Class 13 (April 12)

April 12, 2007

This week we're going to be looking at three parts of the editing process -- DVD Authoring, Trailer/Marketing Creation, and Music.

MArk Rowen There are editing room jobs that have not really changed appreciably since the days of upright Moviolas. Editors are still viewing dailies and determining cut points. Assistants are still calling screening rooms to book dates for previews. People still need their stationery supplies and their coffee.

There are also jobs that have changed drastically -- assistant editors used to be librarians, now they tend to be computer repair people.

Finally, there are the jobs that didn't even exist ten years ago and are only becoming more important as the years go on. Tonight we will talk about one of those -- the DVD Producer. Our guest tonight is Mark Rowen who has his own company which creates DVDs for a number of clients, most notably Dreamworks. Mark oversees all aspects of the studio's DVD production process including content development, menu design, compression, authoring, and technology advancements for DreamWorks' domestic and international titles. Some of the high profile titles Rowen has produced include Shrek, the best selling DVD of all time, Almost Famous/Untitled -- The Bootleg Cut, which was honored for its artistic and creative merits at the inaugural Festival de Cannes Collection, as well as the Steven Spielberg DVD titles Saving Private Ryan, Minority Report, and Catch Me If You Can; the animated hits Chicken Run, Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron and Antz; and as a co-producer on the highly acclaimed Gladiator DVD. Mark is also a commercials director and producer. His clients have included Walt Disney Home Video, CBS Sports, Shell Oil, Nike, Twentieth Century Fox, among others.

The important thing to know about DVD Production is that it is increasingly becoming crucially important in the making and marketing of a film. No longer is it a stepchild, but it is now a vital and extremely part of the filmmaking process. Later in the semester, after we lock our film and do some sound and music work on it, we will take a week and create a DVD-R master of our work. Though we won't take the time to create a lot of extras, the way Mark talks about tonight, we will be able to create some basic moving menus and work our way through a trimmed down version of the process that we talked about tonight. Now is not too early to think about what you would like your menu to look like.

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So the key for most filmmakers, including editors, is to figure out how music can work within the film, and how to talk to the composers who will craft that. That's what tonight's class is all about.

David Newman , who I first met many many years ago on HEATHERS, will be visiting us today to talk about thinking like a music person and, in the process, how to talk to a composer. David has been writing music for many different types of films - as well as writing symphonic music (you can click on his picture to the left to go to his IMDb credits list).

When I was a music editor I used to describe music to directors (when they asked, of course) as being like an extra character in a scene, except a character that represented the relationships between the on-screen characters. This led to the natural outgrowth that they should talk with a composer like they would an actor. What is the scene about? Where are the changes (beats) in the scene that the actors/music must shape their performance around?

David will show some samples of work in which he took temp cues and evolved them into a finished cue, from SERENITY and HEATHERS (if there's time). We will also stage a mock spotting session with one of the scenes from SHUT UP AND SING so we can see up close, just how musical discussions with a composer work.

We are also going to be talking about the trailer and the title sequence, beginning our thoughts that will hopefully move us towards the creation of these elements within the next few weeks (we don't have much time left, do we?)