Pre & Post Production

1st

Pre-Production

What Is Pre-Production?

Before the lights, the camera, the action, there is the unsung hero of any great video endeavor : preproduction. Sure, being on set has its own allure; and yeah, post-production is where the story really comes together. But without the thoughtful, meticulous work done in pre-production none of that would even be possible. In short, pre-production is where you build a solid, reliable base that sets your video up for success.

At the risk of being reductive, pre-production is all about two things: top level creative and logistics. On the creative side, pre-production is all about fine tuning your concept, writing a polished script, storyboarding, etc. Really just doing anything and everything possible to ensure you have a firm grasp on the story you want to weave.

Conversely, the logistical side of pre-production is where you work out how you’ll make that big picture a reality. Who’s the best fit to play this role? Where’s a good place that fits this scene description? Oh, and what will these shoot days actually look like? Knowing the precise answer to all of these questions (and just so, so many more) is the job of any great pre-production team. Luckily, we have one of the most trusted, on-point pre-production crew in the business.

Pre-Production Services

Scriptwriting

From feature films, to documentaries, to animated explainers, our writing team will craft the perfect tale.

Budgeting for Video

It’s all about the money. Our budgeting for video services make sure you have the best video for your bucks.

Creative Development

If you’re searching for the next “big idea,” look no further! We’ll brainstorm, develop, and actualize something amazing.

Storyboarding

Familiar with every type of storyboard, our staff artists can create detailed panels to save you time and money once you’re on set.

Animatics

These storyboards-in-motion help pin-point the timing of each scene. See your spot in action before even shooting!

Casting

Find the perfect actor for any role with the help of our amazing team of casting professionals.

Location Scouting

Looking for just the right location for your next production? We’ll help you track it down.

Location Management

Avoid any on site delays and unforeseen issues with the help of our seasoned location managers.

Set Construction

We’re putting hammer to nail to build you the set of your dreams, one flat at a time!

Production Design

Our in-house production design team connects with locations, studio sets, and prop houses to bring large and small scale productions to life. Are you ready?

Costume Design

From big ballroom gowns, to doctor’s scrubs, to medieval knight’s armor, our costume design team makes sure your actors look the part.

Script Coverage

Receiving complete and objective script coverage from a local source can be invaluable in evaluating your project before you take it to the next stage.

Script Breakdown

Want to know exactly what your script demands for a successful production? Let us break it down for you.

Prop Rentals

Props are vital to fleshing out a scene. From baseball bats to baklava, we’ll make sure you have the exact pieces you need.

Atlanta Fixer

ECG’s Atlanta Fixers combine Southern Hospitality with invaluable on-location production insight.

Los Angeles Fixer

Our Los Angeles fixers are ready to show you why L.A. remains the heart of the entertainment industry!

2nd

Post-Production

What Is Post-Production?

Post-production is a huge and wonderful part of our video production process here at ECG. While our producers are chugging away on all things pre-production, ECG’s editors lie waiting in the wings (or, more correctly, their state of the art edit bays). That’s where they’ll receive raw footage, production audio and graphical assets, and assemble them into something one step closer to a final video. It always feels a bit magical to see an assortment of gorgeous shots come together into a cohesive story or sequence. And, from more than a decade in the vide production business, we like to think we’ve nearly perfected our post process. From assemblies to our seamless client review process, to final video delivery, we know our way around finishing up a project.

After our heroic editor’s finish combing the footage and assembling a rough cut, we send it off to the powerhouse of our projects (our clients, that is) for any notes. Eventually we reach the ever-sought pinnacle of picture lock. Then it’s time for our in-house sound mixer and designer, Joe, to work his magic on the audio mix. When Joe’s perfected the mix, our colorist Jenn gets the last pass to do a color grade and final export. And it’s off to be viewed and adored by all!

Post-Production Services

Video Post-Production

Video post-production is all about the picture. Mainly, getting the video assembled so the story comes across crystal clear. Learn more about stringing together a visual story here.

Audio Post-Production

When an audio mix is perfect, audiences tend to not notice it. But it’s an art that we love at ECG. Learn more about the unsung hero of video, audio post-production, here.

Our Specialties

Cutaway

A cutaway is a shot that “cuts away” from the main action to show supporting information – then returns to the main shot to reinforce that information. Cutaways can be used to transport us to a different time and place in order to confirm something that a character said.

Cut-In & Insert Shot

A cut-in is when you transition from a wide shot to a close-up to show an object or person in greater detail. The insert shot is another transition technique that’s very similar to the cut-in but it doesn’t require a shift from a long-shot to close-up.

Contrast Cut

The contrast cut is all about juxtaposition. It’s whenever you cut from one tonal element to another tonal element in order to show diametricity.

Defocus

The defocus transition is one of the easiest and most effective transitions you can use. It’s simply when you adjust the focus of the camera until it becomes entirely blurred – which can be used as a transition to go from one shot to the next.

Dynamic Cutting

Dynamic cutting is what I like to call “call attention to itself editing.” It combines different types of transition techniques to make the editing abundantly obvious to the viewer.

J Cut & L Cut

We’re going to put the J-cut and L-cut together because they’re heavily intertwined. The J-cut is when the sound of a shot or scene plays before the next shot does. In other words, it’s when the visual trails the audio.

Dissolve

A film dissolve transition is a gradual transition from one shot to the next. Dissolves typically take place over the course of 24-48 frames (or ~1-2 seconds), but can last for as long as the director/editor deems.

Ripple Dissolve

The ripple dissolve is a specific type of dissolve that’s defined by a wavering effect. Perhaps it’s best to see this technique in effect rather than explained.

Iris

Back in the early days of filmmaking, iris transitions referred to the literal opening or closing of a camera’s iris to fade in or fade out a shot. Nowadays, “iris wipes” are used more stylistically.

Match Cut

Match cuts are audio or video transitions that use elements from one scene to transition to the next.

Jump Cut

Jump cuts are primarily used to show the passage of time – but unlike match cuts, which are meant to be seamless in their transitions, jump cuts can’t help but call attention to themselves.

Wash

A wash is essentially the same thing as a fade, except it uses any solid color rather than black. We sometimes see washes used when characters ascend to heaven or when they faint.

Whip Pan

The whip pan is a little bit different than most of the other terms on this list because it’s more often used as a camera technique than it as a transition technique.

Wipe

A wipe is when one shot replaces another shot from a specific direction or with a specific shape. You can wipe up, down, left, right – you can wipe in the shape of a circle, triangle or trapezoid; a wipe is pretty much anytime a transition uses a swipe or shape to switch to another shot.

Morph

Have you ever seen an Animorphs book cover? If you have, good – that’s a step-by-step guide to the morph transition. COMPUTER GENERATED IMAGERY (CGI).

Color Correction

Color correction is an important element of post production visual effects. The process involves reviewing the color of the entire film and altering the video footage so that shadows or changes in lighting or balance are eliminated. Color correction produces a video with total congruity.

Movie Scene Transitions

Asynchronous sound is when the sound isn’t synchronized with the video. This sound can be used to lead in to a new shot, or emphasize an auditory aspect before transitioning.

Article Simulation

To create realistic visual effects in post production editing, particle simulation is often used. This includes digital data manipulation that results in powerful visual effects.

Motion Tracking

3D motion tracking combines physical and computer applications to produce animations. This visual effect is often used as a means of stabilizing shots on a daily basis through complex multi-point track rendering and 3D camera solutions.

Matte Painting

Although matte painting no longer involves actual paint, the process is still used in large scale productions to bring life to the footage. This post production visual effect involves the use of digital mattes to create powerful visual changes to the footage.

Post Production In Movies

Editing, Color Grading & Correction, Visual Effects & Animation, Sound Recording, Foley Recording, Script Sound Recording, Sound Mixing & Editing, Soundtrack & Music.

VFX Vs SFX

Everything VFX happens after shooting in post-production. Special effects (SFX) are added during the production. They refer to on-set visual effects techniques. This can be anything from fake rain to fire or snow.

Compositing

Compositing is an old term, and comes from the early days of photography, when artists started to experiment by layering prints, double exposing pictures and building ‘composite’ pictures.

Green Screen and Blue Screen

Due to the fact we humans, no matter what colour or race, tend to be on the red end of the spectrum in terms of flesh tones, blue and green are excellent colours to shoot against when we want to automatically separate a subject from the background.

Tracking

Tracking is about digitally attaching an object or image to some other moving footage. Examples might be putting a new number plate on footage of a car on the road, or adding dirt to a building facade. We’ll show you how this week!

CGI

CGI stands for Computer Generated Imagery. VFX artists don’t just composite film elements; they’ll often composite CGI material Computer Generated Imagery is one of the most common post production visual effects in filmmaking.

VFX And Post Production

Post Production is a phrase that refers to everything after the footage was shot- sound design, titles, editing, for instance.

VFX

VFX stands for visual effects. Visual effects create or manipulate film imagery to add a sense of realism to visual storytelling.

Get Expert consultation !

Call Now