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Is there anything that cannot be fixed in post?

H

harmonica44

I am editing my first short film with real actors, but have not done any post work yet. I got the Adobe CS5 and am learning it. There is a lot to learn and how to use it but I would like to reshoot what I have to now, with the actors and locations still available. The locations looking very much the same and the actors looking very much the same. I don't know if I have to reshoot anything cause I don't know what's not fixable.

For example, I found out that if the lighting is darker in some takes, then in others, within the same scene, I can just use AE to change the colors, thereby making all the takes in a scene look like they are lit the same. Or if some of the sound is too quiet I can use the audio programs to bring it up louder. Or if a take isn't as in focus I can use AE to make it more. But is there anything that I can't fix, so I know that it needs reshooting or rerecording now? For example some of my sound is a little hissy and muffled. Can I clear it up? Or anything else that's good to know that cannot be redone? I've looked it up but couldn't find many websites that went into such specifics. I know it's a dumb too general of a question, but my actors need to know and I really don't know what to tell them since I have a lot to learn yet about the progams. Thanks.
 
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Clipped audio, clipped whites and echo cannot be fixed. Everything else (in varying degrees of success) can be "tweaked"... EDIT IT! Post it, then ask advice on specifics with examples to post. Done is better than right.
 
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Alcove Audio said:
Bad acting, poor script, lame story, lousy direction.
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Alcove stole my answer....


Is there anything that cannot be fixed in post?
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If anything is OVEREXPOSED, meaning too bright - then you can't get an image from nothing. If it's blown out, there is no image to recover, whereas too dark means there's sometimes something there, just hard to see.

Overblown audio - if something is recorded too loudly, it's too distorted (in most cases) to recover. Audio being recorded too low can sometimes (please stress the word SOMETIMES) can be brought back up.
 
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Okay thanks I fear some of my audio may have been recorded too loud. Not too loud that it's a lot distorted but is a little perhaps. Especially with one actors voice that I think was just naturally louder than the others. Can I tweak it if it's a little? What are clipped whites? I googled it but couldn't see any matches.
 
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clipped whites are bright areas of the image that are overexposed (> 100% exposure... 110% = 100%, 115% = 100% , the detail is lost, cannot be recovered... audio is recorded the same way, so anything greater than 100% = 100%).
 
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Focus is seriously difficult to fix. Cutting to the exterior of the building while the dialog is running is better than an unfocused shot.

Bad acting is a serious contender, but if you've a lot of wide shots, cutaways and reaction shots, you might be able to cut around it, maybe. Killing the character can help if you can fix the holes with something.

Lame story could be fixed with additional footage, the killing off of characters, etc.

Audio can be fixed with ADR and other time consuming post work. If its a small section, have a jet fly over or a bus drive by if you can't get the original actors.

Bad direction could be improved on by giving the footage to a new editor to see if something else can be created from the footage. Maybe there's an avant garde film in there.

Blown whites could be fixed by giving that scene a surreal effect or crop out the blown out section, or perhaps superimpose something else in the white area. Yes, it'll be a test of the editor's skill, but hey, that's what they do.

Anything else? :)
 
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But we all know he's shot it already and is looking to extend production time by sticking on details on a freshman endeavor rather than accepting the faults of this project and moving forward. This will not be H44's Godfather or StarWars... it'll be the first piece that can be included on the BTS of the bluray when the 20th movie hits it huge and there's a need to show the humble beginnings... move forward, edit the best you've got together, and submit it for critique here... then suggestions that aren't random guesses at answers will come out and you can get real feedback... if you've shot, move forward.
 
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indietalk said:
This is a bad habit to get into, you should act as if nothing can be fixed in post so you get it right on set. If you don't for whatever reason, then try to fix.
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I hinted at this is the ADR thread:

Alcove Audio said:
There's too much reliance on "fix it in post" these days. Before digital, special effects had to be done on-set. Color matching was thought all the way through by the DP before a frame was shot. Up until the mid '60's the Production Sound Mixer had the same status as the DP. The only excuse for poor production sound was the fault of the director and/or producer for choosing a noisy location.
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"Fix it in post" is a joke. It's what you say when you give up.

If you're experienced, and more importantly, if the people you're working with are experienced, there is plenty that can be fixed in post. And when I say "experienced", I'm not even talking about people like me, I'm talking about seasoned professionals. If you don't fall into that category, there is almost nothing that you can fix in post.
 
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everything in its proper order.

You have footage. CONGRATULATIONS! Pre and production are over. Work with what you have. Learn from the mistakes.

Now, edit your movie, don't worry about the LOOK or fixing the shots. Just EDIT the footage in premier, putting the shots into scenes and the scenes into order. Bad sound, no effects, mismatched exposures are just SOME of the problems that should still be there at this stage.
This is where you learn about and use "J cut","cut on action", "cutaways" etc.

Once all your shots are edited together, you have whats called a "locked edit"

Once you have your locked edit, and you've started to see PAST the technical errors, you can address the SHOTS themselves, but since the edit is done you only work on the shots that matter, no time wasted in fixing a shot that doesn't get into the edit!
 
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That's true, I am going to only work on the shots I know for sure will be in the locked edit. There is at least one shot that is a little out of focus, but I seemed to have fixed that with after effects, at least it looks sharper.

If I had known that sound can be made louder in post without hissing I would have recorded on set differently I think. I recorded with my levels set at 12-6. But that causes a little hissing, as oppose to 24-12. But perhaps recording at 24-12 is better cause it's less hissing, and can be made louder in post?

One error I screwed up on was continuity. This character is suppose to be in a doorway, with his head turned forward, as if he is about to walk out. Then he turns back. I had to shoot this at two different locations. One from one side of the door, and the room on the other side, for the shots that take place in that room. A hallway at a different location from the room, and cut it so it looks like they are attached. But what I did without realizing in a hurried shooting day, was that the door is on the wrong side! So it may very well be noticeable when a guy pushes a door open, then it cuts to a take of him coming away from it, and it's on the other side, as if he had just pulled it, instead of pushed.

I don't suppose there are any features in After Effects where I can remove a door and put on on the other side, without being very experienced in it, but if I can't fix it, I can't.
 
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harmonica44 said:
I don't suppose there are any features in After Effects where I can remove a door and put on on the other side, without being very experienced in it, but if I can't fix it, I can't.
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This is one of those "fixable, but not easy for an amateur" type of situations. You need a still frame of the door in its proper position for the bad shot (and in the correct kind of lighting). You need to cut out the door (via a matte or splines) and put it over the top of the original video track. Then you need to take a copy of the video shot, place it on top of the two existing tracks, and rotoscope your actor for just the frames where he crosses in front of the door.

So looking from the top down, your layers are:

  1. Rotoscope of actor for frames where he's in front of the door.
  2. Still image of door in correct position (make sure this fully covers the wrong-position-door from the original video)
  3. Original video

If your camera is moving then you'll need to do a 2D camera track and apply it to the middle layer (door). If you can't hide the wrong-position-door with the right-position-door, you'll need to use a still of not just the door, but the entire doorway opening as well. This will probably require more extensive rotoscoping of your actor in the top layer.
 
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Well this doorway shot is one of my favorite shots of the movie for the acting mainly, so I would like to rotoscope as much as I can. I already had that in mind, just not sure how to do it. Thanks, I will try that.

What about the sound thing, should I record in 24-12 instead?
 
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