Ep2 Post Production Update for Week Beginning Sunday February 15th, 2009

Hi friends. Yes we've been pretty quiet and busy this past two weeks. So now we move on to the next stage of post production (See list below) called the visual effects digital compositing and matte effects creation stage. There is an interesting mix of two sets of scenes which employ the opposite effects to each other. One set of effect shots requires the removal of image information to accomplish the desired illusion, while the other two shots require us to add visual information to arrive at the desired result. Two of the effects can be created and edited into the story right away, while the other two shots must wait until Spring, when I can shoot background live action plates which will correctly match the season in which the original scenes were shot. When it comes to effects photography, continuity is critical to making a shot look absolutely real.

One important point worth mentioning about visual effects -In my opinion, the addition of digitally composited visual effects into any live action dramatic movie exponentially increases the time and complexity of production. In many ways visual effects are best employed as sparingly as possible.

1. Perform rough assembly of entire movie (Rough Cut) : Task completed on 01/03/09.
2. Send RC out to series composer David S. Bart for preliminary scoring: Task completed on 01/04/09.
3. Perform Semi-Fine Cut of Picture elements. (Finess unsmoothe cuts and audio glitches): Task completed on 01/10/09
4. Audition versions of musical score on the timeline: Task completed with viable Pre-Mix on February 15th, 2009(Final Version Deliverable upon Picture lock)
5. Visual effects creation and compositing (LONG PROCESS !):Task begun on February 15th, 2009
6. Organize & Shoot Series Theme Opening with Nancy McIntyre and singers and dancers.
7. Shoot all the missing timelapse connector scenes. (Several)
8. Picture Lock (No more scenes will be added or deleted at this stage):
9. Picture Image & Density Correction & Color Correction:
10. Sound Editing Process (Sound Effects, Filters, Noise Reduction):
11. Master Audio Final Mix.
12. Export & Author Master SD & HD Blu-Ray DVD Versions.
13. Theatrical Premiere Night:

A Word About Timelapse: Several sequences in Episode 2 are timelapse sequences. I have been researching and testing different possible solutions to the the challenge of capturing these key shots which are essential to the telling of the story. Below is an example of my most recent test.