I am about to shoot a feature on a 5d (24p, technicolor download) and need to explore the ramifications if any when it comes to passing a QC. We will be doing an off line edit then conforming in 4.4.4. to achieve the highest quality. This will be projected in theaters (digital cinema pack). Budget is very tight.
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editing QC with a 5d feature
- Thread starter Stray1
- Start date
Not sure what you're asking, but your source is 4:2:0, so making it it 4:2:2 or 4:4:4 after the fact won't give you color bits you didn't capture in the source files.
That being said a really well done color correction by someone who really knows what they are doing will go a long way, but it's generally not cheap.
That being said a really well done color correction by someone who really knows what they are doing will go a long way, but it's generally not cheap.
You are more likely to have QC problems with your audio than with your images. Where is your audio post being done? Is it calibrated to theatrical standards (-20dBFS = 85dBSPLC = 0VU)? ETC?
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My advice, become friends, partners with a sound guy. That or scrape up the money to hire one. It's so so critical to the end product and way harder than it may look.
Well, it's down to the audio post but what is possible in audio post as far as the dialogue is concerned, is defined by the quality of what was recorded on set. Unless you have an experienced Production Sound Mixer with a good quality recorder and good quality lavs and booms, the chances of having to ADR the dialogue increases dramatically and of course ADR will sound completely wooden compared to the original performance.
This raises several questions and options regarding audio, which all filmmakers need to know if they ever want to have their films screened in a cinema. I'll explain some history and basics, so you understand the situation.
For the last 30+ years, the sound on 35mm film has effectively been a monopoly controlled by Dolby Labs. Only Dolby certified dubbing facilities are allowed to create the required print-master. The cinemas themselves are all designed to Dolby specifications, use Dolby playback equipment and have to have a Dolby technician approve and calibrate the sound system, just as they are in a Dolby approved dubbing theatre. Dolby dubbing theatres are therefore pretty much the same size, have the same sound systems, acoustics and sound equipment settings as a real cinema, so that what you hear in the dubbing theatre should be pretty much identical to what it will sound like in a cinema. QC is guaranteed by only allowing highly experienced re-recording mixers to be in charge of a final mix and by having a Dolby technician to check and re-calibrate all the equipment before every new film mix is started. This system of QC has worked well for decades and continues to work well but has one big drawback: To create a Dolby approved dubbing theatre, with all the specified equipment and acoustics is incredibly expensive, a good Dolby dubbing theatre costs roughly $3k - $5k per day and usually require about 1 day per reel (18-20mins of film).
For the low budget filmmaker the only option was a stereo mix (which didn't require Dolby) but stereo is very difficult to get to work well in a cinema because you might be sitting 30ft closer to one of main front speakers than the other, plus you can't use the Low Frequency Effects (LFE) channel. You can use a cheap audio post guy or even a music studio, which drastically reduces the cost but these studios don't have the right equipment, acoustics or experience which means that what you hear in the studio is likely to sound completely different when it gets to the cinema. As the price you pay for audio post decreases, so does the chance of getting an acceptable final mix which will work in a cinema (even though it might sound great in the studio). I'm not talking here about slight differences in balance or colour, I've heard mixes where you couldn't hear most of the dialogue or where the mix is so loud you can't bare to be in the cinema for more than a few minutes, not to mention all those little edits, changes in room tone, ambiances and SFX which were perfect sounding and completely inaudible in the studio but which suddenly become huge glaring errors on a great big cinema playback system! This situation is not uncommon because effectively you've bypassed the QC guaranteed by the Dolby theatre and this is why films are so often rejected by festivals. Digital cinema also theoretically eliminates the need for Dolby because there is no print-master, even for surround sound but again, the further you get away from using a Dolby dubbing theatre, the further away you get from the probability of an acceptable mix.
On a very low budget, you're really between a rock and a hard place. All you can do is find the best audio post you can for your budget but you have to realise from the outset that your chances of getting an acceptable mix is just down to luck and that it's never going to sound even vaguely the same quality as the films the audiences in that cinema are used to.
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