Between features
Music videos, commercials, post and VFX.
We don’t take on much outside work. When we do, it gets the same care as our own films, with as much or as little of a crew as it needs.
Equipment
Cameras. ARRI, Blackmagic and Sony CineAlta. Retina was shot on a Sony CineAlta HDW-F900R, with a Phantom HD for high-speed work and a DSLR for spaces nothing bigger would fit. An iPhone comes out when nothing larger can go, or when its look is the point. We use whatever gets out of the way and gets the shot the picture needs.
Sound. Mixes are delivered in 5.1 surround with M&E tracks – music and effects, dialogue removed – so a film can be dubbed without going back to the stems. Broadcasters and distributors expect it, and it holds up releases when nobody planned for it.
- Cameras
- ARRI · Blackmagic · Sony CineAlta
- Specialist
- Phantom high-speed · DSLR for tight spaces · Apple iPhone for special cases
- Audio delivery
- 5.1 surround · stereo · M&E tracks for film and television
- Picture delivery
- 4K as standard, 6K where the project calls for it, in the formats and aspect ratios you need
Carlos Ferrer directs, and he’s worked most of the other jobs on a film too, so he speaks the same language as the crew. His music goes out under the name 10UTO.
That doesn’t mean working alone. Scallop Pond had a cast and crew of more than a hundred, and every film here has had actors, locations and people on the floor. Every project is different and needs its own approach. Some are better with one person carrying most of the jobs. Others are better with a team, and the ideas and talents that come with it. Big or small, it’s a creative process either way.
The craft is the point, not a cost to trim. Because Carlos has done these jobs himself, he knows what to ask of the people doing them.
We use tools that get out of the way. We’d rather finish the thing than spend weeks building the perfect setup for it. More on how we work.
We only take on a few of these at a time. If we can’t do yours, we’ll tell you straight away.
Capabilities
Music Videos
Developed with the artist from the first idea. Narrative or performance. Made with the artist, from the shoot to the final cut.
- Treatment
- Direction
- Cinematography
- VFX
- Finishing
Commercial & Branded
Short pieces shot with the same care as the narrative work: real places, real people, proper coverage. Cut down for social when that’s part of the job.
- Spots
- Brand film
- Social cutdowns
- Product
Post & VFX
Editing, effects, color, sound design, 5.1 mixing and original score for other people’s films. Retina’s effects, set extensions and all, were made here and presented at SIGGRAPH. See the effects work.
- Editorial
- VFX
- Set extension
- Color
- Sound
- Original score
Documentary & Other Media
Short documentaries, event films, title sequences, and things that don’t fit a category. If it’s moving pictures and it’s interesting, ask.
- Short doc
- Titles
- Event
Visual effects
Shown at SIGGRAPH in 2016
Every effects shot in Retina was built here, by the person who shot the plates for them. We do the same kind of work on other people’s films.
Destruction & Simulation
The Manhattan Bridge collapse: the real bridge shot on location, its center painted out, modeled back in Cinema 4D, then fractured and brought down with rigid body dynamics. The cables were the hard part – hair linked to splines inside sweep objects, constrained and run with spline dynamics so they whip loose as the span fails.
- Rigid body
- Fracture
- Spline dynamics
- Cleanup
Set Extension & Environments
Rooftops, skylines and interiors built in 3D and cut in beside real footage. The aerial over the rooftop on Retina was assembled from reference shot by hand, with the renderer chosen for that shot because it matched the live-action plate better than the default. Audiences took it for a real helicopter.
- Matte painting
- Modeling
- Lighting
- Lookdev
Compositing & Finishing
Most of the work is matching grain, edges, motion blur and grade until the seam disappears. Compositing in After Effects, straight into the same color and sound pipeline that finishes the picture, so nothing is handed to a vendor who has never seen the film.
- Comp
- Roto & paint
- Grain match
- Grade
- Built with
- Maxon Cinema 4D · the Adobe suite · DaVinci Resolve
- Edit & grade
- DaVinci Resolve, and whichever editing application the job already runs on
- Presented at
- SIGGRAPH 2016 · visual effects and set extensions from Retina
- Delivery
- 4K as standard, 6K where the project calls for it, in the formats and aspect ratios you need
Process
How a project goes
Conversation
You tell us what it is, when you need it, and roughly what you can spend. We’ll tell you within a day or two whether we can do it.
Treatment
We write up the idea with references, a shot approach and a schedule. We agree on it before anyone books a camera. Changing things here is cheap; later it isn’t.
Prep
Casting, locations, crew, gear and a shot list. Good prep is why the shoot days stay short and the budget holds.
Shoot
Small crew, careful coverage. The director is usually on the camera, so what gets shot is what the edit needs.
Post
Editing, effects, color, sound and mix, all done here. One round of notes at picture lock is included, and it’s the same director the whole way through.
Delivery
Masters in the formats and aspect ratios you need, plus cutdowns and captions if they’re part of the job. We keep the project files archived.
The brief
Send us the details
The more of this you can answer, the sooner we can tell you whether we can do it and what it will cost. Only your name, email and the project are required.
Let’s talk
Making something?
A short, a feature, a music video, or just a note about one of the films – tell us what you’re working on.
Get in touch