A worldwide pandemic. A metropolis on lockdown. A populace documenting their lives and sharing their experiences utilizing FaceTime and Zoom to remain linked. It’s 2020 in a nutshell.
Or is it?
Songbird, the brand new function from director Adam Mason, units a basic love story through the hypothetical fourth 12 months of the lockdown in 2024 Los Angeles. Written and produced through the 2020 pandemic, there’s no higher case of artwork imitating life.
As the primary function movie to return to manufacturing with a union crew throughout COVID, it additionally offered a rigorous take a look at case for Frame.io C2C, which enabled them to observe social-distancing protocols with out sacrificing creativity. If something, this movie strengthened the concept catastrophic occasions can result in improvements that shake up the established order and ceaselessly change the best way we create and share tales.
We hope you’ll settle in to find out about how a bunch of modern filmmakers on the prime of the trade mixed their ardour for films with their must maintain creating, and used cutting-edge expertise to ship a full-length function within the midst of the shutdown—and the way this expertise has opened their eyes to new methods of working for the close to future and past.
A brand new actuality
In March 2020, Adam Mason was getting ready to direct a movie from a script he’d written by Blumhouse Productions when the primary wave of the COVID pandemic started spreading by the U.S. “The one factor I might actually evaluate it to was 9/11,” he says. “You possibly can see this nightmare unfolding earlier than our eyes. For about 5 days we didn’t know if we might be capable to maintain going, and nobody actually wished to tug the set off however, after all, we have been shut down.”
Involved about his spouse and youngsters, his household in England (the place he’s initially from), and having had his ardour challenge all of a sudden evaporate, he was understandably dispirited.
The subsequent morning, he acquired a name from his longtime writing associate, Simon Boyes. “He sounded very gung ho and excited,” Mason says. “He was like, ‘Look, we’re going to make a film. We’ll write it and we’ve a great deal of mates who’re actors, and we’ll movie it with cell telephones and Zoom.’ So we wrote a 12-page doc and Simon referred to as it Songbird, which is the identify of one among my favorite Oasis songs.”
Mason had been collaborating with producer Adam Goodman solely a month earlier on a special challenge, and instantly wished to point out him the therapy. “I favored his spirit of moviemaking,” Mason says.
“He’s extraordinarily ingenious and has been speaking about doing work within the YouTube area. I’ve acquired three children who’re YouTube obsessed, and I might see that he has an fascinating method ahead about how Hollywood goes to alter. So I felt like Songbird and Adam Goodman can be the right match.”
Goodman is equal elements trade veteran, historian, and visionary. Starting as a manufacturing assistant for John Hughes whereas nonetheless a highschool scholar in Chicago, his profession took him to Paramount Photos the place he served as President for six years, shepherding massively profitable tasks from the J.J. Abrams Star Trek reboot to the Paranormal Exercise franchise. Since then, he’s began his personal manufacturing firm, Invisible Narratives, whose acknowledged mission is to create “disruptive storytelling that fuels tradition in partnership with individuals of affect.”
In a 2015 interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Goodman acknowledged, “Once you have a look at how we produce most films in the present day, it’s largely primarily based on an inefficient hundred-year-old course of utilizing manufacturing strategies and movie expertise which have calcified. We’ve by no means hit the pause button and mentioned, ‘If we have been beginning this enterprise in the present day, how would we make films?’”
Noting that the studio system as we all know it in the present day was born out of the 1918 Spanish Flu pandemic, Goodman views our present actuality as an identical catalyst for change within the trade. “This can be a second, proper now, the place every little thing must activate its head and we’ve to say, “We’ve to make issues in a different way, shoot them in a different way, market and distribute them in a different way. As a result of the viewers is consuming content material in methods which are totally different than ever earlier than.”
When Goodman approached producer/associate Jason Clark of Catchlight Movies with Songbird, Clark was able to tackle the problem. “Once we signed the deal to take part, our curiosity was on this courageous new world—not simply within the streaming service in conventional media that exists, however on this new media that’s discovering a foothold and rising,” Clark says.
“Catchlight at the beginning believes within the craft of filmmaking and the individuals engaged in that craft. We felt like we had reached an emotional nadir with your complete trade not realizing when issues would flip. And the one individuals that might transfer ahead can be those that are nimble or impartial, or utilizing smaller crews. So we latched on to the concept of discovering a method, with a smaller footprint, that will assist us get again to work safely.”
A brand new workflow
Max Votolato, one other British-born filmmaker who grew up with the dream of constructing it in Hollywood is, like Mason, a talented cameraman, editor, and director. As a movement image expertise knowledgeable and self-proclaimed tech fanatic, he embraced the problem of constructing a movie through the pandemic as a possibility to find new instruments and methodologies.
The workforce explored quite a few choices, from having the actors movie themselves from their properties with Mason directing by FaceTime, to utilizing a remote-controlled digicam rig, to having the DP on the set in a bunny go well with.
“Every thing had stopped,” Votolato says, “but we knew we have been going to do that challenge.” And this was even earlier than the trade white paper outlining COVID security pointers had been printed with all of the established laws outlined.
Together with DP Jacques Jouffret, Votolato developed a workflow that will give them inventive freedom safely and reliably. Jouffret knew Body.io SVP of Innovation Michael Cioni from earlier tasks, so the workforce contacted Cioni to get a “dwell” demo of their C2C system. As soon as they noticed it, they knew that it was the best way ahead. “When Jacques got here aboard, he had decided that he was going to make use of the RED KOMODO, and that was a brand new a part of the equipment that was modern in our workflow,” Votolato says. It was, actually, one of many first beta KOMODOS out there, and fairly probably the primary function shot totally with it.
“However one of many largest improvements that got here round was Body.io,” he says. “It meant that we could possibly be on set with out being bodily there, and it revolutionized the best way I used to be desirous about all of this.”
The C2C system works by mounting a Teradek BOLT transmitter onto the RED KOMODO which, every time the digicam is triggered to file, sends a feed wirelessly to a Teradek CUBE that’s linked to the Body.io cloud, the place it’s transcoded and turns into mechanically out there for viewing on iPhones, iPads, or screens. It additionally streams the proxies instantly into Adobe Premiere, Last Lower Professional X, and DaVinci Resolve, enabling editors to start engaged on footage instantly, from anyplace.
The ramifications for Songbird have been large.
As a result of there was no want for an on-set video village, a infamous spot for crews to congregate, lots of the producers, together with Goodman, Votolato, and producing associate Michael Bay, have been viewing the footage from their properties. However even those that have been bodily on set (like Clark) obtained the dailies on their telephones or tablets and have been in a position to view them at a secure distance from one another. “Everybody had a video village of their hand, and the method was instantaneous,” Votolato says.
“I’ve by no means seen something that quick. As quickly as I noticed it, I knew it was a Ferrari.”
Clark agrees. “It allowed the studio and the workforce to see what we have been doing in almost actual time, which allowed commentary to come back in through the day in order that we might give notes or course right,” he says.
The immediacy of response time is a little bit of a sport changer. For anybody who’s ever labored on a manufacturing, there’s nothing extra demanding than questioning in the event you’ll uncover a mistake too far after the actual fact to repair it. For administrators, the query of whether or not they’ve acquired the shot can intervene with staying within the second creatively. For producers, watching administrators do multitudes of takes makes them fear concerning the finances. However when producers and administrators know that they’ve acquired the shot and may transfer on, it creates a way of concord that’s virtually unattainable to quantify.
Not solely did the Body.io C2C workflow allow the on-set principal pictures course of, it prolonged into a number of areas together with editorial, VFX, and design. “As soon as we acquired these dailies out and realized that everyone was within the challenge, we had them on board for the remainder of the present,” Votolato says.
“After filming was accomplished, we used it as a hub to herald distributors not simply from LA however internationally, who might switch recordsdata backwards and forwards utilizing the service, sending not solely video, however picture and graphics recordsdata, as properly. We used so many alternative video codecs within the movie: we shot natively with the KOMODO, but additionally pulled inventory footage, footage from social media, cell telephones, low-resolution movies that have been compressed for platforms like Twitter. The concept was that you simply’re getting a view of a world in chaos and we have been in a position to attract on that footage, ship it by the Body.io pipeline, share it, and harness it for constructing the world of Songbird and telling the story.”
Goodman agrees. “We couldn’t have made the film with out having the ability to know that we have been getting what we would have liked and to have the ability to instantly begin chopping,” he says. “We have been giving notes within the modifying room on scenes. We watched cuts of the film by Body.io. And we have been promoting the film additionally, so we have been in a position to create sizzle reels to get issues to the international markets.”
Previous to plunging into manufacturing, Goodman had a raft of considerations. “Motion pictures are costly to make within the first place, and with the COVID security protocols, we’d must ask individuals to alter their complete course of, to alter every little thing they know,” he says. “In some methods it turned out to be budget-friendly as a result of we needed to maintain the taking pictures unit as small as doable. Nevertheless it appeared prefer it could possibly be creatively stifling. I wouldn’t be capable to go to the set, to offer suggestions to our filmmakers in actual time. Nevertheless it turned out to be creatively liberating as a result of it was so collaborative. Listed here are dailies in actual time. Have a good time them! It turned a brilliant interactive course of, with everybody trusting that this device allowed us to work at gentle velocity. After which, as a result of we knew that nothing was everlasting and we couldn’t make errors that we couldn’t repair, we felt extremely liberated to maintain bettering what we have been engaged on.”
However what concerning the director? Was there any draw back to having so many stakeholders’ eyes on the footage, in a position to weigh in from wherever they have been?
“On the primary day there weren’t many individuals on the set,” Mason says. “It was me and the actors, Jacques and the digicam assistant—only a bare-bones crew. We’d actually carried out two takes and all of a sudden my telephone lights up and it was Adam Goodman giving me suggestions so as to add some Christmas lights within the background of the scene. And it occurred to me that the producers could possibly be at dwelling, sipping their espresso, and watching what I used to be filming whereas I used to be filming it.”
Some administrators would possibly discover the prospect terrifying, however Mason isn’t one among them. “I’m a really collaborative particular person at coronary heart, so it didn’t intimidate me,” he says. “I welcome the participation. Frankly, it was a demanding state of affairs going into this as a result of nobody had carried out it earlier than, and we didn’t know if we might pull it off. Actually, it was a matter of all arms on deck, and there was a spirit of collaboration that I’ve by no means felt earlier than. Usually I won’t have my writing associate on set with me, however Simon had a hyperlink and was watching. And my spouse, whose opinion I actually belief, might watch whereas I used to be filming, too. It was extraordinary, and truly jogged my memory of why I’d wished to begin making films within the first place.”
Artistic expertise
Some individuals like expertise for expertise’s sake. However for this group of filmmakers, the expertise is just spectacular for the way it permits inventive collaboration.
Goodman has been energetic within the movie trade because the Eighties. He’s watched the shift from movie and tape to digital acquisition. And he sees the inventive course of altering.
“We don’t must maintain pretending that post-production as an idea wants to come back on the finish of constructing one thing,” he says. “The legacy of taking pictures every little thing after which ready for the movie to get processed and ready two days to see your dailies is inefficient. When you have got a expertise like this and also you’re taking pictures digitally and your editors are in a position to implement the dailies and you can begin making issues higher immediately, it’s going to have a ripple impact on the leisure trade.”
Votolato concurs. “We knew we have been going to do the dailies within the cloud, however we have been utilizing it for trafficking recordsdata, too. Early on, we constructed folders and picked up footage and made buckets for the filmmakers to discover,” he says.
“They may spotlight issues in Body.io or depart notations about one thing they favored. We cataloged the situation scouts, movies, and pictures. We shot a presentation reel early on, utilizing primarily GoPro cameras, and all of that footage got here into the cloud and everybody was in a position to share it. And what was so distinctive concerning the course of was that from early prep by late into post-production, we might return to these collections and mine them in significant methods. You possibly can return to one thing from early on and say, ‘Hey, do you keep in mind this?’ And a few of these issues made it into the ultimate reduce.”
Much more than that, this expertise defines what it means to make use of expertise in service of creativity. “No person had carried out this earlier than below these situations, however what we do as filmmakers is to take expertise and marry it with the traditional artwork of storytelling,” Clark says. “Body.io was an amazing associate as a result of it didn’t create technical issues for the onset video or digicam workforce. It was straightforward, a one-button kind of state of affairs. We speak about bleeding edge expertise, however this was forefront expertise. It allowed us to do issues we couldn’t do up to now, however in a method that didn’t make us bleed.”
Mason, who’s carried out a whole lot of music movies, has a “guerilla” filmmaking background. “I’m fairly experimental in the best way that I wish to direct,” he says. “I’ve carried out a whole lot of music movies and I shoot most of them myself, so I’ve discovered rather a lot about cameras and lighting. I attempt to take away the form of bullshit that comes with all of the gear. However within the case of Songbird, I felt very free, despite the fact that we shot the movie in 18 days, which is extremely fast for a film.”
Mason was additionally in a position to edit the footage himself on Premiere each time he wished to. “If I used to be dwelling, even when it was 10:00 pm, I might ask one among our assistants to ship me the title sequence with break up audio and I might simply load it into my system and I’m chopping,” he says. Mason was additionally impressed with how Body.io facilitated the VFX and audio processes. “I’d get an alert on my telephone that six new clips had uploaded. I am going into the app on my telephone, and two seconds later I’m reviewing the pictures and can provide notes or log off.”
The takeaways
When you think about all of the challenges that Songbird confronted after which have a look at the numbers, it’s a powerful feat of filmmaking. The shoot itself was a brisk 18 days. From pre- by post-production, the workforce uploaded 10,000 property and generated greater than one other 10,000 evaluation hyperlinks, which signifies that they absolutely embraced Body.io as their cloud-based collaborative hub—to the purpose the place none wish to work with out it once more.
By all of the filmmakers’ accounts, they’d Body.io open all day, day-after-day, all through the manufacturing, and every used it in myriad methods to go well with their wants—creatively, logistically, functionally. So how do they describe the advantages of a cloud-based workflow and the way it influences the way forward for creating video content material?
For Jason Clark, it’s about making a safer, but extra centralized, workflow. “We’re entering into a brand new period, and for anybody who’s making an attempt to hold on to the previous type of working, it’s simply not possible,” he says.
“Within the previous days, you needed to make copies of scripts on paper, with watermarks. Nicely, we’re now on an accelerated path towards a paperless set. We have to be sure that everybody will get the updates they want—storyboards, name sheets. Sooner or later, I’ll have a look at your brand and know that that is my entry level, that it’s the repository for every little thing everybody wants. Body.io provides you a safe system that gives you with easy accessibility to, and management of, your data and property. Body.io is just not technologists who’re making an attempt to grasp the movie trade. It’s movie people who find themselves utilizing expertise to offer options.”
Adam Goodman brings up one other consideration—that of location independence. “I’ve completely zero doubt that I not must dwell in Los Angeles to do what I do,” he says. “If somebody needs me to see one thing, I may be assured that I’m not lacking something within the workplace or chopping room or on the set.”
It additionally opens up the door to creatives in different markets. “It’s nice that LA is a hub, however there are such a lot of different nice filmmaking communities that exist and that deserve nice expertise, however individuals can’t keep there as a result of there’s not sufficient work,” Goodman says. “However this modifications every little thing. It modifications prep, it modifications manufacturing and post-production clearly, however it will definitely will change distribution. I hope films are round ceaselessly, however I really like the notion that individuals could make issues which are nice with out having to be in a single area collectively. It’s thrilling to consider.”
What Adam Mason discovered thrilling was the concept the child who grew up in a distant village in England watching Spielberg and Zemeckis films was in a position to make a function of Michael Bay high quality throughout a pandemic, whereas working with a workforce who might take part from wherever they have been. As soon as a dream like that turns into actuality, the long run appears virtually limitless. “That is such a large step ahead,” he says. “It’s laborious to clarify how spectacular it’s, that it’s all there within the cloud and I’m in a position to entry dailies on my telephone in seconds. It’s transformative expertise that enables the workflow between departments to turn out to be utterly seamless. To have the ability to do that was fairly a profound feeling.”
Max Votolato, who’s rooted in each creativity and expertise, appreciates the benefit and the velocity with which the crew was in a position to work. “Body.io frees up creatives to be extra inventive by lowering the thought course of round workflow. Everybody’s getting issues in actual time, and it’s facilitated our potential to take action far more in a workday,” he says.
However much more than that, he’s eloquently articulated what this 12 months has meant to the way forward for filmmaking. “Most individuals will look again at 2020 as one of many worst years in historical past. I feel we’re going to look again at this as an unbelievable 12 months,” he says. “We’ve developed a lot and discovered a lot. I feel your complete cloud course of is revolutionary for me and my very own private workflow. I really like having the movie at my fingertips and having the ability to share it with different filmmakers. We must always view the cloud as our canvas, and now that is the canvas you possibly can take with you wherever you go.”
There’s nothing extra gratifying than pouring your soul into designing a toolkit—on this case for the higher a part of a decade—and listening to the individuals you’re constructing it for affirm that it’s making a distinction of their lives and of their artwork. Enabling inventive freedom by relieving nervousness. Serving to creatives of various disciplines in numerous places collaborate seamlessly. Permitting storytellers to maintain telling their tales.
We really feel so fortunate to have been part of the Songbird workforce’s journey. And we are able to’t wait to see what they’ll do subsequent. Within the meantime, in the event you’re eager to get began with Body.io Digital camera to Cloud, you possibly can sign up for early access.
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