AlphaDogs Post Sheds New Light On Gang Culture

Using color as a storytelling tool makes a good story more interesting
visually and helps to convey the emotion of the film.

Burbank, CA—Gangs of one type or another have been around for hundreds of years.  While most of us conjure up images of guns and violence, there is often a human element to gang culture not expected in this kind of lifestyle. In the feature-length documentary Homeboy, Director Dino Dinco takes another perspective on the topic by examining the lives of gay Latino men who are ex-gang members and the transformation these men have undergone from membership within a gang.  Exclusive interviews with former gang members from around the Los Angeles area give first hand accounts of what it was like coming to terms with their sexuality, inclusive of the stereotypes of being both gay and Latino in a world that is hyper-masculine and largely heterosexual.

Homeboy is the first documentary of its kind to explore such a culturally taboo topic. “AlphaDogs worked with me in giving guidance on creating a project that I'm quite proud of,” said Dinco. “Everyone at the facility is very personable and professional.  The project was my first independent documentary film.”  Dinco continues,  “I’m truly grateful to AlphaDogs for being so generous with their time and knowledge, and in treating my project the same as they would a big budget film. They have definitely won my loyalty as a client.”

In a workflow that isn’t used much anymore, color correction for the film was completed in Final Cut Pro 7 using the 3-way color corrector filter. Having extensive years of experience in color grading and a technical understanding of which software is the best fit for each project, colorist Sean Stack created a specific look and tone in the interviews with ex-gang members.  “I'm not shy about using the built-in color correction tools Final Cut Pro 7 has to offer if they are doing what I need them to do”, said Stack. Even though it’s no longer a shipping product, the client edited in Final Cut Pro 7 with the material being in good shape from the beginning. Those two facts combined with a limited budget led to the decision to stay in Final Cut for the color correction.

Beyond having a good tool set to work with, the talent the colorist brings to a project as an artist is an important key factor in post-production. Impressed with how much the interviews revealed about the personal accounts of what it was like being gay in a Latino gang, Stack was able to convey the emotion in the interviews by enriching skin tones of the subjects and in highlighting body tattoos that were a key part of the story.  Stack explains “Color grading adds to the storytelling by directing a viewers eyes to notice subtle differences between warm and cool shadows, or in making the red pop out of a tattoo making a good story more interesting visually.”

AlphaDogs also made enhancements to audio in the film by using Waves and Cedar DNS One plug-ins.  Audio plugs-ins makes it possible to isolate specific tracks of audio and remove any background sounds that can take away from the dialogue in the story.

Homeboy was Directed and Produced by Dino Dinco.  The film made its US premiere at a sold out screening during Outfest 2012 in Los Angeles. Designers Against AIDS/DAA also presented the European premiere at Cine Zuid in Antwerp, Belgium. For more information visit www.homeboyfilms.com
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About AlphaDogs: Founded in 2002 by acclaimed editor and colorist Terence Curren, AlphaDogs is an independently owned post-production facility located in the center of Burbank's Media District. AlphaDogs' skilled team brings a dynamic combination of creative talent and technical expertise to clients' projects. Paying extra attention to detail, AlphaDogs prides itself on delivering the quality of a large post-production facility with the personal attention of a small boutique. State-of-the-art editing bays, color correction, audio mixing, motion graphics, visual effects, production offices and equipment rentals are available. Since 2003, AlphaDogs has been giving back to the post-production community through its Editors' Lounge series of discussion panels and product demonstrations. To learn more, visit www.alphadogs.tv and www.editorslounge.com

AlphaDogs Brings Out The Color In "Songs From The Farm"

Burbank, CA—The sudden loss of a family member or loved one may be one of the most difficult and painful experiences that will occur at some point in your life. How grief is handled is a very personal choice with family traditions and culture playing a big role. While there is no right or wrong way in dealing with these types of painful emotions, sometimes they are dealt with in ways that don’t always make sense to everyone else.  In the documentary Songs From The Farm, Director and Producer Alice Ho, examines the lives of a rural fur farmer and his wife living in Shandong, China as they struggle to cope with life after their son’s suicide, each managing grief in very different ways.

Director, Alice Ho had just moved to Los Angeles after living in Singapore four years and was uncertain where to begin when choosing a post facility to complete the finish on her film. Ho began e-mailing and calling several post-production companies when she found AlphaDogs. “I felt very comfortable when expressing my specific concerns about the film, said Ho. “Not only is the staff friendly and accommodating, but they also made sure I was happy with the end result.”

Songs From The Farm was shot on location in rural China thus creating very distinct challenges when finishing the film during post-production. AlphaDog’s colorist Sean Stack, was in charge of trouble shooting and fixing specific problems during the color correction process. Stack’s technical expertise combined with his creative skills and years of experience as a colorist allowed him to correct colors that were over saturated and mismatched shots that were causing the color to be out of balance due to shooting entirely on location in an uncontrolled environment with regard to lighting.

The biggest challenge Stack faced during color grading were the interior scenes where the only lighting was the dim illumination of a flashlight.  When color grading it’s important that the colorist stay within the context of the film or it can have a negative impact on the storytelling.  Alice Ho explains “During production there were consecutive days where we did not have any electricity, as we were shooting on a mink farm in rural China. I specifically remember one evening where the characters of my film shared an intimate scene together where Uncle Wong was making fun of his wife’s singing skills.  Ho continues “The DP and I quickly grabbed our cameras to capture the moment and wasn’t sure if the scene would even work because the only source of light in the room besides one LED off camera was from Uncle Wong’s flashlight. I knew this scene would need professional color grading to help me bring out the details in such a dimly lit environment without making the screen too noisy or taking away from the emotion in the scene.” 

The film was edited in Final Cut Pro 7 with Stack using Apple color to brighten scenes while still maintaining the effect of low lighting, as to not take away from the sentiment of the story. Apple’s color grading application provided ample control of the images allowing detail to be revealed in some of the darker scenes. Using this application along with use of power windows and matte selection allowed Stack to add just enough brightness in areas without increasing the grain, therefore keeping the quality of the picture. Scenes where the camera iris adjusts automatically making a scene lighter or darker were also minimized to the point of being unnoticeable to the audience. Stack comments, “I loved the general look of the film that already had some really nice saturated reds, particularly in the beginning where there is a nice copper-like tone. I worked on maintaining that unique look throughout the film during the color-correction process. My goal was to highlight the story told by the filmmaker Alice Ho, leaving the audience with as much of an emotional impact as possible.

Songs From The Farm has won the NYU Tisch School of the Arts Asia Achievement In Documentary Award and the Alan Landsburg Documentary Production Award.

For more information visit www.ahofilms.com
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About Alpha Dogs:  Founded in 2002, AlphaDogs is an independently owned full service post-production facility located in the center of Burbank’s media district.  AlphaDogs gifted team brings a combination of both creative talent and technical expertise paying extra attention to detail in delivering projects with a personal touch. State of the art editing bays, color correction, audio mixing, visual effects, production offices and equipment rentals are available. To learn more, visit www.alphadogs.tv