"GET ENGAGED!"- Post Production Brings Professional Finishing

RAW VS COOKED: THE OPTIMIZING STAGE OF VIDEO ENHANCEMENT
The simplified breakdown of a video shoot calls on camera, lights and a subject.  But to fulfill a successful video product demands the expert hands of the post-production people whose focus is on capturing and maintaining the attention of the judgmental yet easily distracted eye (what we call the A.D.D. audience) .  From footage repair and cleanup to enhancement and optimization, the post-production process oftentimes take over 85% of the project's labor/time/budget and is a direct link to getting the right look to get the message across.  

REPAIRS: It is the nature of shoots to have both camera and shooter to have flaws in the footage. From unexpected lighting issues, dirt on the lens to wrong camera settings (ie. white balance, iris setting, focus, shutter speed) and a myriad of other issues, many issues have the fortunate safety net of "post-production" where these things CAN and SHOULD be fixed. Field monitors and viewfinders themselves cannot always be trusted to "see what you get". Especially with digital equipment, much of the footage relies on your technology to perform right - and disappointments often show up after the production stage when a re-shoot can happen.

ENHANCEMENT: To make any image POP is the objective of any producer.  The visual pop, such as color, contrast, sharpness, composition and overall dynamics are concerns that, to our advantage, can largely be addressed using the latest retouching tools - many of which are already embedded in the current editing software.    Where washed out blue skies can be enhanced, flesh tones can be boosted and sections of a shot can be emphasized or diminished as part of the "retouching" process of turning "blah to blam".  Moreover, a common process is when the producer decides to "rewrite in post".  Today's editing capabilities allow us to crop and re-compose a shot, add zooms/pulls, pans, blurs, fades and mimic other lens-related behaviors in post to add expression and cohesion to the piece. 

AUDIO ENGINEERING: This expertise is a large part of the movie watching experience.  This specialist is responsible for the selection and insertion of powerful soundtracks, audio cleanups (noise removal/reduction from live recording) and vocal track enhancement.  In the case of interviews and announcers, audio editors bring the speaker right into your living room by fully optimizing the timbre of their voice.   If you listen to the BEFORE segment of the enclosed video, a weak under-processed audio recording takes all the enjoyment out of watching any video- whereas a powerful audio track is the key to sensory engagement.

Digital processing and enhancement converts 'what you see' into 'what you PREFER to see'.  Where professional standards mean pushing footage through the optimizing process, the post-production investment cranks out products that greatly separates the big fish from the guppies- and so with their market value.

For more information on this article and post-production process, feel free to contact Carmen Regallo-Dewitt at carmen@imworx.com or log on to: IMWORX.com.  Footage courtesy of TruImageDental.com and is a registered trademark of Dr. Veronica Greene.