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editor’s note Student, intern, pro I By RANDI ALTMAN EDITOR-IN-CHIEF raltman@postmagazine.com magine being a college senior during these eco- nomic times.The opportunities to work in your area of interest upon graduation are most likely few and far between, but if your area of interest happens to be the post and production industr y? Even in the best of times, competition is fierce. Some young people are taking internships right out of school with hopes of impressing their tem- porary employer enough that a full-time oppor tu- nity might grow. Others are waiting tables, hoping for the economy to turn or for their work to be noticed above others. While it’s tough out there for those entering the workforce, studios have a terrific opportunity to weed out the weak and hang on to the strong. Here is what some post house executives look for in interns. (See page 32 for more on this topic.) “When we look for interns, we always con- sider their long-term potential,” says Yfat Neev, se- nior executive producer at New York’s Gravity. “We don’t just bring them in to work on one pro- ject.We have them collaborate and interact with our teams of artists on multiple projects.This gives us the opportunity to see how well they perform individually and as part of a creative group. If an in- tern shows his commitment, professionalism, per- forms above expectations and to his supervisor’s satisfaction, there’s a pretty good chance they’ll be POST SCRIPT Prepping for a stereo 3D job F or the team at Sway Studio in Culver City, stereo 3D is more than a business, it’s also a By MARC LOFTUS SENIOR EDITOR mloftus@postmagazine.com hobby that a number of their creatives are pas- sionate about.Take for example VFX supervisor Aaron Powell: he shoots his own stereo 3D con- tent and is working on a gallery showing of his work.He even picked up a consumer 3D stereo camera on his way back from Taipei,Taiwan, recently, and is already thinking about how he can use the $250 Aiptek3D 720p HD unit to previs future concepts.“Stereo is more than just work I do here,” says Powell.“It’s a hobby.” Sway put its passion, resources and trou- bleshooting techniques to work recently on a :60 3D stereo spot for Scion. Enter the Machine played in theaters prior to the film Resident Evil: Afterlife 3D and promotes the newly revamped Scion tC.The commercial was a collaboration between agency Attik, production company Blueyed Pictures, design studio Imaginary Forces and Sway, which handled the post.What made the project a challenge, says Powell, was the combination of live action, shot 2D and convert- ed to 3D, and scale of the 3D animation that 2 Post • November 2010 hired. Since our industry is also about group dy- namics, spending long days and nights together, it’s really important to us there is the ability for our people to communicate and get along.” Chris Valentino, partner/executive creative di- rector at New York’s Motive, got his start in the industry as an intern. “I know well the importance of having a strong creative and nurturing environ- ment.We have always offered internships as a way for students and grads to get a sense of the b usi- ness and first-hand experience, but also for us to engage with fresh creative and passionate people. We make it a priority to give them structure and guidelines and to offer opportunities. As a com- pany we expect inter ns to be on time , to be ready to work, and to bring their best ideas.” Valentino has often hired from within.“Many of the people I work with today began working for me as interns,” he says. “In the past, a majority of my production staff consisted of college students, who have since become a resource I regular ly turn to today.We have had interns move on and come back to work with us and ha ve also en- gaged interns in long-term positions.” Just because you have a degree in hand and a reel, doesn’t mean you are going to land a full- time job. Internships, more than ever, are entrée into the real-world and real work. EDITORIAL RANDI AL TMAN Editor-in-Chief (516) 797-0884 raltman@postmagazine.com MARC LOFTUS Senior Editor (516) 376-1087 mloftus@ postmagazine.com KEN MCGORR Y Consulting Editor mcgorry@optonline CHRISTINE B Film& Video RON DICESARE Audio BOB PANK European Correspondent bob.pank@virgin.net DAN RESTUCCIO West Coast Bureau dansweb451@aol.com IAIN BLAIR Film MICHAEL VIGGIANO Art Director mviggiano@postma gazine.com ADVERTISING MARI K OHN National Sales Manager (818) 291-1153 cell: mkohn@postma lisab@postma (818) 472-1491 gazine.com LISA BLACK Sales Manager 877-249-7678 gazine.com GARY RHODES Eastern & Intl Sales Manager (631)274-9530 cell (516)410-8638 grhodes@copcomm.com KEITH KNOPF Production Director (818) 291-1158 CHRIS SALCIDO Account Manager (818) 291-1144 csalcido@copprints.com CUSTOMER SERVICE 620 West Elk Ave, Glendale, CA 91204 csr@postmagazine.com (800) 280 6446 the project called for. The spot opens with live-action tCs driving through a tunnel.As they enter a futuristic city, the cars become photoreal animated vehicles that are presented with challenges that impede their travel. Luckily, their new “sportiness” helps them to overcome such roadblocks.A closing camera pull-out shows the large city’s buildings, which form the words “The Machine.” To shoot the cars in all their detail, the pro- duction company used a Russian Arm gyro-sta- bilized camera crane.A 3D rig was not practical, notes Powell, because of its weight and size, so Sway has to convert the 2D footage to 3D using a combination of Nuke and Flame. “The good news is that we went into it knowing that they were going to shoot this in 2D,” says Powell.“We went out on location and fully surveyed everything that we would have to go through to dimensionalize it.” Using laser surveyors, they were able to collect measure- ments, which helped in building the 3D.“We re- applied all of the footage back on to it so that it matched perfectly.” www.postmagazine.com opt 2 (pub lishing),opt 1 (subscriptions) REPRINTS Reprints (781) 255-0625 •(818) 291-1153 LA SALES office: 620 West Elk Avenue, Glendale, California 91204 (800) 280-6446 .net UNISH WILLIAM R.RITTWAGE President / CEO See us on Post Magazine is published by Post, LLC,a COP communications company. 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