What is audiovisual post-production and what does the workflow consist of? Know the essential stages that allow you to take a story from the script to the screen
Post-production is a key piece of audiovisual production, deeply linked to other stages such as pre-production and production. Post-production is the final phase in which a coherent structure is achieved that allows the final idea of a project to be reflected, providing it with the necessary technical and artistic perfection. Therefore, post-production includes a series of main stages: subtitled editing, voice-over, special effects or color correction, among others.
El Animation and Postproduction Area TAI includes training programs for all levels and specializations that exist in this broad sector: Master in Editing and Color Correction for Film and TV Series, Master in Postproduction and VFX and Post-production coordination bootcamp.
What is post production?
The process of preparing an audiovisual work is made up of three main phases: script, filming and post-production. Post-production could be defined as the manipulation of audiovisual material, image, sound, music, color and the final mix of all these elements. The objective is to specify the final idea of the piece.
The professionals involved in this process are usually: editors (in charge of editing or editing the images), sound editors, musicians, mixers (union of all sounds), VFX artists and Color graders (the people who in the final process match the light of all the shots of the sequences and give continuity to the work). However, when it comes to making the final decisions, those who actively intervene are usually the producer and the director.
What is the post production workflow? phases
Editing: "the heartbeat" of an audiovisual piece
Jean-Luc Godard said that
"If directing is a look, riding is a heartbeat. Foresight belongs to both, but what one tries to foresee in space, the other tries to foresee in time."
In its beginnings, editing was a more technical than intellectual resource. As a result of Soviet cinema and the works of Vertov, Pudovkin or Eisenstein, research and depth in cinematographic theory and practice expanded, especially with regard to the power of editing as a dialectical element. Likewise, new technologies and the transformation of cinematographic language have profoundly marked the evolution of audiovisual montage.
Workflow
When editing the image, the editor has a script, camera parts with details of what has been shot and parts of the script and the assistant cameraman, who report how many shots have been shot in each sequence and how are these planes; Likewise, they must report how many shots have been taken of each shot, footage and duration.
Based on this information, the person in charge of assembling the image begins his work by choosing, ordering and uniting a selection of shots based on a certain idea and dynamic. Editing is one of the essential disciplines in making a film that also requires a great creative capacity.
The combination of the sequences, their ordering and mixing with the different auditory elements implies giving them a meaning that they do not have by themselves. The essential concept in the montage is emotion, since what the audience will remember is not the edition, but what they felt when they saw the work. The emotion is superior to any other category when making and assembling a piece.
Sound montage: the sound universe
Throughout the history of talkies, the sound department has become increasingly important. The richness of sound is today an essential aesthetic quality factor. In order for the sound to constitute a realistic accompaniment to the image, it is essential to reproduce in the soundtrack the mechanical process of our hearing, that is, to incorporate sounds with a specific meaning.
Groups of professionals involved in sound editing
Broadly speaking, there are three groups of professionals, although the same person may move from one role to another. The first group records what happens during filming, mainly dialogues, but also the available sounds (one or several boom operator & production recordist couples). The second group includes the editors (sound editors), in charge of making a list of sounds that need to be added, replaced or improved (spotting stage); then these sounds are searched for abroad or in a personal collection, before mounting them on the soundtrack.
After the spotting phase, there are at least four specializations within this group of editors: the special effects team (sound effects crew), the team that proceeds to post-synchronize the voice (ADR crew), the one that deals of the music (music crew) and, finally, the team of creators of sounds (Foley crew), which intervenes as late as possible.
The third group includes the mixers (sound mixers) who gather all sounds, including music, and mix them. This is the final stage of the set-up.
Tell stories through sound
Each film has a type of sound depending on whether it is more atmospheric or more narrative. The sound also narrates, so you can add sounds that are not in the image, a job very similar to that of a composer, since it is about producing something similar to music, but with sounds. Also, experimenting with new sounds is especially exciting and creative work that makes it possible to invent new worlds within the film.
In short, as in image editing, there is a technical part and a more artistic part in the work of the sound editor. Everything is part of a mechanism that serves to tell a story in relation to the image, the music and the dialogues.
VFX effects
Visual effects or VFX are all those processes by which an image is manipulated by adding or modifying certain elements. To make VFX you have to combine both technical and artistic skills. With the evolution of digital tools, the art of visual effects has been refined more and more and multiple specializations have been generated in the sector.
However, the creation of this type of effect supposes a great complexity and its development occurs in 3 phases. The pre-production stage includes intellectual, logistical and technical tasks whose objective is twofold: on the one hand, establishing the bases, dimension and structure of the project and, on the other, adequately planning the production phase to anticipate needs, tools and necessary materials. . In the pre-production phase, tasks such as:
- Script
- Storyboard
- Animatics
- production design
- Research&Development
In the production phase, in addition to taking the pre-produced elements and combining them based on a shooting plan, additional material must be produced that will be essential in the subsequent post-production phase. Tasks such as:
- On set reference
- HDRIs
- Color calibration reference
- Tracking
- Lens calibration chart
Finally, in the post-production phase, the material generated in the previous phases is taken and combined with other elements (from the library or synthesis) so that the vision of the project director is as clear as possible. This phase includes tasks such as:
- 3D
- camera tracking
- rotoscoping
- composing
- color correction
- editing
The shaped
In the forming process, the offline material is replaced by quality material, being key for an optimal completion of the procedure. Although it is a fairly automated process, it is not exempt from problems given the diversity of elements involved.
In this process it is necessary to take into account the events of the editing list: fades, chains, slowdowns, overprints.
There are different programs to do the shaping. One of them is Da Vinci Resolve.
It is recommended that, in addition to the original tapes or files, we have a low-resolution reference film to be able to check the conformation and make sure that everything is fine. Even when the movie has been shaped correctly, it is necessary to recreate effects, cross fades, speed changes, etc.
The forming process is complex and is of vital importance for color correction.
Regarding responsibilities, the editor must supervise the optical effects and titles that are going to be incorporated into the film, while the director and producer are in charge of approving the final conformation.
Color correction:
The term grading (color timing) has been used in the cinematographic tradition to refer to the final color correction. In video and TV the term color correction (color correction/color grading) has been more common. In the new digital composition systems, the convergence of post-production tools for digital cinema and video has been consolidated, which is why both terms are used interchangeably.
The function of the grader or colorist is to carry out color, brightness and contrast corrections, controlling the quality, colorimetry and luminosity of the image to match the planes of the different sequences. This task is usually addressed at the end of the production process of an audiovisual piece, although, in some cases, the colorist participates in previous stages to make corrections on the recording set or to act on the raw material, especially in complex recordings for effects. visuals.
During the filming, work began on the color, taking into account the subsequent work in post-production. Therefore, teamwork is always the key to achieving the artistic objectives of a project.
Although the colorist may intervene earlier, it is in the post-production stage when he acquires his greatest role, putting his talent at the service of the technical and artistic instructions that he will receive from the director of the film and the director of photography. . The choice of color is never arbitrary, but there is a very deep reflection in the background.
The six tasks of the colorist
According to the film director Alexis VanHurkman, the colorist or grader has six main tasks:
- Correct color and exposure errors.
- Making the center of interest of the image look good.
- Match the different planes of a scene.
- Create a visual style.
- Create depth.
- Adjust the signal to quality standards.
Programs most used in post-production
In editing, the two most implemented software are Avid and Premiere. To get started with visual effects and learn how to animate 2D graphics, the most prominent tool is After Effects, while Protools is usually used for editing and sound post-production.
In the field of compositing and VFX, the two most widely used tools in post-production studios internationally are Nuke and Flame. Likewise, Houdini, the 3D design program, complements perfectly with both composition software for the simulation with particles of all kinds of effects and natural phenomena: water, smoke, fire, explosions, fabrics, fog, snow, destructions , architectures, textures, etc.
Therefore, the management and knowledge of these three tools used in the most prestigious post-production studios (Pixar, Disney, ILM, Lucas Films, Weta, etc.) provide an international professional perspective at the highest level.
In color correction, the two essential software tools are DaVinci and Mistika, which allow a conceptual approach to color psychology and visual trends in image treatment.
In the programs of the Animation & Postproduction Area of the University School of Arts TAI You will be able to know and learn to manage all these programs to obtain a technical qualification at the highest level while developing an artistic profile in a multidisciplinary creative environment. Find out about our masters and our post-production coordination bootcamp that will allow you to stand out in the sector, preparing you for all the challenges of the labor market.
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