Post Production -- the 'Master Mix' Where Magic Happens

NEW YORK, Nov. 11, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- The final cut: there's a reason why directors, producers, movie and music stars alike battle over this perk. Given the right to determine the flow of a video, an album or a motion picture, an individual can decide how the project looks, feels and sounds. Performances can be left on the cutting floor, or even given new endings—as reportedly happened on the set of "August, Osage Country." Based on reactions to the final scene from early screenings, Director John Wells changed it from a lingering focus on Meryl Streep, to one on Julia Roberts instead, as he had the rights to the final cut.

The final cut is the end stage of the editing process and takes place in post-production studios. New York is fortunate to have one of the finest of such facilities, located in Midtown's Manhattan Center Studios. "We take post production as seriously as every other phase of the process," said Marvin Williams, Director of Video Engineering & Operations of Manhattan Center Productions. "Actually more so, because that's where the magic happens," he admitted with a smile.  

Post-production is a term for all stages of production that follow the shooting and/or recording of an album, movie, TV, radio show, etc. Techniques used in music post-production include "comping" (compiling the best portions of multiple takes into one superior take), timing and pitch correction, and adding effects. This process is typically referred to as mixing, and can involve adjusting the levels of each individual track to help provide for an optimal sound experience. Contrary to the name, post-production work may occur at any point during recording and production.

Manhattan Center offers more than 20 edit rooms to accommodate even the most demanding of online or offline-editing clients. Its state of the art equipment ranges from Apple Final Cut Studio to Avid, from Media Composers to Symphony Nitris. The Center's post-production suites have fiber and copper connectivity to over 48 terabytes of shared network storage on an EditShare, and all suites are wired to a clean server room for safe storage.

In film editing, shots are combined in accordance with the script. The first stage of this process is called the rough cut, whereby selected scenes are re-arranged in congruity with the storyline. As video clips are assembled in order and edited—via techniques such as cutaways, reaction shots, overlapping edits, etc.—transitions such as dissolve, wipe or fade are employed as well, to achieve maximum effect. Further polishing follows, and video clips can then be cropped, resized and color-corrected. Titles can be added as well. Camera audio, voiceover and music are all equalized and mixed, as good sound editing and the synchronization of dialogue also plays a key role. "Good editing can make bad production look good. Overall, whatever the project, the key to creating a seamless edit is to make the overall story interesting," Williams concludes.

For more, visit www.mcstudios.com

Contact:   Enrique Briz, Dian Griesel Int'l. 212.825.3210

SOURCE Manhattan Center