Post-Production

Hi Omari Washington - congratulations on getting BACK BURNER done - so excited for you to share it with the world. We're in the greatest time for independent film IMO. What's your plan for distribution?

And the advice you share is so valuable - thank you. Each of these points is actionable and will save filmmakers time, energy and potential heartbreak. I'm really sorry to hear about your DP - thus point #4 is so important. And, to me, #2 is huge - prep equals success and the more prep equals the more success. Thanks so much for sharing your valuable and clearly well-earned insight with the community.

Hi Sam Sokolow

Wicked in my opinion :)

That's tough, Ashley Renee Smith! I think Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes has the most impressive visual effects, but the visual effects in Alien: Romulus, Dune: Part Two, and Wicked are incredible!

Easy to comment in hindsight but I had WICKED down for this and Planet of the Apes second. Dune 2 was an unbelievable feat and totally deserving - I just didn't have it on my ballot.

That's pretty cool, Cyrus Sales. That'd be a great blog, AMA, or Lounge post. Using household and ordinary things to create sounds for movies and shows.

This is totally my vibe—I love the DIY creative approach! So impressive! Creativity and an open mind truly take you far. Thanks for sharing, Cyrus! :)

That is very interesting! I didn't realize what I personally have done a few times over the last few years while recording my guitar is called Sound Design? I learned something new here! thank you! Since I am an instrumental guitarist composer of introspective and ethereal music often, I often times want to create different colors, timbres , etc. to accompany my tracks , or to alter the sound of the guitar to where it doesn't even sound like a guitar.(which I actually did earlier today, ironically, inspired to create something congruent for a Space film type sound). I have been recording and doing audio mixing/mastering/editing of my own compositions for over ten years, and I've learned much from my hands on experience regarding the elements of sound and the way it can be manipulated. I have a scientific mind a bit, which really keeps me focuse more intensely than eeven when I'm actually playing the instrument. Working with eq, spatial imaging, compression, reverberation , and mastering software with understanding a bit of the physics of sound and frequency realtionships , and how everything created in the realm of sound will vary when any particular element is altered, enhanced, reduced, hennce affecting the overall outcome. The first time I discovered how I can change my guitar sound was when I was working with an equalizer years ago. I believe it was called "transistor radio" setting. My nylon string guitar came out sounding like an electric guitar, and I was amazed by the timbral contrast! I recorded two tracks of nylon. One was an accompanying melody weaving around the primary stem, and I wanted contrasting timbre. Another time I breathed into the mic for an effect and then went to work creating a unique acompaniment with that. One fine way to sound design from my experiences, I discovered, is the use of the modulation effects. I'm not talking using them like guitar players normally would to enhace an add a little effect, but rather to change the sound drastically by working with specific parameters. I have a subscription to Slate Digital which has amazing quality Audio effects

A friend of mine wrote a fictional book not about sound design , but to bring peace to the world through what he calls "Fonging" . He demonstrated something that totally amazed me , howver we wonderd how to actually record what we heard. You take a clean oven rack, and tie two shoe laces, strings, pieces of leather, or any other material, and you lean over holding the strings, one on each finger and you put your fingers in your ear and have someone take a metal object and bang the rack! I know it sounds absurd, but the resonant sounds were astound, as we experinced the physics of sound.

https://images.app.goo.gl/sfhbBdomqRbDqAD2A

Thats an image of the book cover

Ashely, this technology is not just post-production, it can streamline pre-production and in-production workflows as well. It is an exciting time for creatives.

Jack Binder, I couldn’t agree more! It’s incredible to see how quickly the technology is becoming more accessible. Just a few years ago, this was something only the biggest studios could afford to experiment with.

The fact that independent filmmakers are now getting access to these tools opens up so many creative possibilities, especially for world-building and immersive storytelling. As costs continue to drop and the tech keeps evolving, I’m excited to see how smaller productions innovate and push the boundaries of what’s possible.

Absolutely, Paul Rivers! The ability to pre-visualize environments and shots in real-time before stepping on set is a game-changer for directors, cinematographers, and production designers. And during production, the ability to make adjustments on the fly with LED walls and real-time rendering can save both time and budget which is huge, especially for independent filmmakers.

I have a project I'm working on. A sci-fi short film with feature film series posibilities. I am working post on the short film right now and have embarked on the AI filmmakers journey since last year. I am now versed in ComfyUI and all AI film, graphics, platforms, currently taking an advanced AI film course that will help me complete my film with AI VFX, and put me in line to further produce my story. I am planning to gain a foothold in the future that is going to be this AI. I'm looking to see if I can land a feature with this production plan and my AI workflows.

Hi Parker,

Sounds like you’re wearing many hats to make it happen. If you need music for certain scenes, I would be interested; there’s two short

Sci-Fi pieces in my SoundCloud profile.

Hope all goes smoothly in your project.

K. Kennard

Lindbergh E Hollingsworth from what I've read, the AI used for sound in The Brutalist wasn't a quick fix solution, but rather a long process and last resort to improve English speakers sound authentically like Hungarians. The recorded the original actors speaking the lines in an ADR studio, then recorded an authentic speaker of Hungarian and then used the software 'Respeecher' to combine the two. Though there may be an argument for using AI as an aid from time to time, it's not a quick fix and I would argue it isn't the best fix in the situation described above

Hannah, correct on all points. Having been in film production I can only guess they weighed time and money against each other, and probably determined to use AI since they had time and saved money. My best guess on their approach.

any quality audio software may help! Reaper Audacity , Logic, Pro tools, Ableton. there is much out there

Hey Göran, why not hire a sound editor/mixer and forget all the sound issues on your productions?

Who would pay that person? The Swedish Film Institute hates us who film without first asking for money, and then only film if we receive anything. So I have no funding.

Hannah Woolmer last year I wanted to do a test when Davinci's new dialog isolation came out. So I set up a shotgun mic and parked a small drone in between myself and the mic. I talke in a normal voice, just as you would in a dialog scene then filtered it with dialog isolation, to my surprise I was able to filter out the complete sound of the drone and was left with a usable sound for the dialog.

Ever since we've shot stuff right next to a busy road or in factories and we've filtered everything out. In fact I'm always happy when the sound guys give me some extra time in the room tone, so that I have something to build oup the background.

My one problem using the voice isolation was that it would sometimes not play back properly. But I assumed my processor or RAM couldn’t keep up. It was fine on export.

Mike Boas I think there's some buffering involved and once you make a change it needs to cache that change and then it plays back normally. Also I think it had some glitches in the initial stages. Other than that it works great on my end, but sometimes it still doesn't play at the beginning of a clip.

Yes, the buffering was an issue but I never found a consistent way to solve it. Didn't want to upgrade to Resolve 19 in the middle of the project, but maybe it's better in the new version.

Yeah I get that, I've been scared of upgrading in the middle of projects too, but I actually did it once and it worked out fine.

In fact Resolve is practically the only NLE that I've ever used where I open up a film project from 6 years ago and it fires right up without a hiccup and I can go straight to editing. Granted I keep my database on the server and all the files are accessible on a network storage, but the project opens right up.

Even more amazing has been that we've had different versions running on different workstations, yet work on the same project at the same time without any problems.

The projector should have a setting for aspect. In film projection it used to be a matching aspect gate.

Otherwise, a new conversion of the file to that aspect might work. That can be done from the editing software or there are third-party converters.

Alternately, a zoom out in the editing software of the entire file yet keeping 1:89:1 aspect to fit in the projector aspect would also work. 3% smaller should be close.

If you’re talking about DCP, they only allow for 1.85:1 (flat) or 2.39:1(scope).

Anything else you do must be prematted into one of those before the DCP is made.

To put it another way, your 4K 4096x2160 movie, which is 1.89:1, should be letterboxed just slightly to keep every bit of the image. Just drop the main timeline into a 3996x2160 timeline and shrink it to fit horizontally.

Another way to go is to crop off the sides. Leave it the same size when you put it into the 3996x2160 timeline and see how much you lose.

Thank you, Mike! We got it sorted, I think (sure looked good when we tested!), but I've shared the info with the director/editor/fx/everything post person just to confirm.

Glad we could be helpful.

Such terrific insight E Langley and Mike Boas - I love seeing this type of support in the community!

You'll get there, John Guinn, and you'll enjoy a another creative journey improving and honing your project(s). I always marvel at all of the work and things many people feel are the production process - development, prep and production - are all done to get the pieces into post where a film or show fully comes to life. Please let us know when you get there.

Hi, Fernanda Portela. You've had a great journey! Congratulations on all your accomplishments! I'm a Stage 32 Lounge Moderator. I wanted to let you know I moved your post from the Anything Goes Lounge to the Post-Production Lounge since it fits better there and you should get more advice from film editors there. Let me know if you have any questions.

Also, here's a blog that could help you connect with directors, producers, and others: www.stage32.com/blog/the-importance-of-community-and-collaboration-in-th...

And Stage 32 has a Job Board you could check for editing jobs (www.stage32.com/find-jobs). It's updated regularly.

oh, thank you Maurice Vaughan still getting the hang of this plataform :)

You're welcome, Fernanda Portela. There's a description under the title in each Lounge that'll tell you what goes in that Lounge. And if you're not sure, you're welcome to ask me or another Lounge Moderator (we have badges on our pictures). Or you could email support@stage32.com.

Hi Fernanda Portela - I'm excited to see where your creative journey takes you! I recommend Peter Sullivan's Stage 32 webinar on how to build the ideal director-editor relationship. Peter's worked on over 100 films and has great advice on how to build this dynamic for success. Here's a link so you can check it out: https://www.stage32.com/education/products/the-final-cut-optimizing-the-...

Thanks Sam Sokolow this was already on my list to watch as soon as I have a little time :)

For basic sound recording and editing, look at 'Audacity'

Yes, I know that program. The only thing which remains is to install one of the plugins to it.

That sounds like an incredible webinar, Sam Sokolow! I've been thinking about making sizzle reels/mood reels to use when I pitch scripts. I think this webinar could help me edit my reels. I added it to my Education wishlist. Thanks for sharing the link.

If possible, ask an outsider to create the trailer. Because an outsider will look at the movie in the same way as the audience while all those who were involved in the production will feel differently about it. I know, becuase due to a lack of funding I have myself created the trailers for my no-budget movies.

That's a great idea, Göran Johansson! And I wonder if filmmakers and companies test out their trailers with audiences.

Trailers have style trends that come and go. Every ten years or so, trailers are completely different. In the 90s, we had “In a world…” and a lot of voice over narration. Some eras had intertitles. Nolan’s Inception brought us the big bass note BWAAAA moments. Now I feel like every trailer has a click track, often sound effects in time with a beat and repurposed pop music.

My advice is to find a recent trailer with a similar genre or tone you want to emulate. Bring it into your edit program and edit your own footage over the top. Replace all the titles, music, footage, effects. Now what you’re left with is a commercial for your movie with an established rhythm that works. All you’ve “stolen” is the pacing.

I remember the "In a world…" trailers, Mike Boas. I want to look up some 90s trailers now. :D Thanks for sharing the advice. It'll help when I make sizzle reels/mood reels for my scripts.