to continue to meet the global
realities of our industry while maintaining a sense of community. Our clients
are constantly on the move and we
want to make our talented and diverse
network of artists available to them
wherever they are needed. With offices
in London, New York, Austin, San
Francisco and LA, we can travel our editors seamlessly between offices, on set,
or anywhere in the world a project is
located. Because our industry is about
relationships as much as it is about
talent and workflow, our goal is to make
each place we set up shop feel like a
home away from home.
Timelines and other factors may
demand efficiency, but we never want
to cut back on human connection. We
recently expanded our remote editing capability to easily connect our
editors with directors or to be able to
run editing sessions when the agency
team is not based in the same city. Last
month, we edited a Google project with

a team split between LA and New York.
With remote editing, they were able to
work on a complicated project together
in realtime instead of having to fly in
creatives for the edit. Theres nothing to
match in-person collaborations, but this
comes close.
One trend we have been noticing is
that along with traditional content and
formats, we are being asked to take on
more non-traditional editing as part of
experiential and multimedia campaigns.
Weve edited art installations for Marco
Brambilla, interactive billboards in Times
Square and of course VR content.
These projects are all about the ability
to reach an audience on a deeper level.
The same creativity and problem solving that make a truly great editor are reimagined in a new way when working in
multimedia. And thats part of the fun!
The team at Cut+Run thrives on being
challenged and we are excited to see
what 2017 has in store for all of us.
ACQUISITION
OUTLOOK
STEPPING INTO THE FUTURE

OF ADVANCED DIGITAL TELEVISION
he year 2016 can be construed as
pivotal in clarifying directions for
the next steps in advanced digital
television services and digital motion
imaging production. In January, the newly
formed UHD Alliance published their
specifications for 4K UHD, and released
their new logo identifying displays
capable of portraying Ultra HD program
material. The Alliance certifies UHD
displays, UHD Blu-ray players and UHD
content that meet their specifications.
This specification includes spatial
resolution of 3840 (H) x 2160 (V), 10-bit
color depth, ITU-R BT.2020 color gamut
WCG and high dynamic range (HDR) in
accordance with the SMPTE standard ST
2084 EOTF. Of particular note are the
two HDR spec options for consumer HDR
displays: One, a combination of more
than 1,000 nits peak brightness and less
than 0.05 nits black level (that recognized the current state of the art of LCD
displays), and the second, more than 540
nits peak brightness and less than 0.0005
nits black level (that encompasses the
present capabilities of OLED).
This important industry consensus
offers a springboard for high activity among the consumer electronics
manufacturers in 2017 and beyond as
they launch an expected broad range
of competing UHD/HDR displays. This
agreement was flanked by the initial
advances of the new Ultra HD Blu-ray
products. The formal announcement of
the completion of the Ultra HD Blu-ray
specification in 2015 was followed by first
product unveilings at CES 2016 and by
mid-year at least three companies commenced sales of these players and the
number of available titles started to ramp
up. In 2017, its anticipated that well see
escalating competition between all of the
major manufacturers and an explosion in
4K UHD Blu-ray titles.
Clarity in the critically important
standardization of HDR/WCG arrived
in July 2016 with the ITU publication
of the much anticipated new standard
intended to flank their ITU-R BT.2020
in the form of Recommendation ITU-R
BT.2100-0 for Image Parameter Values
for High Dynamic Range Television for
Use in Production and International

Programme Exchange. This document
affords equal recognition of the two
contending television infrastructural approaches to management of HDR the
Perceptual Quantization (PQ) and the
Hybrid Log Gamma (HLG) promoted by
the BBC and NHK. Conversion between
these formats is possible. Guidelines
to do so are included in the standard.
Expect to see pioneering implementation of HDR/WCG television services
over the next couple of years as various
delivery platforms explore both options
for HDR systemization.
Especially significant is the fact that
the BT.2100 specification encompasses 1920x1080 HDTV as well as the two
levels of 4K UHD and 8K UHD production. This opens the door to a possible
more rapid deployment of HDR over the
next couple of years. Broadcasters and
cable operators who have been hesitant about the substantial investments
required to provide 4K UHD services are
expected to begin applying the significant enhancements of HDR and WCG
to the 1080p digital production format
to capitalize on the impressive upscaling
capabilities of contemporary 4K UHD/
HDR consumer displays.
On the 4K UHD production front, NAB

2016 saw four major camera manufacturers offering fully systemized 2/3-inch 4K
UHD cameras for both studio operations and outside broadcast production.
The cameras can all originate very high
performance HDTV with impressive high
frame rate (HFR) capabilities as well as
4K UHD ensuring future-proofing in
their near-term purchase. The cameras
were strongly supported by major lens
manufacturers demonstrating their new
generation of UHD field and portable
lenses all based upon the standardized
B4 lens-camera mount. These new products covered numerous major international sporting events throughout 2016
and this is anticipated to significantly
expand next year and beyond.
Separately, new large format cameras
continued to emerge throughout 2016
and this is anticipated to continue in
2017. Canon celebrated the 50th anniversary of the debut of their Cinema EOS
system with the formal introduction of
the top-of-the-line C700 camcorder in
November. This is an A-camera specifically intended to support 4K/UHD/2K/
HD image capture having HDR and WCG,
as well as choices in higher frame rates. It
formally enters the market in 2017.
BY LARRY
THORPE
SENIOR FELLOW
IMAGING TECHNOLOGIES &
COMMUNICATIONS GROUP
PROFESSIONAL ENGINEERING
& SOLUTIONS DIVISION
JANUARY 2017
CANON USA
MELVILLE, NY
USA.CANON.COM
OUTLOOK
DELIVERABLES
A MORE STREAMLINED DELIVERY PROCESS FOR POST

TI Film is a Hollywood CAbased post technology company that offers digital film
restoration, dailies workflow and
transcoding software to top studios,
productions, post houses and film
archives around the world. Thefull-service facility has both the experience
and tools to handle many of todays
production requirements and also
features premier film restoration
services that have been used on some
of the most cherished classic and
modern titles. In this SWOT piece, the
company looks at industry Strengths,
Weaknesses, Opportunities and
Threats.
BY BARBARA MARSHALL
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER
BY RANDY
STRENGTHS: The delivery process

for post production is becoming
more streamlined and unified. One
of our strengths at MTI Film is that
we are both a post production service provider and a post production
software developer. As a result, weve
been able to develop software tools
that have helped us become a leader
in IMF delivery. We believe that IMF is
well positioned to become the industry
RECK
DIRECTOR OF PRODUCT
DEVELOPMENT
MTI FILM
HOLLYWOOD, CA
MTIFILM.COM
standard for delivery. Its strength is in

its interoperability, which means that
deliverables can be played, amended, modified and transported to any
device that complies with IMF specs.
Another strength of IMF is that is employs JPG 2000 image compression,
which preserves the original image
resolution while facilitating the rapid
generation of lower-resolution media.
That makes IMF useful for both current
and future needs.
WEAKNESSES: Although delivery
is becoming streamlined, its not yet
where we hope it will be in a few
years. Deliverables are still required
in multiple formats, including smaller
files, due to bandwidth limitations.
Also, IMF is a relatively complex format
with a basket of media and metadata
bundled together. And, the way things
are bundled together is not rock solid,
but is still evolving. As a result, service
providers need to continually update
or replace hardware and software.
OPPORTUNITIES: Because many studios use our software, we have an op-
portunity to work with them and stay

up to date with what they are doing in
terms of automation. We can conduct
an open conversation with good teams
on both sides in order to solve problems and streamline processes. We
also see opportunities to help studios
and other content owners realize the
value in their libraries. There is a lot
of library content that is currently not
available for streaming because its
sitting on a shelf in a format incompatible with Netflix and other automated
systems. As a service provider, we can
generate the IMF or ASO-2 deliverables studios need to get that content
out to consumers.
THREATS: Changing technology can
be a threat to people and their jobs. As
technology evolves, the required
skillsets change. A tape operator has
to become a file manager. People need
to adapt. To meet this challenge, we
provide ongoing on-the-job training to
keep our people conversant with
current technology. Senior staff mentor
younger people. We want our people
to keep up with the times.
AUDIO
THE CONSTANTLY SHIFTING LANDSCAPE OF AUDIO POST

f one can imagine a constantly
shifting landscape, where
competing demands on time,
budget and needs fluctuate to the
point of madness, then you understand
the state of the audio post industry.
Whats encouraging is that this
industry is growing. Almost all content
requires audio regardless of the
platform; and understanding the specs
and sound quality requirements for
each device are skills that make us
valuable to our clients.
The biggest issues with running a
post business are tightening budgets,
projects going in-house rather than to
outside pros, and services we formerly
charged that we are now unable to bill.
Taken together one could paint a dreary
picture, but keep in mind if you were
still making cash registers today rather
than 100 years ago the market would
BY HOWARD
BOWLER
PRESIDENT
HOBO
NEW YORK CITY
HOBOAUDIO.COM
36
POST
JANUARY 2017
look sad as well. The only option for a

companys sustainability and growth is in
being adaptable.
We already know that large ad agencies, in an effort to contain costs, have
built their own in-house post production
facilities, and theyre doing that now
more than ever. While it makes sense
from a business perspective, the new
result is a general reduction in quality of
their product. Despite the quality issue,
the net result is downward pressure on
budgets and that will likely continue.
One upside to that has been a refocus
on efficiency.
The essentials still remain: If youre
not solving your clients problems then
youre not doing your job and that
adds stress to schedules, budgets and
ultimately creativity. There is also the
continuing rise of the bedroom mixer.
This can be useful in some circumstanc-
es with small projects, but our clients

depend on a company like ours for rock
solid audio post across the board.
The big focus for us is finding the
right opportunities for growth. Weve
hit a few dead-ends but whats useful in
that experience is it tells us where not
to spend our time. Too many businesses
dont read the writing on the wall and
keep trying to plow through to the pot
of gold that isnt there.
The biggest opportunity for the audio
post in general lies in 360/VR and augmented reality. These are areas where
object-based mixing is vital. HOBO is
investing heavily in this area and intends
to launch a division of the company
devoted to developing mixing solutions
for this emerging platform.
Positive results happen when you
work hard, dont waste time lamenting
loss and learn from mistakes.
CAREERS
A BIG PICTURE OUTLOOK

ts odd giving career advice when
I feel like Im still neck-deep in the
process of figuring things out
myself. I once saw a video of a dog who
would tap an odd number of times when
he wanted to go for a walk and an even
number of times when he was hungry
impressive stuff to be sure, but my guess
is that if you asked the dog how he got
to where he was, the answer would be
lacking. Every dogs journey is a unique
one thats hard to condense into a
how-to manual. Also, dogs cant talk.
So as someone whos been able to
perform a few tricks in the post production world, and who possesses a basic
grasp of communication, all I can speak
to is whats personally impacted me
along the way. This is not a roadmap in
any sense of the word, but more of a big
picture outlook please feel free to take
any or all of this with the largest grain of
salt imaginable and tap three times when
you feel like you want to go outside.
I started working in post professionally
during the last days of true analog post
production, and Im forever grateful this
was the case. If nothing else, it showed
me the immense importance of putting
myself in situations that are uncomfortable the dread Id feel before a telecine
session, for example, sticks with me to
this day. Using a (real!) roll of negative
selects that I prepped meant that any
mistake would result in thousands of
dollars of the clients money being lit on
fire directly in front of them. This forced a
level of focus and accountability that Ive
tried to carry forward throughout my career if there had been a pain-free auto-prep solution, who knows how much
innate laziness would have crept in?
As is always the case, Arnold
Schwarzenegger in Pumping Iron
summed it up better than I ever could:
Pain makes me grow. Growing is what I
want. Therefore, for me pain is pleasure.
And so when I am experiencing pain Im
in heaven. Its great. People suggest this
is masochistic. But theyre wrong. The
parallels between elite power lifters and

those who sit in front of a computer for
10 straight hours moving their wrist within an eight-inch circle are truly uncanny.
I try to be interested and wonky
about as many things outside of editorial and post production as possible.
The more creative cultural osmosis you
experience, the better; varied inspiration
is what will define your own sensibilities and make your work feel more like
its yours. I read a recent interview with
Jim Jarmusch where he said, Get your
inspiration from everywhere, because
filmmaking has everything in it: music
and style and timing and rhythm and
acting and writing and photography and
color and composition. This applies 100
percent to post production. It also helps
that Jim Jarmusch has preternaturally
amazing hair.
Know how to listen. Be open to trying
anything. Be empathetic to the vibe of
the room while acknowledging your
place within the hierarchy of a project.
But still use your voice and have an
opinion. Understanding how to deal
graciously yet directly with the people
you work with is so immensely more
important than boring things, like which
NLE youre using.
Realize that you can be confident in
your abilities and still sometimes feel that
youre a hack.
If youre just getting out of school or
youre looking for your first break, all I
can say is to start making things. Make
40 billion things. The barriers to entry
that used to exist, at least in the access
to gear and material and knowledge, are
gone. Play around with the most mundane footage for a thousand hours. Press
every button and force the material to do
what you want it to until your fingers are
numb. Do you have a question on literally
anything? There are now infinite, free
YouTube videos of Estonian teenagers
who know more about motion graphics
or workspace configuration than you or I
will ever learn in one thousand lifetimes.
Keep making things until it becomes undeniable that you have a point of view.
Really focus on story. The whole Im
a Storyteller trope feels like something
that should be on a Busted Tee in 2006,
but that doesnt mean its not important.
And it applies to any form commercial, feature, promo, vertically projection-mapped Snapchat sneeze, whatever.
While writing this, a seemingly boring
commercial for chewable vitamins came
on in the background and even that
told a story and imparted some emotion
based on its visual pacing. The amount
of time the shot lingered as she stared
at that bottle? Man, shes gonna use the
SHIT out of those vitamins!
Carve out time to read some good
graphic novels and comic books
theyre the best storyboards in the
world, able to establish pace and stakes
using nothing but stills. Watch as many
movies as you can and try to figure out
not only what you like but also why you
like those things.
More importantly, do everything you
can to surround yourself with people
that challenge and inspire you. One of
the best aspects of working at a place
like PS260 is the fact that everyone is
engaged and curious, always looking
to get better at what they do. That
type of attitude cant help but rub off
and Im very lucky to find myself in
such an environment.
And luck is a real thing anyone who
tells you it isnt is lying. Im lucky to be at
PS260. Ive been incredibly lucky to get
to work with great directors, DPs and
forward-thinking creatives. The cast and
crew at Saturday Night Live and
Documentary Now! are professionals of
the highest caliber; Im only as good as
what Im given to work with and Im lucky
that its always incredible material. If my
time in post production has taught me
anything, its that filmmaking of any sort,
in its truest expression, is a team effort
and Ive been lucky to be a part of
some great teams.
BY ADAM
EPSTEIN
EDITOR
PS260
VENICE, CA/NEW YORK CITY
PS260.COM
WHATS
PERSONALLY
IMPACTED
ME ALONG
THE WAY
JANUARY 2017
POST
37
SOUNDTRACKS
THE CHALLENGES OF AMBISONICS SOUND
EXPERIMENTING AND UNDERSTANDING A TECHNOLOGY WITH

A WIDE ARRAY OF CREATIVE POSSIBILITIES
irtual reality and 360-degree

videos have been taking the
entertainment industry by storm
recently. Startups and established
content producers are all experimenting
with the format, trying to understand
what kind of experience in which the
general audience is interested. The
technological side of the area is also in
constant mutation and every project
brings new challenges and unknown
workflows to the table.
At Pomann Sound, we recently
worked in partnership with the Big
Picture Company on a music video
shot in 360-degrees for which we were
asked to mix the accompanying music
in Ambisonics. In case you arent familiar, Ambisonics is a sound format that
allows for very flexible reproduction of
the sound field around a point. Instead
of assigning channels to speakers, which
locks the direction of the sources into
place, the sound in this format can be decoded into any number of speaker arrays
in an unlimited number of configurations.
It is also extremely versatile because you
can encode any other sound sources,
such as stereo or mono recordings, into
Ambisonics in order to manipulate it.
One of the biggest challenges of creating sound for 360-degree immersive
experiences is the fact that the viewer
can be looking in any direction at any
point in the video. In order to maintain
immersiveness, it is necessary that the
BY CLAUDIO
SANTOS
MIXER/EDITOR/VR GURU
POMANN SOUND
NEW YORK CITY
POMANNSOUND.COM
Pomann is now mixing audio in Ambisonics.
38
POST
JANUARY 2017
sound stays anchored to this 360-degree

world, rotating around the viewer as they
look around. That is where Ambisonics
excels once you design and mix your
sound, the player can decode it into binaural for headphone playback in realtime,
guaranteeing great accuracy to the direction at which the viewer is looking.
In order to mix the videos immersive
sound, we started from a pre-mixed set
of stems of the song that was recorded
in the studio. We then placed each of the
instruments into the 360-degree space
to match their positions in the video and
decided on the spread of each instrument, similar to how it would be done
for a stereo mix. The fun begins when
its time to decide how to creatively
widen or pinpoint certain instruments or
frequencies in this sound field in order
to make the viewer aware of the directionality of the sounds or not. One trick
we discovered, for example, is to spread
the bass frequencies around the viewer
using mirrored sources and convolution
reverberation in order to simulate how
we experience bass frequencies naturally, while keeping high frequency sounds
such as hi-hats and the synthesizer
limited to the position of the instrument
in the video, making their directionality
easily noticeable as the viewer looks
around. This gives the viewer the chance
to focus on each instrument separately
without losing the unity of the mix.
Another interesting challenge of the
video was a moment in which we see

the musicians playing from the opposite side of a studios control room glass
window. The director wanted the sound
of the music to come from the engineers
speakers, which can be seen in one
side of the room. The challenge was to
balance how realistic the sound should
be, which is a hard decision to make
because the 360-degree video format
naturally demands a high level of realism,
which doesnt necessarily serve a music
mix the way we are used to after years
of stereo music consumption. We ended
up recreating room reflections coming
from different directions in the room and
the muffled sound of the occluded music
coming from the glass, but everything
very subtly so it wouldnt interfere with
the music coming from the engineer
speakers, which was kept unaltered in
order not to radically take the viewer out
of the music.
The great thing about editing and
mixing sound in Ambisonics is that even
though the concepts and tools are very
different from traditional film sound, the
tools are very accessible, so experimentation is easy. The entire spatial mix was
done using Reaper, a DAW (digital audio
workstation) with very flexible multichannel capabilities, and a few different sets
of Ambisonics encoders, decoders and
manipulators, such as the ambiX suite,
which is available online for free. The best
part is that since the final video is meant
to be heard through headphones for full
immersiveness, you dont even have to
make use of studio speakers for the spatial mix, just a good set of headphones.
It really all comes down to experimenting and understanding the technology
and the wide array of possibilities it
brings to the creative process. Now that
YouTube openly supports playback of
Ambisonics in 360-degree videos, this is
an area that is going to keep on growing,
with more ideas and challenges being
tackled by the industry, and were very
excited to be part of this moment where
we can work together to determine a
new language for VR sound.
FIELD TESTED
IMN CREATIVE EMPLOYS SONNET

FOR VERTICAL INTEGRATION
RACKMAC PRO RACKMOUNT ENCLOSURES ENSURE SMOOTH WORKFLOW
MN Creative was founded more
than a decade ago to deliver
excellence in sound post production, and we made a name for ourselves
on feature film projects such as
Paranormal Activity and J.J. Abrams Star
Trek (mind meld sequence), as well as
blockbuster TV shows like Community,
and popular newcomer HarmonQuest.
Looking to the future of preproduction,
production and post production as a
united front, our company has recently
entered a new phase of picture and
sound. In the past six years, weve gone
through a tremendous growth spurt.
Weve migrated from a business model
that I like to call, taco trucking, in which
we took mobile post production capabilities to the on-location production, to an
actual brick and mortar facility that is a
real showcase of vertical post production
capabilities. Weve moved away from a
departmentalized operation to one that
brings all functions together in a single
sandbox; in other words, we have created
a model in which all departments engage
and influence one another.
Todays IMN is not just a facility its
a hub of award-winning talent, five-star
quality and onward innovation with technology at its core. Cutting-edge technology inspires our talent not only to assist
in creating content, but also to bridge
the gap between the storyteller and the
finished product. We can handle camera,
production sound, dailies, picture editorial, original music, sound editorial, mixing,
coloring, VFX and deliveries all under one
roof. By centralizing these aspects of our
operation, our team and clients benefit
artistically, influencing and engaging
each other in ways not possible when
forced to travel between facilities to work
on various tasks. Not only is this a more
efficient way to collaborate, but it is also
more convenient to working in one place
throughout a project.
In one example of how we integrated
cutting-edge technology into our facility,
we have deployed four Dolby Atmos
stages, including what I believe was the
first Atmos music studio ever built. With
the ever-increasing adoption of VR and

AR technologies in entertainment and
communication, Atmos enables us to
not only design and deliver immersive
audio for movies, but also for 4D rides
and video games to further enhance
those experiences.
When designing our facility, one of
our requirements was that it supports
the integration of any room into any
room, instantly, allowing us to move
equipment from room to room and continue working without any fuss or muss.
To accomplish this, we built a secure
machine room housing computers, data
storage and much of the processing
gear. This equipment is connected to
the suites over a 10 Gigabit Ethernet
backbone with Dante and BlueNET
networking support, and MADI. The
suites are equipped with KVM switches,
enabling access to various computers
and their attached equipment from any
room. These design choices ensured
greater flexibility where various tasks
can be performed.
In designing our new machine room,
we focused on creating a highly integrated, yet secure, space in which computer
systems and storage can interconnect
within a 42-space rack. An important
consideration was to accommodate our
Apple Mac Pro computers. We have
at least a dozen, and they deliver the
compute power and stability we need
for throughput-intensive audio and
video work, and provide Avid Pro Tools

support. The Mac mini is also a staple in
our operation because it offers amazingly good performance at a fraction of
the cost of a Mac Pro. But, as any video
or audio professional will tell you, neither
machines design is conducive to rack
mounting or expandability.
When researching practical ways to
use Mac Pros and Mac minis effectively
in our server racks and add the expandability we needed, we came across
Sonnet Technologies, a real innovator in
rack-mounting and Thunderbolt-to-PCIe
card expansion system solutions for Mac
Pros and Mac minis alike.
We are using Sonnets RackMac Pro
rackmount enclosures, which securely
mount two Mac Pros in 4U of rack space,
and their Echo Express III-R Thunderbolt
2-to-PCIe card expansion systems, each
housing three Avid Pro Tools | HDX
cards, that are connected to each Mac
Pro. We are also using their xMac Pro
Servers, which mount a Mac Pro and a
three-slot PCIe card expansion system in
a 4U enclosure, and xMac mini Servers,
which house a Mac mini and two-slot
expansion system. To connect the Macs
to the 10GbE backbone, we have
deployed their Twin 10G dual-port 10GbE
Thunderbolt 2 adapters. Sonnet solved
how to work around the proprietary-ness
of other companies products, integrate
Macs into our workflow and make them
all play together.
BY MARK
BINDER
CEO
IMN CREATIVE
GLENDALE, CA
IMNCREATIVE.COM
JANUARY 2017
POST
39
PEOPLE
HARRY COHEN
The Motion Picture Sound Editors (MPSE) will
honor supervising sound editor/sound designer
Harry Cohen, MPSE, with its 2017 MPSE Career
Achievement Award next month in LA. An 18-time
MPSE Golden Reel Award nominee, Cohen has
contributed to more than 150 movies and television
shows. He has frequently collaborated with director
Quentin Tarantino, including on the films, The Hateful Eight, Django Unchained,
Inglourious Basterds and Kill Bill: Vol. 1 & 2 and has worked with directors
Oliver Stone, Ridley Scott, Rob Marshall, Edward Zwick, Roland Emmerich and
Paul Verhoeven, among many others. His most recent project was Deepwater
Horizon for director Peter Berg.
TIM CLAMAN
Burlington, MA-based Avid has announced that Tim
Claman, vice president, platform and solutions, is now
responsible for the companys audio solutions where
Avid plans to further integrate its Pro Tools, Sibelius
and Venue products into the MediaCentral Platform.
Claman began his career as an editor, sound designer
and mixer, joining Avid as a senior product manager for Pro Tools in 1998 and
designing many features that led to Pro Tools 2004 Academy Award. Over 14
years, he contributed to the companys technology and product strategies as
he rose to CTO. After stints at Snell Advanced Media (SAM) and Quantel from
2013 through 2015, Claman rejoined Avid in 2016.
CATHERINE DAY, SAM SMITH
Brooklyn and LA-based production
and entertainment company Missing
Pieces, which has become recognized for virtual reality storytelling,
announced the hire of Catherine
Day as head of VR/AR/360; she
joins the company from Jaunt VR where she was executive producer/head
of unscripted. In her new role, Day will drive VR/AR/360 efforts and oversee
several original VR series. At Jaunt VR, Day led projects for ABC News, RYOT/
Huffington Post, Camp 4 Collective and XRez.
VR director Sam Smith also joins the companys roster. He previously worked
with MediaMonks on projects for Expedia, Delta, Converse and YT. Smith also
has an extensive background in commercial visual effects, and a deep understanding of post and VFX.
DANA BOL
New Yorks Nice Shoes added creative editor Dana Bol to
its roster, who most recently completed for the studio an
on-air and social media promo My Cause, My Cleats, to
help the NFL raise awareness of mental illness. Bol joins
Nice Shoes with years of experience editing commercial
content for brands such as Gillette, HP, US Navy, Esquire, Heineken, Nautica and
Ford, as well as experiential multi-screen installation projects for LOreal, NBC
Universal and WWE. Bols background includes collaborating with VFX and design teams and her understanding of non-traditional video formats complements
the studios expansion into delivering VR and AR content.
POST MAGAZINE (ISSN 0891-5628) is published monthly by Post,LLC, a COP Communications company,
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POST
JANUARY 2017
CAITLIN GRADY
Editorial company Whitehouse Post has added Caitlin
Grady as executive producer of its New York office.
She joins the company after spending nearly a decade at Bug Editorial. There, she collaborated with
a number of agencies, including Opperman Weiss,
Arnold Worldwide, Merkley + Partners, Hill Holliday
and McKinney while overseeing post production for brands such as Bacardi,
Mercedes, Audi, NASCAR, Chobani and Cadillac.
JEFF WOZNIAK, JOHN MILLER
FuseFX has added two veteran VFX supervisors to its
New York team. Jeff Wozniak (pictured)brings experience in both TV and features the latter including Star
Trek, Transformers and The Avengers across an entertainment industry career dating to 1994. He is supervising visual effects production for two new series, Bull
(CBS) and The Son (AMC), as well as the Amazon Studios feature The Wall.
John Miller has worked in visual effects and post in the New York area for more
than 20 years, serving in artistic, managerial and production roles. His recent
credits include Avengers: Age of Ultron and Captain America: The Winter
Soldier. He is on-set supervisor and VFX supervisor for the new Amazon crime
drama Sneaky Pete.
RONEN SHARABANI
New York art and technology company The Artery has
established a special artistic collaboration with acclaimed video artist Ronen Sharabani, a 2006 Cannes
Gold Lion Prize winner, to develop and present innovative and original video content to museums, art
galleries, and other special artistic venues around the
world andto integrate VR and other new technologies
into Sharabanis upcoming art exhibits, installations, and live special events.
Sharabani has worked for a number of film, advertising and production companies, including The Artery, McCann-Erickson, Dreamworks, and Gravity
VFX/Tel Aviv, and was lead compositor on 2012s A Late Quartet, and Flame
compositor on 2008s Ghost Town.
DAVID CORNMAN,
DEBBIE MCMURTREY
New Yorks TwoPoint0 welcomes
editors David Cornman and
Debbie McMurtrey to the companys roster of talent. Cornman
is an award-winning commercial
editor with experience in all styles
and genres of storytelling. He has edited comedy, effects-driven, dramatic
and documentary-style commercials for clients such as AIG, GE, Bank of
America, Staples, Verizon and Computer Associates.
McMurtrey launched her career at Crew Cuts in 1999, rising quickly to editor.
In 2007, she was the first editor at Nomads east coast office. She worked
at Cutting Room, Red Car and Alkemy X. In addition to commercials and
branded Web content, shes also cut short films, a sitcom pilot for VH1 and
parody commercials for Saturday Night Live.
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ROGUE

Stir Post, The Artery, Sonixphere, Archion,

Outlook 2017 part 2

BITS & PIECES

Whats new in post production

The latest solutions for collaboration

Mike Mills 20th Century Women

A big picture outlook

IMN Creative employs Sonnet

Lucky Post, Calabash, FuseFX, Xytech,

The cutting-edge VFX in Rogue One

MORE OUTLOOK ARTICLES ONLINE:

And the winner is ...

from Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story

Keeping tabs of the industrys

OSCAR PREDICTIONS POSTS TOP

22 STAR WARS GOES ROGUE

Realtime performance capturetakes

AND THE WINNER IS...

OUTLOOK 2017 - PART 2

Post Magazine is published by Post, LLC, a COP communications company.

PARAMOUNT PICTURES CONGRATULATES

THIS FILM IS THE STUFF THAT

DREAMS ARE MADE OF.

BEST PICTURE OF THE YEAR

| DAVID LINDE, p.g.a.

BEST SOUND EDITING

BRADFORD YOUNG, ASC

Supervising Sound Editor

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN

JOE WALKER, ACE

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS

BEST SOUND MIXING

BERNARD GARIPY STROBL

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RED INTROS IMAGE PROCESSING ENHANCEMENTS

Designed for HDR from the ground

ously, a really practical thing that

is well documented, standardized

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SDK will support easy third-party

part of the beta testing process.

and highlight roll off, which we were

and the black & white White House

sented the piano and then the music

age, as well as the workflow aspects

standpoint, is Seplveda thinking

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2C HELPS CMT WELCOME NASHVILLE HOME

ultimately serves as the narrative of

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LEFTCHANNELS ANIMATED SHORT FRED

with the device, which takes the story

very traditional for the studio, giving

is the development of the characters

BITS & PIECES

MTI FILM RELEASES DRS NOVA 2.3 FOR FILM RESTORATION

Film director of product development, Randy Reck. This latest

same functionality will soon also be

management for OpenEXR files.

KILLER TRACKS LAUNCHES SCORE

pictures and music. Its very easy to

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