Post problems? Don’t blame technology – FCPWORKS on workflow

An excerpt from on a Red Shark post written by a cinematographer:

The shenanigans we are seeing now, the re-framing and re-cropping of our work by less talented others, will only become more upsetting and egregious as the pixel counts rise higher. Alas, giving producers, editors and indecisive directors so much resolution invites foul play.  And that is exactly what many of us are experiencing now.

My first reaction to this was “now DPs will truly understand how screenwriters feel,” but Sam Mestman of FCPWORKS is more constructive:

On the one hand, I can totally understand where he’s coming from, and he’s totally right. I’ve seen quite a few projects butchered in color correction, and I imagine it must be very difficult to go out and put your heart and soul into shooting/lighting something only to have it completely reworked in a way that’s entirely not what was imagined… and then be credited as if that was how you wanted it. That sucks.

However, this is not the fault of the resolution, RAW, or improvements in technology. The fault lies with the way that departments work together, and it’s my biggest pet peeve in the entire industry.

No one talks to each other.

Sam then goes onto to explain how the many little descisions made by different departments go towards increasing the cost of post production.

An article that’s well worth reading, and saving for when you need to explain the advantage of hiring someone who will take responsibility for the whole workflow.