As part of its ongoing commitment to nuture promising filmmakers, <a href="http://www.avid.com.US/”>Avid® recently served as co-producer of "Two-Legged Rat Bastards", a short film directed by Scot Weintrob from a story by Daniel Wallace (screenwriter of the cult hit ‘Big Fish’). Currently on the festival circuit, the film is the darkly humorous tale of Eddie, an aging, ill-tempered alcoholic (Orson Bean) who tries to reconnect with his estranged son Winstead (Derek Waters).
The film was produced by Tova Dann and Weintrob of the Hollywood-based production company Limey, in association with <a href="http://www.avid.com.US/”>Avid and digital camera-maker RED. A number of other prominent companies, including color grading specialist FilmLight, provided equipment and services. “<a href="http://www.avid.com.US/”>Avid has a long history of supporting the creative community,” observes <a href="http://www.avid.com.US/”>Avid Worldwide Marketing Manager|Post Production Vincent Maza. “Personally, I was hooked when I read the script. It was very good. It had an edge that you don’t see very often.”
"Two-Legged Rat Bastards" also provided an opportunity to test drive an innovative 4K workflow. The film was shot with RED’s RED One digital cinema camera, equipped with a Mysterium-X sensor (which can record at resolutions up to 5K), and edited on Media Composer 5.5, the latest version of <a href="http://www.avid.com.US/”>Avid‘s industry-leading editing system. Final grading was accomplished via FilmLight’s Baselight FOUR color grading system, which has the ability to grade native 4K RED files in real-time while working directly from a Media Composer AAF file, containing editorial information.
This workflow has important implications for film production, Maza notes, especially for budget-conscious independent projects like "Two-Legged Rat Bastards". “The great thing about this RED workflow is that it is very simple,” Maza says. “When production wraps, the raw RED files go through a one-step transcoding process to DNxHD and they are ready for editing in Media Composer. Once editorial is completed, the raw RED files are imported into Baselight along with Media Composer’s AAF file. The project is then ready for grading at 4K. There is nothing difficult about it.”
An early version of the film was screened in April at NAB at the RED booth in its 4K theater. It has since screened at the London International Film Festival and will screen at the St. Louis International Film Festival on November 14th. It is also screening a Laemle Theatres in Southern California.
About <a href="http://www.avid.com.US/”>Avid
<a href="http://www.avid.com.US/”>Avid creates the digital audio and video technology used to make the most listened to, most watched and most loved media in the world โ from the most prestigious and award-winning feature films, music recordings, television shows, live concert tours and news broadcasts, to music and movies made at home. Some of <a href="http://www.avid.com.US/”>Avid‘s most influential and pioneering solutions include Media Composer®, Pro Tools, Interplay®, ISIS®, VENUE, Oxygen 8, Sibelius®, System 5, and Pinnacle Studioโข. For more information about <a href="http://www.avid.com.US/”>Avid solutions and services, visit www.avid.com.
© 2011 <a href="http://www.avid.com.US/”>Avid Technology, Inc. All rights reserved. Product features, specifications, system requirements and availability are subject to change without notice. All prices are MSRP for the U.S. and Canada only and are subject to change without notice. Contact your local <a href="http://www.avid.com.US/”>Avid office or reseller for prices outside the U.S. and Canada. <a href="http://www.avid.com.US/”>Avid, the <a href="http://www.avid.com.US/”>Avid logo, Fast Track, M-Audio, Media Composer, Pro Tools, Interplay, ISIS, Sibelius, and Pinnacle Studio are trademarks or registered trademarks of <a href="http://www.avid.com.US/”>Avid Technology, Inc. or its subsidiaries in the United States and/or other countries. The Interplay name is used with the permission of the Interplay Entertainment Corp. which bears no responsibility for <a href="http://www.avid.com.US/”>Avid products. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.