In an unprecedented post production collaboration, Company 3 recently conducted a unique transcontinental color grading session between its Santa Monica facility and Digital Garden, its Virtual Outpost location in Tokyo, for the new film Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen.
As Company 3 Founder/DI Colorist Stefan Sonnenfeld graded visual effects shots and other media in a DI Theatre in Santa Monica, Michael Bay, the film’s director who was in Japan for the film’s world premiere, was able to monitor the color grading work without any delay or color difference on a calibrated, high-resolution monitor — and give feedback to Sonnenfeld via a video conferencing system.
“We’ve consistently taken the lead in developing new creative, technical and logistical options to better serve our clients,” said Sonnenfeld. “The filmmakers we work with have incredibly busy schedules and we’re committed to helping them accomplish their work in the most efficient and convenient way possible.”
Although Company 3 frequently employs its proprietary remote collaboration technology for post production services on commercials, this marked the first time this technology was leveraged in Japan for a major feature film project with remote monitoring at 2K resolution. During the 90-minute session, Sonnenfeld graded more than a dozen visual effects shots which will be incorporated into the film for its U.S. release, as well as a series of television spots that premiered the following night during the national telecast of the NBA Finals.
“There was a lot riding on this remote session and Company 3 really came through — they knocked it out of the park,” said Mark Graziano, Senior Vice President of Post Production for DreamWorks, the producers of the film. “We got so much accomplished in a couple of hours — enough in one session for Michael Bay to sign off on launching domestic negatives that would service the bulk of the domestic release.”
“To watch Michael Bay in Japan and Stefan Sonnenfeld in L.A. work together through a high-end digital link was truly amazing,” added Andrew Williams, VP of Marketing for Paramount Pictures. “It was almost like the Pacific Ocean disappeared and they were sitting right next to one another working seamlessly on the last few shots of the film. A true step forward on the digital technology front and a real treat for the few of us that got to watch it happen.”
Digital Garden, the Tokyo facility receiving the remote color grading session, has collaborated with Company 3 on several commercial projects, but the monitoring requirements for a feature film are of a different order of magnitude and required special preparation. Several weeks prior to the session, Company 3 performed quality control sessions to assess the project’s feasibility. Company 3 Engineer Rick Girardi then traveled to Japan to fine tune the calibration of the high resolution monitor.
Despite the complexities of the technology, the session proceeded very much as it would have had Bay and Sonnenfeld been in the same room.
“Michael and I have worked on many projects together and have an excellent rapport,” Sonnenfeld said. “The technology not only made it possible for us to work without being in the same physical space, it did so without getting in the way of the creative process.”
[Source] PRNewsWire via Michael Bay
