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Burbank, CA- Zombie bigfoots have taken over AlphaDogs in the comedic/horror film Love In The Time Of Monsters. Directed by Matt Jackson., this outrageous tale of love follows two sisters as they travel to a cheesy tourist trap and battle toxic monsters dressed in bigfoot costumes to save the ones they love. While violent and scary at times, the premise of the story is about sacrifice, courage, and forgiveness. www.youtube.com/watch?v=PY4Nx8O39rU
When it came down to finding a post-production facility that could be trusted to deliver the vision the filmmakers had in mind, Post Supervisor Katrina Reiniers-Jackson looked no further than AlphaDogs. “I had a previous experience with AlphaDogs, and from that I trusted that they would do a great job with our movie,” said Reiners-Jackson.” An ample amount of preparation was given to the project before the post-process was started. AlphaDogs colorist Sean Stack who was in charge of color grading on the film comments, “Thanks to Katrina and Matt the project arrived well-organized and ready to start color grading.” Detailed documents with screen grabs were provided along with a description of the look the filmmakers wanted to achieve. This gave Stack the opportunity to get a head start on color grading some of the targeted setups before the color session with Director Jackson. “I really liked the fact that they had taken time to prepare for a color session in this way,” said Stack. “When we were ready to set the looks on the first day of color grading, the session went very smoothly and I was able to move forward quickly in grading the film in its’ entirety.”
Color played a vital role in telling the suspenseful, yet humorous story of zombie bigfoots traipsing through the dark woods of Northern California. The color choices used in a film are important for both the plot and subtext of the story. Skillful selection of color palettes were used in Love In The Time Of Monsters to set the mood with cooler darker tones creating a feeling of suspense and fear, and bright pink and yellow shades bringing out the comedic side of the story. Stack’s “eye for color” and proficiency with the most subtle details brought out the ambiances in the film with even the most difficult scenes. Stack comments, “The humorous and scary plot had several scenes that were shot in a forest in the evening, so footage was dark to begin with. My challenge with these scenes was to lift the dark areas up so the detail could be seen, yet avoid making the footage grainy as a result of pushing the shadows too far. The 4444 ProRes media had enough extra color information so that the subtle shadows were available to be enhanced just enough so we could see what was going on, yet it still looked like late night in the woods.”
Editor on Love In The Time Of Monsters Todd Zelin, prepared for the final online by organizing the ProRes4444 timeline sequence before delivery to color. Stack then broke the film into six parts scaling down the full duration of the film into 20-minute segments. This allowed the files to open quickly, with better performance in the color application. “Our setup at AlphaDogs for this workflow is top-notch and the results are consistently fantastic,” said Stack. Near the end of the color grading process, sixty-five visual effects shots were delivered that Stack then edited into a separate sequence carefully matching all the clips with color looks that were already set for the picture earlier during the color grading process. Stack comments, “Often, clips that go through After Effects to create visual effects return with gamma shifts in the color. Those need to be corrected in the final sequence so they match similar scenes that had no effects.”
For over 10 years, AlphaDogs has been earning loyal clients by providing both a collaborative and friendly work environment, with Love In The Time Of Monsters being no exception. Reiners-Jackson sums it up best by saying, “AlphaDogs really went above and beyond and helped us through the post-process with our film, offering advice and support when needed. They were a pleasure to work with. Every time I walked in the front door I was greeted warmly by everyone, and that kind of atmosphere is a rarity in this business. I would use AlphaDogs again for my next project because I trust the team there.”
Love In The Time Of Monsters is directed by Matt Jackson and Produced by Andy Gunn and Allison Vanore with TBC Films.
To learn more visit: www.loveinthetimeofmonsters.com
For fan information and daily updates visit: https://twitter.com/uncleslavko
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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.
Burbank, CA—Hawaiian naming practices are steeped in tradition and carry many different meanings. Origins of the name given at birth can range from dream or spiritual inspirations to family names that are passed down, or an event that happens around the birth of the child. The documentary film E Haku Inoa: To Weave A Name, follows filmmaker Christen Marquez on her personal journey to reconnect with her estranged mother and find out the meaning of her 60-letter-long Hawaiian name. The story touches on Hawaiian culture and the struggle to support traditions in a world where there are many forces working to erase them. The film will screen as part of the LA Asian Pacific Film Festival on May 7th and May 11th, 2013. asianfilmfestla.org/2013/
Before beginning post-production Director and Producer, Christen Marquez and Editor, Regina O de Freitas consulted with AlphaDogs editor and colorist Sean Stack. Stack comments, “I knew this would be a fun project to work on, the clients were nice, the images were beautiful and it was an interesting story filled with family drama, Hawaiian culture and a positive point of view.” Working collaboratively, the team scanned through the film to find a creative approach that would best convey the up-close and personal story of Marquez. “I was surprised at how extremely welcoming AlphaDogs was in wanting to work on an independent documentary project for public television. They were great in explaining the post-production process, and in making sure delivery went as smoothly and efficiently as possible,” said Marquez.
To keep costs under control, the consultation included instructions for film editor, Regina O de Freitas on preparing the Final Cut Pro project for audio and video finishing. Several different formats in the offline edit needed to conform to ProRes422(HQ), along with the timeline being optimally organized in preparation for the online. O de Freitas re-organized the timeline with the majority of video on track one, while moving the graphics—including lower thirds and subtitles created in After Effects—to upper tracks, saving substantial time and cost in the color correction process. “The sequences were delivered ready to Send To Color with the video footage that needed color correction on the lower tracks. The upper levels didn’t need correction, so I removed them from the timeline, pasting the graphics and text layers back in after color correction was completed,” said Stack.
Archival black and white film footage of Hula dancers in Hawaii—including Marquez’s mother as a young Hula dancer—had artifacts and glitches in the images resulting from the film-to-video transfer. Using masking techniques, Stack was able to get rid of intermittently appearing horizontal lines. “Sean cleaned up some very glitchy areas on the archival video footage. I didn’t even ask because I figured it was beyond repair, but he went above and beyond and fixed it. It was wonderful. Sean is not only a great colorist, but skilled with fixing other problem areas,” said Marquez. Clean-up restoration dramatically improved picture quality without any of the glitches being noticeable to the viewer. Stack comments, “I loved the reaction when the clients saw the improvement.”
Audio Mixer Curtis Fritsch used Isotope RX plugins to remove noisy parts of the audio shot on older equipment removing any undesirable sounds without making the voices of the characters in the film sound altered. Marquez comments, “Curtis did some really amazing things with cleaning up audio that was pretty rough in spots.” The soundtrack included a lot of singing tracks requiring Fritsch to make sure the songs flowed together smoothly throughout the documentary. Fritsch comments, “I made sure that the singing on camera sounded as good as the singing in the title sequence along with the audio from other sources including a clip of grainy Hawaiian TV footage, that was treated separately from the rest.”
Stack also performed secondary color correction to fix iris shifts and automatic color adjustments that occurred in the handheld camera footage. Digital Heaven Reincarnation plug-in filters were used to fix dead pixels in the picture, with final delivery output to 1080i HDCAM for PBS Network. “I am very happy with the final delivery and didn’t have to worry about the technical specs at all,” said Marquez. “The artistic help with color and sound design was great and I would most definitely use AlphaDogs again because they were very supportive all the way through the project. Their customer service just doesn't quit, and by far exceeds my past experiences in working with other post facilities.”
E Haku Inoa: To Weave A Name was produced in partnership with PBS Hawaii and is supported by the Independent Television Service (ITVS), Pacific Islanders in Communications, and the Native Arts and Cultures Foundation, and an incredible amount of family and community support. The film will screen at, The LA Asian Pacific Festival in May of 2013, and on PBS nationally in May of 2014. To learn more visit: www.hakuinoa.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.
Burbank, CA—Burbank based AlphaDogs Post Production is currently working on season three of the late Latin music icon Jenni Rivera’s reality show, I Love Jenni. The final season of I Love Jenni premiered on April 14 on mun2, and has reached 2.3 million total viewers since its premiere. The series-to-date finished the month in the #1 spot among all Hispanic cable networks and beat English-language cable networks Comedy Central, FX, TBS, A&E, Family channel, Lifetime and AMC, among others, for both Hispanic adults 18-34 and Hispanic adults 18-49. The final season is the series’ most successful season to date. I Love Jenni airs Sunday evenings at 9e/8c on mun2.
Executive Producer Liane Su of Blank Paige Productions teamed up once again with AlphaDogs to complete the finish on the tribute and the series. “Alpha Dogs has been a great partner. We had a great experience working together on season two of I Love Jenni and the spinoff series, Chiquis n’ Control. There was no doubt we would work together again on this final season,” said Su.
AlphaDogs President and lead colorist, Terence Curren is color grading the series using Avid Symphony. "After working on an entire season of I Love Jenni, I felt like I knew her intimately. Her untimely passing in a plane crash came as quite a shock. While working on the memorial special, and now on the new season, it feels like we are keeping her with us in some way. Each new episode opens up a whole world of emotions in everyone here at AlphaDogs."
Jenni Rivera was one of the most awarded Regional Mexican artists, having been a multiple Grammy nominee, and multiple winner of Premios de la Musica and Billboard Music awards. She sold over 22 million records worldwide, 5 Double Plantinum, 15 Platinum and 15 Gold RIAA records in the U.S. Prior to her passing, Jenni was set to star in an ABC sitcom and was preparing to launch her own fashion and cosmetic line.
I Love Jenni is produced by mun2, Jenni Rivera Enterprises and Blank Paige Productions. The executive producers are Jenni Rivera, Pete Salgado, Shari Scorca, Edward Paige and Liane Su.
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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.
