Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/21561
OUTLOOK directors love most about post.” WEAKNESSES: “It’s always lack of time. You never have enough time in post as it’s always the part of the process closest to the re- lease date, and that’s where you can get into trouble if you’re not careful.That said, every filmmaker would just keep tinkering with the film until they grab it from you.” OPPORTUNITIES: “Post allows you the opportunity to see the film a number of different ways, and that gives you the opportunity to see what works and what doesn’t. So if you’re really diligent and pay- ing attention in post, you become so intimate with the footage that you just start to feel the film organ- ically and feel what it’s really about and telling you, and that doesn’t al- ways happen when you’re busy shooting.You might feel you’re get- ting some good scenes, but it’s only Terry Gilliam’s The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus.This director sees the DI process as an opportunity. to maintain a certain objectivity [about the post process].That’s tough for me because I’m there every day. Other directors are far smarter — they go away, let the editor do it and then have a look.” OPPORTUNITIES: “You’ve always been able to do a lot of ef- fects and so on in post, but it’s just so much easier to do now. It’s all about speed and saving money now, and the new technology gives you so many opportunities.” THREATS: “Again, producers getting their hands on it! (laughs hard).The other big threat is exhibition.The problem with film is, you go to the labs, they’re all high-speed printing now, and you don’t know what you’re getting anymore. It’s all over the place. I hate it! With digital, you know pretty much what you’ve got, which is great. In Britain, the Film Council deserves a lot of credit for having pushed digital — and that’s what I love about 3D. It’s pushing digital.That’s the best thing about 3D. I’m not interested in 3D as a technique, but boy, it’s really pushing digital projection.” OUTLOOK ON 2011:“It’s going to be the huge tent pole movies and a few cheap ones — and nothing in between.That’s the big problem. Budgets are either $200 million or $2 million. It’s horrible right now. All the creative people should just take the year off until the money people figure out what they want to do.” JOE CARNAHAN Director The A-Team, Blood Guts, Bullets and Octane, Narc, Smokin’Aces STRENGTHS: “You can completely re-con- ceive and redesign a film in post, and the degree of theft in post and editorial is mind-blowing in terms of your ability to totally recon- struct stuff dramatically.You can make things work that were never going to work before, and the sense of discovery is what I always 24 Post • December 2010 www.postmagazine.com Joe Carnahan’s The A-Team: He calls lack of time a threat. later in post that you really understand what you’ve got.” THREATS: “You’ve got to be very careful now that all the latest technology and tools you can use don’t get in the way of old-fash- ioned good storytelling and strong dramatic structure. It’s the old line,‘Just because you can doesn’t mean you should.’ So there’s always the threat of over-extending yourself and just reaching for more CG or whatever instead of doing a reshoot. I had a shot we did for The A- Team in the pouring rain, and the effects guys removed every drop from the shot and you’d never know it. I think when you get to that point, the studios are like,‘Well shit! We don’t need to go on any lo- cation now.’Then it can become its own limitation.” OUTLOOK ON 2011:“I hope we don’t get lost under the avalanche of purely giant tent pole films — and I say this only too aware thatThe A- Team is a long way from my early films. I’d like to see a nice balance out there.The good news is that when you get a movie like Avatar, it re- minds me of how much people still love movies.”