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BITS & PIECES Kreate Films finishes first feature H between Kyle and Joy. VFX work was performed using Autodesk Smoke. Some of the more challenging shots relied on Autodesk Flame to complete. Autodesk Lustre was used for the DI and color correction, while Smoke was used for finishing. "My background as a Smoke artist was very helpful when cutting Finding Joy," explains Ben Rojas, the film's editor and post supervisor "It basically opened a door to finding 'hidden gems' with some VFX work that could be used. In one of the final scenes, Kyle is anxiously awaiting his love interest's arrival. We really needed that anxiety and nervousness to come through but the best shot had Marshall, Kyle's brother, walking up to him." The solution was to take the character out of the scene. Rojas used Smoke and Flame to complete the sequence. [ Cont.from 27 ] Ping Pong is essentially a full-stop shop for the programs it works on. They conceive the show, pitch it to the networks, produce it and handle most of the post production in-house. In the case of Finding Bigfoot, the studio uses high definition Panasonic AJ- HDX900s as its main cameras for daytime shoots. "They are our main cameras for daytime footage," says Brumels, "and then at nighttime, we use smaller Sony Z5Us with AstroScopes attached to them. They are pretty standard in the reality world." The studio also created individual backpack rigs for each researcher to wear. A modified surveillance cam- era faces them, capturing reactions and commentary [ Cont.from 38 ] [ Cont.from 18 ] OLLYWOOD, FL — Finding Joy is the first feature from Kreate Films, a division of KSC Kreate (www.ksckreate.com). The film centers around Kyle Livingston, a self-absorbed novelist and the inspiration he finds from a local girl, Joy Bailey, who alleges that she doesn't have much time left to live. The feature was shot on Red and edited in Final Cut Pro. Approximately 30 shots required compositing, cleanup and adjust- ments to enhance the relationship COVER STORY sion from 30fps to 24fps using RE:Vision Effects Twixtor plug-in and rendered those out to HD (1920x1080) 10-bit DPX files. Those files were then scaled to 2K (2048x1152) DPXs in Cinnafilm using the scaling tool in their Dark Energy application. The Canon-based 2K DPXs plus the 2K film scans were inte- grated into a master Premiere Pro CS5 timeline and exported again as DPXs in Adobe Media Encoder. At this point the project was sent out for primary color correction. Once those DPX files were back at Bandito, Cinnafilm specialist Monte Contractor used Dark Energy's Texture Manager to do a scene-by-scene denoise and regrain adjustment on the 5D material. Cinnafilm founder Lance Mauer says that the GPU-centric software has precise "motion algorithms" that can extract compression noise and then "regrain" the footage to match virtually any existing film stock. Concurrently, colorist Chris Hall was making some additional color adjustments to the movie in Blackmagic Resolve. The resulting DPXs were brought back into Premiere Pro for titles, graphics, VFX and reframing. Those were exported again from Adobe Media Encoder to DPXs and sent to Laser Pacific for final grading. "I used [Autodesk] Lustre," says Laser Pacific senior colorist Dave Cole. "We brought in all six conformed reels from Bandito Brothers and I went through and re-graded on top of all the source I was given. Editorial changes necessitated the development of new ideas. We shifted some looks into different palettes because the DP and the director — Shane (Hurlbut) and Scotty (Waugh) — wanted to take the look in another direction. There was a lot of polishing of what was given to me." Laser Pacific's color scientist, Doug Jaqua, created a set of custom LUTs to con- vert the Rec 709 color space master file into an acceptable digital intermediate and film print that accurately retained the color signature of the master file. Act of Valor was shot on Fuji RDI stock with an Arrilaser recorder and printed on Fuji 3514. Laser Pacific also exported the DCP P3 and DCDM XYZ masters and encoded the DCP in 2K for digital exhibition. The feature opens on February 24. REALITY TV during the nighttime shoots. Each hour-long episode is culled from approxi- mately 150 hours of footage acquired from the differ- ent cameras. Post takes place at Ping Pong with editors cutting on Media Composers. "It's a daunting one because of the amount of footage we are coming back with per episode," says Brumels of the post process. "The turnaround time, mixed with all the nighttime specialty camera stuff, which is all solid state — that all has to be ingested, turned around and added into the sequences. A lot of these specialty cameras don't record timecode, so you can imagine trying to sequence and group footage that doesn't have time- code built into it. It becomes a real challenge for the assistant editors to put together. We'll have up to 10 cameras running simultaneously in the woods with only two having timecode on them." Ping Pong has a SAN MP, which serves as central- ized storage. Much of the show's graphics are created in-house, though CGI recreations are done outside. The studio handles audio post using Avid Pro Tools, and while the field shoots can be challenging, no ADR is performed. Finding Bigfoot's show open was created by Dilated Pixels. Composer Raney Shockne created the pro- gram's theme music. UNSUNG AUDIO GEAR Studios (www.whitedogstudios.net) in Atlanta. White Dog Studios offers a variety of audio post services, including editing, 5.1 surround mixing, sound design, and even on-location ADR. Bush has over 20 years of experience in the audio business, and works with a wide variety of clients, from local advertisers to Sony Pictures. Whether he's in the studio, on location or at home, Bush chooses to mix and monitor playback through Genelec speakers (www.genelec.com). He's been working on them since he opened White Dog back in 1998. In the studio, Bush uses the Genelec 8040s in his 5.1 set up. "One thing I've been consistent with since I opened my studio, has been my speakers. For final mixes, I listen through the Genelec 8040s, and I also have a set of 1029s that I use as reference. I have both 46 Post • February 2012 of those at the studio and at home. I know what everything is going to sound like when it comes off of Genelec speakers." The Genelec 8040A ($1,490) bi-amplified studio monitor offers a wide frequency response (48Hz – 20kHz +/- 2dB) with deep clear bass in a compact design. It has a flat frequency response both on and off axis. The Genelec 1029A bi-amplified nearfield moni- tor works especially well in challenging environments. The speaker offers room response controls that allow them to be matched to the surroundings. The 1029s were manufactured from 1996–2005, and are no lon- ger available to purchase new from the factory. When Bush records on-location ADR, he takes along his Genelec 1029s. "I record all the on-location ADR for Drop Dead Diva and Necessary Roughness, www.postmagazine.com and that goes out to Sony Pictures in LA. I always take a set of 1029s when I do that." Bush likes the way the Genelecs translate to other media. "I've mixed thousands of things for TV, radio and films, and I've gotten to hear them on-air or in the theater, and I know how the mixes are going to relate. Even when I'm mixing for the Web, I know what I can expect on playback through computer speakers when I do the mix on the 1029s. I trust that when I hear it on a set of Genelecs, I know what it's going to sound like on the air." While there are many brands of quality speakers avail- able, Bush is glad he chose to go with Genelec. "I have found that if I picked one type of speaker to learn and listen to, and learn how they relate to the rest of the world, then it makes my life a lot easier."