Rob Bannochie “ A History in Post Production” ✽

Post-production has come a long way. I remember the days of cutting 2” Quadruplex tape with the aid of a blade, a microscope and fine iron filings! And if film was the originating format, having to telecine using a photoconductive machine with very little color correction capabilities – and this was state of the art back then!

The big changes came with Flying Spot telecine’s with color correction and non-linear off line editing. Who remembers endless EDL’s and hoping and praying that the EDL would match the on-line edit? Nowadays of course most of this has changed and with the phenomenal technology spurt into the digital domain, film cameras are virtually a thing of the past and 4K origination with its infinite range of adjustments and imaging is the norm.

So too with post-production. Large facilities opened. They had the ability to transfer negative and grade it. They could also provide all the required off line and on line editing, digital effects and sound post-production facilities, to provide deliverables under one roof. The capital outlay was huge. Many items of equipment cost several millions and thereby precluding small time competition. This has also changed over time and currently for commercial post-production in the main, these large all-in-one post-production facilities are almost a thing of the past.