Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/786156
www.postmagazine.com 24 POST FEBRUARY 2017 graphics, creates lower thirds, end credits and whatever else might be needed. The color, of course, is a huge part of the workflow. "I came from the linear world and then I moved to Avid when you could do online on it and then Avid Symphony came out with their color corrector," says Tal. "Then DaVinci Resolve showed up. It was around for a long time, but it was bought by Blackmagic Design and became a tool that is financially viable for reality TV shows. When DaVinci Resolve came on the scene, it was a whole other software — very deep, very heavy piece of software. I took a couple of classes and I dived right in and it was amazing how much more can be done. As a freelancer, I always try to offer my clients more. And with Resolve, we can do so much more. I can now make that sky really blue and I can color the sky separately from the grass, which could have been done before but not on the time and budget of real- ity TV. They just keep upgrading the software on Resolve and adding more and more things with every release. "Now I can deliver a show that looks better, looks more smooth, which, again, especially for reality television, is something that's super important. You want the viewer at home to stay engaged. It's reality, so sometimes the stories get combined and jumbled from different days and different times and different interviews and you want to keep the viewer as engaged as possible. Color so easily can mess that up. Resolve is a giant help in that regard." As a freelancer, Tal works from his home studio, where he says he has "a very nice set up." Tools include an Avid Symphony, where he receives uncompressed, original footage (Avid DNxHD 175x), generates an AES file and moves the media to his Blackmagic Design DaVinci Resolve for color correction. "When I'm done color cor- recting, I move the files back into Avid Symphony for the final pass, titles, graphics, removal of picture production elements. At that point, there's usually a screening with clients to sign off on it. And I generate Quicktimes that go to the dub house." Other tools include a Flanders OLED monitor, an Elements panel for Resolve and several key plug-ins including Mocha (from Boris FX — "I love Boris, I use them all the time. I was beyond ecstatic when they incorporated Mocha into most of the plug-ins.") and NewBlue FX Titler Pro. As for his work in reality TV, he says, "I have fun — I think that if you're not enjoying your job, maybe you should look for a new profession. I'm very lucky to be working on these really cool and fairly big shows for big networks. I get to work with the directors and sometimes the DPs, executive producers, offline editors and get their visions. Then I get to execute it and make sure I deliver quality product that passes the QC and gets delivered. And I really like that wide range of jobs and responsibili- ties; they just don't exist, as far as I know, outside of reality television. If you're doing episodic, you have a colorist and a person doing conform and someone else doing titles, someone else doing deliverables, and someone else overseeing all of those. In reality television, whether it's for budgetary or proximity reasons or a need for quick turnarounds, most of those jobs get done by, for the most part, one or two people — and I really like that." — By Linda Romanello POSTING REALITY TV SIDESHOW STREAMLINES PILOT PRODUCTION SANTA MONICA — Sideshow Studios (www.sideshow-studios.com) is using virtual production technology to create game show pilots, social experiment real- ity programming and competition shows. The process eliminates the need to build physical sets while still giving program- ming a high production value. "This process affords producers incredible flexibility in post to make re- finements to the format, change in-show electronics, graphics or overall set design to realize even more cost savings," says Peter Bailey, Sideshow Studios' co-found- er and CEO. "Our extensive experience with this production technique allows us to create realistic and amazing environ- ments for composited live action and animated gameplay that result in truly engaging formats." Sideshow produces live-action shows employing a large, 180-degree green- screen stage. They create 3D sets and model props, screens, and lighting, along with show electronics. Realtime monitors provide contestants with a way to follow along. In addition to live-action pilots, Sideshow has also used animation as a production tool, including on OhSit!. Warner Horizon Studios ordered the animated pilot for the competition game show, citing the vast cost savings over building a practical set for the pilot. According to Phil Gurin, head of the Gurin Company, it was the fastest sale to date for the company. OhSit! aired on The CW. "We pay extreme attention to tech- nical directing, ensuring contestants are accurately placed in the virtual set and cameras are positioned and mea- sured correctly," says Bailey. "In addition, with this technique, we can create wide sweeping show-open jib shots that es- tablish the set and allows us to push into gameplay to communicate format scope, excitement and comedy." Sideshow is currently working on four other Gurin competition reality game shows, including Time Crunch with Craig Ferguson. For Apploff Entertainment and NBC, Sideshow worked on QuizUp, a format based on the popular mobile app. The studio has also developed an immersive 360-degree virtual reality pre-visualiza- tion solution that serves as a major com- ponent of its pre-production, production and post production services package. Virtual production replaces a set. 180-degree greenscreen set