The Changing Face of Post-Production for Movie Makers

Photo courtesy Cirina Catania.

I mentioned yesterday that 300 hours of video are being uploaded to YouTube every minute. Though not all is being created new--some, like the George & Ringo video I shared, is previously created content from the television era--this is still an astounding quantity of video. What I share here will explain how this has become possible

In 1987-88, when I became the in-house ad agency for The Chromaline Corporation in Duluth, one of my first projects was to produce a training video for their decorative sandblasting product called SBX. For this I hired Parthe Film & Video Productions, a local videographer. (EdNote: Lance Parthe grew up in Hollywood and at age 17 was one of the four cameramen Steven Spielberg relied on to film his mega-hit Jaws.)

After all the footage was shot, I travelled to Minneapolis with Lance for final post-production at Northwest Teleproductions. I was told (warned) that however long this takes, we will stay till it's done.

Northwest Teleproductions was essentially a complex of editing rooms. My recollection is that the size of the room was roughly that of a high school classroom, though much more posh. A large glass window separated the equipment from the editing team and the client (me). The reason this equipment had been placed behind the glass was to keep all dust out, much like a clean room for imprinting circuit boards.

The system we worked on was a Tape-Based Linear System. What this meant was explained to me. It was essential that the client be present because all decisions were being made in a linear fashion and you couldn't change your mind afterwards. Should the logo be on a black background or a blue one? Should the logo be at the top of the screen or the bottom? Should the credits be at the beginning or the end?

Each decision was stitched together in a linear fashion, and whatever decisions were made were permanent. You could not cut and re-arrange anything after it had been laid down.

Every kind of tool imaginable is at our disposal now.

The piece of equipment in this editing/post-production room was valued at $4,000,000. That is four million. And facility seemed to have dozens of such rooms. I do not recall exact number, but in light of the costs it was a pretty high bar to get in the game.

The next phase in this game was a Non-Linear machine that gave a rough cut and gave you numbers. Off-Line editing followed, and then Online editing. Each iteration gave the production team more versatility and I remember when ten years later Lance acquired some new computerized technology that enabled him to do non-linear post-production with more power and versatility. This new Finishing Suite was only $100K.

In other words, the cost to produce a video dropped significantly. It was expensive in 1988 because the people who invested in those four million dollar production suites needed to charge enough money to pay for it and make a profit themselves.

When I called Lance to get my facts straight (memory is a funny animal) he told me that today you can download DaVinci Resolve 16 for free and accomplish more (and better) than that four million dollar dinosaur from the 80's. You only need a laptop now. (The full suite is $299.)

This is highly empowering, but is also a challenge because suddenly everyone thinks they are a cinematographer.

Just as print-on-demand publishing opened the doors to tens of thousand of writers, it has also resulted in a glut of books of uneven quality.

When Pagemaker and personal computers came out, everyone could suddenly become a designer and do page layouts, make signs and the like. A lot of bad design ensued. (EdNote: I am not dissing this empowerment.)

Just as there are rules of design, there are all kinds of matters that a professional cameraman and cinematographer has learned over a period of decades. For example, there are rules surrounding lighting, lenses, depth of field, messaging and how the brain interprets visual information. One doesn't instantly understand all this just because they know how to push the red button and record.

Last month, when Cirina Catania flew in to conduct a two-day master class in film making, each team produced a short film using only an iPhone and their editing tools. In other words, the barriers to entry have been practically eliminated.

The times have certainly been a-changing. Do you have a story to tell? The ball is in your court.

Related Link
Catalyst Content Festival

Innovation Institute: Empowering a Deserving but Underserved Community

They are people just like you and me. They have dreams. They strive to find meaning and make a difference. They're smart, industrious, experience joy and disappointments, and want to make a difference. I'm referring to people with disabilities, though the same could be said of many marginalized groups.

Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs

According to recent HUD statistics,  2.2 million people in the United States depend on a wheelchair for day-to-day tasks and mobility. 6.5 million people use a cane, a walker, or crutches to assist with their mobility.

The needs of handicapped people are greater than merely medical/physiological. They include empowerment to pursue intellectual and entrepreneurial quests. They also have social and romantic needs. Disabled persons experience the same internal drives that all people experience. According to Abraham Maslow this includes the need to feel safe, the desire for love and belonging, a sense of self-esteem and ultimately the fulfillment that comes from realizing/utilizing one's talents.

There are many institutions helping provide basic needs like food and shelter for this subset of our population. There are still too few committed to move people beyond the bottom rungs of human need. One of these that I've been following these past 15+ years, however,  has made it a mission to help disabled men and women dream bigger dreams while empowering them as well.

The mission of Innovation Institute is stated as follows: Empowering people--regardless of their disability--by including them in the process of creating practical assistive devices that increase mobility, self-esteem, and independence; providing opportunities for them to give back to the community; and engaging them in the service of others.

What's impressive is that they are actually doing it.

For years I have watched Harrold Andresen’s career. It was easy to do, since he’s my brother-in-law, having married my wife’s sister. In 1980, the four of us went to Mexico to work at an orphanage, a significant experience in all of our lives. Susie and I returned to the States in late fall 1981, Harrold and Nancy in 1982.

People donated broken pedal cars to the orphanage and Harrold would
turn them into a fleet of supercars. He was much loved by these kids.

Harrold has been an entrepreneurial  auto mechanic before going to Mexico. While South-o’-the-Border he was dedicated to mechanical tasks not only for the orphanage, but also for the vehicles of many missionaries who brought their cars and pickups to him.

When the Andresens left Mexico he set up shop in the Rio Grande Valley, where he continued to work on cars, but also continued to service missionaries’ vehicles. (On one occasion he serviced one of Prince Charles' vehicles.) Eventually the family moved to Duncanville, a suburb of Dallas, where he established his business, Mechanical Excellence. In addition to taking care of cars, Harrold was continuously inventing. He invented tools, he invented what he called the Cozy Heater, a product they sold to customers in nearly every state. He conceived a vehicle which combined the best engine with the best body, and built a number of them for customers. He also ran a rental car business and pursued other miscellaneous endeavors. But underneath it all was a desire to help handicapped people, especially the wheelchair bound.

Eventually Andresen began taking steps toward building what has come to be known as Innovation Institute. “The mission of the school is to get products into the hands of the disabled that they couldn’t get anywhere else or they couldn’t afford. Also, to give them some skills so they can earn some money for the first time in their lives.”

Andresen’s auto shop at one time had 20 bays for working on cars. Following his vision for the space three-fourths are now set apart for the school.

There were many hurdles to overcome, not the least of which has been learning about some of the special challenges the disabled must face with regards to finances. For example, if they make too much money (and we're not talking a lot) there is the danger of losing their Social Security benefits. It's a Catch-22.

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There's much more that can be said, but the best way to tell it is to show you some of the projects Harrold and his students have worked on over the years. It's quite remarkable.

Innovation Institute is located in Duncanville, Texas, a Southern suburb of Dallas. They say everything's big in Texas. What I've seen here are big hearts.

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Related Links
Innovation Institute Home Page
Facts about Americans with Disabilities (Pew Research)

Meantime life goes on. Be engaged.