Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1437291
73 W I N T E R Q 4 I S S U E T E C H laboration before COVID hit and were able to quickly set up Holley for this current feature. "I'm using a lot of different soft- ware — some proprietary — and platforms to upload cuts and get material for the Avid, get media, do reviews, and so on. It's all browser-based. I'm actually remoting into an Avid that's in San Francisco," said Holley. She's using remote desktop software (simi- lar to Chrome Remote Desktop, or AnyDesk) to connect her laptop to an Avid at ILM. All the assets (like new shots, dailies, plates, etc.) are accessed remotely via Avid NEXIS. ILM also sent Holley a large monitor that acts as an extension of her laptop's screen space. "I can drag something to the left and it goes over to the big monitor so that I'm able to look at a cut full-screen, or have more real estate for the Avid bins." ShotGrid (formerly Shotgun Software) is being used to share and organize infor- mation for each shot and asset that passes through the film's post-production pipeline. It's a project management database that "keeps track of all the handles, the frames that are in the cut, technical information like lenses that were used on set, notes from the director, editor, or visual effects super- visor — anything that the artist and the visual effects editors might need to know, like if there are clean plates or if there are references for lighting," explained Holley. "There are so many people working on a shot on the visual effects house side — between lighting, animation, and clean up — and they all need to know and have access to a system that tells them if the cut's changed, what's changed about it, what are the notes, and when was it last reviewed. There are all of those pieces and elements for one shot, and ShotGrid is able to link them all together," she added. Once a visual element or edit is ready for review, it's cut into the sequence to see how it plays with the surrounding shots. There are several ways that remote reviewing sessions can happen between the visual effects editor, picture editor, and director. One approach is to use software like cineSync (from Cospective) for high resolution, high frame rate video playback. Review session attendees log in with a ses- sion key. A sequence is loaded up, and it can be played forwards, backwards, and paused; attendees can draw on the screen. "You can look at a scene and draw a circle and say, 'I want more horses over here,' or 'have the dove fly through the screen in this pattern or this pathway.' cineSync has been around for a while and it's a reliable way for people to review sessions," noted Holley. "Also, the review sessions are recorded so others can watch them later and hear people talking about what needs to be done on a shot. That can be more effective than just reading written notes." Sometimes, less sophisticated review methods work, too, especially when dealing with poor internet connections. Holley recalled working on a project where point- ing her laptop's camera at the large screen monitor in her cutting room allowed the review session to continue. Holley affirmed, "It's a brave new world out there; you can pretty much be anywhere and see what's going on with your visual effects reviews. At times, you may need to go to a facility for a review session on a big screen --- for instance, if you're judging color and it has to be accurate. Other times, it doesn't need to be as high quality." Oscar-nominated film editor Tom Eagles (known for his Eddie Award-winning cut of director Taika Waititi's "Jojo Rabbit") re- cently remote-edited the upcoming Netflix film "The Harder They Fall" for director Jeymes Samuel. As Samuel was shooting the f ilm in Santa Fe, Eagles was editing at home in New Zealand and his first assistant editor John Sosnovsky and second assistant editor Sam Bellamy were working at Pivotal Post in Los Angeles. Every morning, Sosnovsky would spend a few hours matching their project content on the Avid NEXIS with Eagles's local drive in New Zealand. Using the remote access software LogMeIn, Sosnovsky could open Eagles's local drive, copy that media to the