EDITOR'S NOTE
Keeping Up with Future Tech
by Tomm Carroll
 Tomm Carroll |
Technology marches on. And at such a relentless, quickening pace that the future is soon the past. It seems that every time we turn around––or publish another issue of Editors Guild Magazine––there’s literally another new technical innovation affecting post-production to write about. This year alone we’ve looked at new developments in sound editing automation software in our JAN-FEB edition, the groundbreaking “nonlinear production” technique that blurred the line between post and production in Polar Express in MAR-APR, and the 4:4:4 high-definition filmmaking breakthrough of Frank Miller’s Sin City in MAY-JUN.
This issue, alas, is no different. Our cover story considers another technological landmark in Tim Burton’s Corpse Bride. The iconoclastic director’s forthcoming film represents a number of unprecedented industry milestones; not only is it the first feature-length stop-motion animation edited with Final Cut Pro (FCP), but it’s the only professional feature film shot entirely with commercially available digital SLR still photography cameras. From his editing suite in London, editor Jonathan Lucas lifts the veil on Corpse Bride’s post-production process and explains to writer Robin Rowe just how he dealt with Burton’s still imagery, or “wedding photos” if you will.
Speaking of Final Cut Pro, Apple’s shiny new production suite known as Final Cut Studio is finally available and highly anticipated by FCP aficionados––many of who attended the Guild’s FCP User Group meeting in Hollywood in May, which offered a first look at the software. Writer Michael Kunkes unpacks this “production studio in a box” and reports on his findings, as well as the reactions of a couple of FCP users.
It was at April’s NAB 2005, of course, that Apple formally introduced Final Cut Studio. The mega-trade show, held annually in Las Vegas, firmly established a high ground for high-definition products this year, reports techno-aware writer, Guild member and one of this publication’s advisors, Patrick Gregston. Closer to home, Gregston also checks in with his impressions of the Digital Hollywood Entertain-ment and Technology Conference, held in Santa Monica, California this spring.
Continuing with the technology theme, Guild member Rainer Standke test-drives the latest version of Discreet Smoke, the high-end finishing tool from Autodesk Media and Entertainment, and offers his professional assessment of the system in Tech Tips. The article is a prelude to a training seminar that Autodesk/Discreet is conducting on Smoke at the Guild’s West Coast offices in August (see article for details), and marks the first of a “synergistic” series of technical stories in this publication that will either preview or review training seminars scheduled at the Editors Guild.
This issue is not solely devoted to new technology, however. In fact, in this era of digital equipment, picture editor James E. Blakeley still uses––and prefers––working on a Moviola. While most people have long retired by his age (95), Blakeley, ACE, the most senior member of the Guild who is still working, continues to edit films every day at 20th Century Fox––with his longtime assistant, 79-year-old Rudolpho Freeman. Writer Sharon Benoit visits with this “old school” editing team.
And finally, after I’ve been asking for reader comments for several issues now, you finally responded! The results (and their replies) can be found in our inaugural letters column, “Dear Editor.” Until next time, when we’ll take a look at the challenges facing editors who work with independent (and independent-minded) directors, keep reading (and commenting).