PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

Imaging Post-Production Assistant position at the Sidney Poitier New American Film School; Michael worked in a facility in Mesa, Arizona called the Media and Immersive Experience (MIX) Center. 

 

Working this job for 16 months exposed him to a professional post-production workflow - guiding teams and carrying out procedures to complete films in editing, color, sound, and VFX. 

 

Michael worked with the following softwares: Avid Media Composer, Avid Pro Tools, DaVinci Resolve, Nuke, Adobe Premiere Pro, Adobe After Effects. Troubleshooting errors - from offline media to incorrect exports - was a daily task he had to manage. This taught him how to break down technical problems and effectively find the root of the problem; patience is key in the face of technical frustrations. There is almost always a solution (or work around) waiting to be found. 

 

Another big task on his list was DCP (both Atmos and stereo) creation. Using DaVinci Resolve he prepared and rendered DCPs to be played on a projector. Michael also used a third-party software, DCP-O-MATIC, to create Atmos DCPs that could be connected and played in a theater with 40+ speakers; this process required him to render WAV audio files into MXF files using the Dolby Atmos Renderer application. 

 

He put all of this into practice every semester as he oversaw the post-production workflow for our school’s capstone projects - 10 minute short films created by students. With a goal to deliver around 12 finished films to be projected in Dolby Atmos, Michael was thrown into a fast moving environment where he had to help lead teams as they (as to be expected with student filmmakers) encountered one error after another. This taught him how to keep a cool head while surrounded by frustration and short fuses; it’s important to control your emotions, especially when working with deadlines that require the utmost focus.