20 CREATION
June 2018
Avid Media Composer brings beloved bear back into audiences ’ hearts
After tackling Paddington ’ s first , and hugely successful cinema debut in 2014 , BAFTA award-winning director , Paul King , lead animator , Pablo Grillo , and editor , Mark Everson , returned to help bring the beloved bear back for a live action / CGI-animated sequel .
For the past two decades , London-based editor Everson has embraced the Avid Media Composer video editing software . Powered by Avid MediaCentral , the software has helped Everson cut some of the most memorable British comedies — from The Mighty Boosh to the nation ’ s favourite local DJ , Alan Partridge .
One of the challenges the CGI bear brought to the first film , Everson revealed , included visualeffects demands . “ We learnt an incredible amount from working on the first film ,” he added . “ One main lesson we put into action this time round was to get a VFX editor involved much earlier in the editing process . Both Paddington movies have been really hard work , and until Paddington Bear really starts to exist , you ’ re faced with a lot of question marks over what he ’ s doing minute to minute .”
The Paddington 2 editing process began like many others , by
In 2016 , ARRI launched the International Support Programme ( ISP ), a new funding programme for up-and-coming filmmakers all over the world .
Wildling , a 2018 fantasy / horror movie , is the first project to benefit from the ISP ’ s package of postproduction and co-production services .
Fritz Boehm ’ s feature film debut was shot by director of photography ( DoP ) Toby Oliver ACS in New York with the ARRI cameras Alexa Mini and Amira , and edited
Having used Avid Media Composer for the past 20 years , Mark Everson ’ s choice to edit Paddington 2 was never going to be in doubt .
Media Composer provided the flexibility the team needed — moving from a 2D floating guide bear to a fully animated bear completely changed the sequence and led to more re-cutting .
assembling the rushes on location . Although there was one key difference : the lead character was invisible and someone off-camera read out his lines .
From there , Henry Kemplen , the VFX editor , populated the shot with an unrealistic 2D bear that drifted around not moving his mouth . He worked alongside VFX supervisor , Robin Saxon , who estimated the cost and how many bear shots a scene would contain even before the scene was shot .
Media Composer provided the flexibility the team needed — moving from a 2D floating guide bear to a fully animated bear completely changed the sequence and led to more re-cutting . Constant animation development required scenes to be edited at various stages over the course of months and critically , editing is all about finding the right rhythm , Everson highlighted .
“ When you go to a VFX review with Pablo , you ’ ll still be commenting on the shape of the performance ,” he explained . “ Unlike most films , editorially you have more opportunities to give your suggestions on jokes and lines , which might make it into the endproduct .”
Everson is no stranger to Media Composer , first using the industryleading software in his role as an assistant editor in 1998 . Having relied on it for the first Paddington film , he knew it was the only option for the sequel .
“ The timeline on a Paddington movie is colossal and Media Composer handled that with ease . With over 20 layers of audio , and a similar amount of video , it ’ s easy to take for granted how complicated that can be . Avid not only supported the entire operation , but
Wildling first feature film birthed under ARRI initiative
at ARRI Media in Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos , among others .
Having previously specialised in directing short films , Boehm found that working on a feature was not that different , despite some constraints . “ We only had 23 days to shoot Wildling — not much time , especially as there were scenes with child actors , animals and on the water ,” he explained . “ Intensive prosthetic makeup was also necessary .”
Another challenge , Boehm shared , was Wildling was set in a forested area with many nature scenes , but was in reality shot in New York for financial reasons . “ We had a 23-mile radius around Columbus Circle , Manhattan . A large part of it is water , another belongs to New Jersey . And with the few nature areas in the background , we often saw skyscrapers and power lines , which we re-touched from many scenes ,” he added .
As to the ARRI cameras , they came highly recommended by DoP Oliver , a decision now endorsed by Boehm . He said : “ Due to our tight schedule , we wanted to work with a very agile system that was as small as possible . The Alexa Mini was
Director Fritz Boehm ( left ) and DoP Toby Olivier shot Wildling with the ARRI Alexa Mini and Amira cameras .
relatively new at that time , [ and ] we mostly worked with a set of Super Baltars Vintage lenses from Bausch & Lomb , which are very small and light .”
On-set , the Alexa Mini served
Because of the support of ARRI ’ S ISP , director Fritz Boehm and his team were also able to carry out post production “ at the highest level ”, including with Dolby Atmos and Dolby Vision .
as the A-camera and the Amira as the B-camera because it uses the same image sensor and was an inexpensive package .
Boehm continued : “ While the A-Team shot a scene with the Alexa enabled us to have playback in a high resolution .”
Everson also highlighted how Media Composer provided him with “ incredibly fast , high-performing editorial workflows that included impressive performance in full-screen playback mode ”.
The Media Composer streamlined interface also brought greater efficiency to the task of organising the huge amount of media , freeing up Everson to tell the Paddington story with director King . “ As a director , Paul is really technically aware . He knows what Media Composer can do , which allows us to discuss using even the most miniscule of effects . Every sequence had months of work on it , and Media Composer allowed us to get the continuity as precise as possible ,” Everson concluded .
Mini , the B-Team prepared the next set-up with the Amira . This allowed us to move quickly from one set-up to the next , without long conversion times . In selected scenes , we also shot with the Amira at the same time .”
With the support of ARRI ’ S ISP , Boehm and his team were also able to carry out post production “ at the highest level ”, including with Dolby Atmos and Dolby Vision . The latter , he explained , was like a frosting on the whole project . “ Especially in a film like Wildling — with a lot of darkness , shadows , deep blacks and high contrasts — Dolby Vision brings you very close to a dreamlike cinema experience .”
Where Dolby Atmos was concerned , it created an “ incredibly real and immersive sound environment ”, Boehm described . “ In the first scene , for example , where we are in an attic and Brad Dourif ’ s character tells a story while a thunder storm is approaching outside .
“ For this , we processed about 100 individual rain and dripping noise , which are only fully effective in Dolby Atmos . It feels threedimensional , as if you were really on site — very impressive !”
20
CREATION
June 2018
Avid Media Composer brings beloved
bear back into audiences’ hearts
After tackling Paddington’s first,
and hugely successful cinema de-
but in 2014, BAFTA award-winning
director, Paul King, lead animator,
Pablo Grillo, and editor, Mark
Everson, returned to help bring the
beloved bear back for a live action/
CGI-animated sequel.
For the past two decades,
London-based editor Everson
has embraced the Avid Media
Composer video editing software.
Powered by Avid MediaCentral, the
software has helped Everson cut
some of the most memorable Brit-
ish comedies — from The Mighty
Boosh to the nation’s favourite local
DJ, Alan Partridge.
One of the challenges the
CGI bear brought to the first film,
Everson revealed, included visual-
effects demands. “We learnt an
incredible amount from working
on the first film,” he added. “One
main lesson we put into action this
time round was to get a VFX editor
involved much earlier in the editing
process. Both Paddington movies
have been really hard work, and
until Paddington Bear really starts
to exist, you’re faced with a lot of
question marks over what he’s do-
ing minute to minute.”
The Paddington 2 editing pro-
cess began like many others, by
Having used Avid Media Composer for the past 20 years, Mark Everson’s choice to
edit Paddington 2 was never going to be in doubt.
Media Composer
provided the
flexibility the team
needed — moving
from a 2D floating
guide bear to a
fully animated bear
completely changed
the sequence and led
to more re-cutting.
assembling the rushes on loca-
tion. Although there was one key
difference: the lead character was
invisible and someone off-camera
read out his lines.
From there, Henry Kemplen,
the VFX editor, populated the
shot with an unrealistic 2D bear
that drifted around not moving
his mouth. He worked alongside
VFX supervisor, Robin Saxon, who
estimated the cost and how many
bear shots a scene would contain
even before the scene was shot.
Media Composer provided the
flexibility the team needed — mov-
ing from a 2D floating guide bear
to a fully animated bear completely
changed the sequence and led to
more re-cutting. Constant anima-
tion development required scenes
to be edited at various stages over
the course of months and critically,
editing is all about finding the right
rhythm, Everson highlighted.
“When you go to a VFX review
with Pablo, you’ll still be com-
menting on the shape of the per-
formance,” he explained. “Unlike
most films, editorially you have
more opportunities to give your
suggestions on jokes and lines,
which might make it into the end-
product.”
Everson is no stranger to Media
Composer, first using the industry-
leading software in his role as an
assistant editor in 1998. Having
relied on it for the first Paddington
film, he knew it was the only option
for the sequel.
“The timeline on a Padding-
ton movie is colossal and Media
Composer handled that with ease.
With over 20 layers of audio, and a
similar amount of video, it’s easy to
take for granted how complicated
that can be. Avid not only sup-
ported the entire operation, but
enabled us to have playback in a
high resolution.”
Everson also highlighted how
Media Composer provided him
with “incredibly fast, high-per-
forming editorial workflows that
included impressive performance
in full-screen playback mode”.
The Media Composer stream-
lined interface also brought greater
efficiency to the task of organising
the huge amount of media, freeing
up Everson to tell the Paddington
story with director King. “As a direc-
tor, Paul is really technically aware.
He knows what Media Composer
can do, which allows us to discuss
using even the most miniscule
of effects. Every sequence had
months of work on it, and Media
Composer allowed us to get the
continuity as precise as possible,”
Everson concluded.
Wildling first feature film birthed under ARRI initiative
In 2016, ARRI launched the In-
ternational Support Programme
(ISP), a new funding programme
for up-and-coming filmmakers all
over the world.
Wildling, a 2018 fantasy/horror
movie, is the first project to benefit
from the ISP’s package of post-
production and co-production
services.
Fritz Boehm’s feature film de-
but was shot by director of photo-
graphy (DoP) Toby Oliver ACS in
New York with the ARRI cameras
Alexa Mini and Amira, and edited
at ARRI Media in Dolby Vision and
Dolby Atmos, among others.
Having previously specialised
in directing short films, Boehm
found that working on a feature
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