All of us in the entertainment industry have seen the vast shift in both production
and postproduction work flows. We went from film, to videotape, and now we have
entered heavily into the world of file based tapeless delivery.
We have seen scripted movies of the week make way for faster paced reality based
programming. Within this subsection of reality based programming, there has been
many changes on within itself and that is what I would like to address here in this
blog.
Traditionally, reality TV shows were cut in house, at production companies’ own
edit bays and offices, sent over to one of the many production centers that rents
rooms and Avids such as California Independent Production Center, (insertCIPC) or
sent to one of the many post production companies around Hollywood or the valley.
A third company party that specializes in audio postproduction services such as
Argyle post typically handled the audio. (Insert link).
In recent months, Absolute Rentals (insert link), has really noticed a shift, they have
been called on to supply 5.1 portable mixed stages and including sound editors and
re-cording mixers to be located in house at the production companies facilities.
Absolute rentals has been asked to do everything from acoustic treatments of
the rooms, setting up a 5.1 speaker system, pro tools system with de-command
consoles. As well as run the sessions do the laybacks to the SRW 55009 when
necessary and pretty much handle all aspects of the postproduction sounds.
I found that this is not simply for the production company to save money, but to be
able to hear the temp and final mixes of the project without ever having to get in
their car and leave the facility
Absolute rentals began renting portable dub stages over 10 years ago when they
received a phone call form Skywalker films for the Adam Sandler movie, Punch,
Drunk, Love, directed by Paul Thomas Anderson, who wanted to have 5.1 temp
stage sitting in his office right next to his avid room. Since then Absolute Rentals
have done 5.1portable systems for the feature films Collateral, Miami Vice, Avatar,
Alice in Wonderland, and countless others. The shift of Absolute rentals to supply
crew along with the systems has really only existed for the last year, however what
Absolute Rentals has found is that the more Absolute Rentals offer a fully integrated
turn key approach to allowing production companies to keep their post production
audio under one roof. The more phone calls Absolute Rentals receives and the more
systems reality production companies seem to order.
