More Work/More Skills/Less Money?
I’m starting to wonder whether we aren’t in the middle of another big technical revolution, this time not driven so much by post, but by production and distribution. Our switch to digital is a done deal, but theirs is just getting started, moving us to a pure digital workflow all the way from camera to theater, DVD and Internet. That means another big learning curve for us, another pig in the python that we have to digest.
Post Magazine does its year-end wrap up in their December issue. Some of the points mentioned include:
- More and more people are working with their own gear.
- Editors are doing more compositing, titling and color correction.
- We’re seeing more HD materials in the cutting room.
- We’re seeing more disk-based formats, with no film or tape anywhere.
- Production is shooting more and circling takes less.
- Editors are being asked to take responsibility for archiving and versioning.
- It’s soon going to be possible to edit at 2K resolution.
Some of this won’t seem particularly surprising to folks in the independent world, but for feature and TV editors in Hollywood it represents a sea change. More than ever before, we’re being forced to become generalists. It’s almost as if the jobs of editor and assistant and post supervisor are starting to merge, at least at the edges, and frankly, though the article doesn’t mention it, it looks like this is happening along with increased downward pressure on wages.
I do a new show every nine months or so and lately it seems like each one embodies an entirely new workflow. The pace of change is accelerating. I hope we can all embrace it and use the new tools to enhance the things we love about our craft, because it looks like there’s no stopping this thing and it sure doesn’t seem like it’s going to slow down any time soon.
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