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November 2013

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D I R E C T O R ' S a few commercial tracks. The great [ Cont.from 15 ] thing about the BBC is they have a blanket agreement with the licensing bodies, so there is a lot of commercial music that you can use that's covered by the BBC licensing agreement. It means you don't have a massive music budget line in your show because you know you're not going to need it. There were a couple of tracks we had to switch out for America, just because the licensing restrictions were different. Predominantly, it's the same mix for both territories." POST: Who handled the audio post? SMITH: "Molinare, and one of the reasons I like them is because it's all there. We did the online edit there, the VFX was there, sound design, track lay, Foley, ADR, final mix, color correct, everything in one building. Since I was running between all of these different sessions, it makes a difference when you are in just one facility." POST: How long was the post process? SMITH: "We started post in the beginning of March and we finished in June." POST: With just a single editor, is it possible to work on multiple episodes? SMITH: "You kind of can. If it was a sitcom, it's different. If you were dealing with 13 or 20 episodes, I think you have to have at least of couple of editors to flip flop. It's just me and my editor, and we have an overview of the whole series. It's six half-hours — it's a mini series really. We almost treated it like a long feature, as if the episodes are reels almost. We had a post schedule where we had dates to lock each episode, so we could push that episode down the rest of the post pipeline. We finished one episode and moved on to the next." POST: Were all of the episode finished before the first one aired? SMITH: "It was all finished. We finished in July and it ADVERTISING 46 Post • November 2013 started airing in September. We weren't up against a transmission date, but we had our own deadlines to hit." POST: You've directed for film, TV and now the Web. What are your thoughts on the different mediums? SMITH: "Everyone is saying there is a revolution going on in TV. There is a new generation of fantastic shows. You look at House of Cards, Breaking Bad and Mad Men. TV has really upped its game. And the movie world is really struggling. The movie world is stuck between the multiplex franchise movies and tiny, as I know, indies that struggle. I've done both and there are pros and cons to both, but there is sort of nothing in the middle. I am about to go make a very reasonablypriced movie for Paramount, but there are very few and far between. I think a lot of filmmakers have been drawn into TV, where in the past, maybe there was a stigma attached to it. I think now, TV is a great place to be working. At least in the UK, you know it's going to go on the air. You know it's not going to get pulled and cancelled. The first episode of The Wrong Mans was watched by 5.7 million people, which is huge. In the movie world, you can't guarantee that. You can't guarantee that's it's going to be released and you can't guarantee that people are going to go and see it. You have no control over the marketing of it. TV is a much more of a certain place to be working. "It's forcing everyone to re-evaluate what they are doing. People are seeking out content and chatting about that content on social media. There's instant feedback, and when people find a show they like, they take ownership. Like with Breaking Bad and The Wire, they say, 'That's my show.' " POST: What's next for you? SMITH: "I am actually about to go and direct Virgins America for Paramount, which I just signed on to direct.That's going to take me out for a good few months." AND [ Cont.from 22 ] sonal, intimate, natural and easy," he says. A filmmaker who co-created the iconic dream sequences in Minority Report, directed his own feature film and branded content for numerous clients, Checkowski aims to "create an environment where the person on camera feels comfortable to be himself, take a risk and open up." He took a small production team on the road, including DP Keith Dunkerley, who served as cinematographer on American Dream, a new feature directed by Academy Award-winning DP Janusz Kaminski. Dunkerley and a second cameraman shot with a pair of Canon C300s. Checkowski says the tight-knit crew looked like "a rock 'n roll road show, with all our gear packed in a van as we headed overnight from Santa Barbara to San Francisco" to visit UC campuses. Typically, the team spent half a day with the subjects on camera using the talking points Checkowski compiled during voluminous research as starting points. They focused on the stories they expected to tell, but also captured spontaneous "bonus" moments, such as when Steve Vogt, PhD, professor of astronomy and astrophysics at UC Santa Cruz, suddenly revolves on C H A I R THE INTERNET the turntable of the giant telescope at Lick Observatory. "Wait — where are you going?" Checkowski asks off camera. "We're moving to a new star," says Professor Vogt matter-of-factly. Or when Professor Bamforth holds the perfect glass of beer in the final shot of his episode and Checkowski can't resist asking if he's going to drink it? The D4D editor Leander Rappmann cut the documentaries as well as trailers for the series, which play on the UC's YouTube channel. The D4D also created the motion graphics for the series. As the founder of a company dedicated to creating content and integrated media experiences, Checkowski feels strongly that Web content is "not a lesser art form" than broadcast commercials and programming or feature films. "In some ways it's more powerful because you can plug into very specific audiences and platforms rather than a perceived viewing audience," he says. "You just have to be conscious of the format you're working in: When you're online you need to get viewers involved immediately and end with a hook — you want to leave them with something so they'll want to watch again or go on to the next episode." www.postmagazine.com Classifieds Help Wanted Advertising Sales Rep. Ad Sales Rep needed for advertising sales in Post Magazine and Computer Graphics World. The purpose of the position is to generate classified advertising sales for the publications CGW & Post Magazine in the areas of Rapid Prototyping (3D printing), Camera, Displays/monitors/projectors, Workstations (mobile, desktop), GPUs/CPUs, Input devices (mice, scanners, etc), Motion-capture, Storage, Service provider, Education/training, 2D modeling, 3D modeling, 3D animation, Compositing, Rendering, Lighting, Editing, CAD/CAM/CAE/CAA, AI/VR (including headmounted displays), Game engines, Middleware, Texturing, Simulation, Plug-ins, Web content tools, Music Libraries, Stock Footage, Large File Transfer companies , Studios. Full-time position. Operates from office when not traveling. Skills/Qualifications: Customer Service, Meeting Sales Goals, Closing Skills,Prospecting Skills, Negotiation, SelfConfidence, Product Knowledge, Presentation Skills, Client Relationships, Motivation for Sales. Send cover letter and resume to: ksafaryan@copcomm.com. CSR - CUSTOMER SERVICE REP. Our local office in Glendale, CA is seeking a Customer Service Representative to be the first point of contact with our print customers. Our customer service representatives are passionate, customer-focused professionals with outstanding people skills and the desire to help us grow our business through hard work and innovative thinking! As a customer service professional, your responsibilities will include: • Responding to service requests. • Investigating and resolving customer questions and concerns efficiently and compassionately. • Preparing and distributing reports (utilizing various proprietary systems) on a regular and timely basis. • Assisting with various administrative duties, such as filing, data entry, and ensuring SOP compliance. • Participating in inside sales activities. Successful team members also possess the following qualifications: • A High School Diploma or equivalent. 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