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Back to News Main Corporate Video Production at The ATOM Film & Sound Works
Sausagehead goes to sundance... well, sort ofAvid Technology featured the creepy, yet refreshingly stupid Josh Williams film at their booth this year. February 1, 2006 |
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Jason Spencer - The guy at Chronic Zing Entertainment that locks himself in dark little rooms and stares at cathode ray tubes all day. Doesn't that tie look cute? We took it from him so he doesn't hang himself. |
By Jason Spencer, Editor of Sausagehead There is nothing like being recognized for your work. When it comes to filmmaking, most of the attention is focused on the director, producer, or actors. But as an editor, relatively few folks know what it is that I do. (Sometimes that's a good thing.) But at Sundance 2006, Chronic Zing's work was an open book for hundreds of independent filmmakers. Avid Technology, a creator of professional editing systems for cinema and television production, selected Sausagehead to be one of the editing projects they would highlight at their Sundance 2006 booth. I was told over the phone that Avid's techs were "cracking up" at the film and that they had to have it in time to show at Sundance. |
For those who don't know, the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah is one of the biggest film festivals of its kind. Since its creation in 1981 many up and coming filmmakers have aspired to have their films shown there. But... we didn't OFFICIALLY screen Sausagehead at Sundance, just a vendor's booth. So how much of the film would be seen? Who would see it? And of the countless projects submitted to Avid why Sausagehead? With questions rolling around in my little brain and no easy answers available via Google, I turned to Michael Phillips from Avid Technology with my numerous annoying questions. |
Watch Sausagehead at Google HERE
Will evil clowns take over the 2006 Sundance Film Festival? Probably not, but we can always hope for next year.
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(This interview took place before the festival.)
[Jason] Thanks for the interview. How, exactly, will Sausagehead be used by Avid at Sundance? Will the film be shown in its entirety, or in short excerpts?
[mep] The film will be shown in parts depending on the section used as part of the demo. The demo usually consists of filmmakers seeing how the footage was shot, how it is managed in the Avid and then the different editing tools such as trim, and prepared for output, be it DVD or SD, HD or film. We stay as close as possible to the original edited sequence as delivered to us in the final demo.
[Jason] Why Sausagehead? Why not some sort of romantically dramatical epic starring Julia Roberts? What’s wrong with you people? (laugh)
[mep] Because we are targeting all forms of independent filmmaking and our reputation in the high end film market is pretty damn good.
Chronic Zing's Avid editing PCs at work during the Catch! ADR sessions. For more info on Avid check out their company website at www.Avid.com |
[Jason] Will other Avid user projects will be highlighted at Sundance this year? If so, are there any major entertainment industry names among them? [mep] We will be using Head of State for a film based project, November as another DV25 project to show double system sound and multicamera and Sausagehead to show editing, finishing and is something fun to watch. I also think the camera work is very nice, great exposure and look to the film. |
[Jason] How many people are you expecting to pass through the Avid booth this year?
[mep] The Filmmaker Center (used to be called the Digital Center) get several thousand people passing through over the course of the festival. In addition to Avid, the Filmmaker Center has Sony, Canon, HP, Blockbuster, Adobe, and other manufacturers showing solutions for this market.
[Jason] As 7-year vet of Avid’s pro editing tools, I know first-hand how great their software is. I also know how important established film/video professionals are to them, since they tend to be repeat customers. Unfortunately, some aspiring filmmakers haven’t had a chance to use Avid software yet. I’ve even met a few young filmmakers, ones that are currently using competing software packages (like Apple or Adobe products), who won’t even try Avid because of its price or a “my free software works great for me” attitude. Given all this, how important is the independent film community to Avid and does it see them as an important segment of their user base?
[mep] Avid recognizes the importance of the independent film community in influencing the entire film and TV community. Filmmakers like Robert Rodriguez, Stephen Soderbergh, and Quentin Tarantino, who have revolutionized filmmaking, grew out of Sundance. As the leading provider of editing systems for Hollywood, we have deep expertise to share with independent filmmakers. Avid provides guidance on how to manage postproduction costs and find low cost ways to edit and finish their work. We can provide a range of systems to suit any filmmaker’s budget and feature requirements.
[Jason] Thanks for taking the time to answer my questions. Let us know how things go at Sundance.
Chronic Zing wishes to thank Rachelle McKenzie, Media Acquisitions Manager at Avid for setting up this interview!
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