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How will filmmaking adapt in the post-Covid era? A glimpse into the future is afforded by Mank, the forthcoming Netflix feature project directed by David Fincher and spearheaded by producer Ceán Chaffin. More than a love letter to a catalog title, Mank is a glimpse of the complex interplay of human creativity and the filmmaking process as practiced in Hollywood’s golden era. Caption
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But the virus and its requirement to remain physically apart may constitute a final push for the industry at large. All the attributes of true remote connectivity – reduced travel time and its attendant benefits in terms of stress, pollution and time savings, enhanced with rapid feedback, superior organization and a centralized database – will still be applicable when health concerns subside. “”
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Ceán Chaffin, Producer
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Ceán Chaffin, Producer
Fincher came to the project with a mandate that the production work with the PIX production hub. Chaffin, who has made nine films with Fincher, says that the system is an essential tool for collaboration and input. |
“We tell everyone right away, if you want direct communication with Fincher, PIX is the way,” she says. “We do not want to make any director go through multiple drop boxes or myriad emails to find something he or she needs. Many of our collaborators are working in a variety of locations and countries, and David needs to be available to them, and them to him. We produce visual effects in-house with Fincher as our free VFX supervisor. We laugh about this, but it’s true – on Benjamin Button, whenever Digital Domain sent a clip, the average response-time from Fincher was 120 seconds. Like many directors, Fincher has multiple projects. Having all his work on one system, where he can jump from one project to the next, is a huge time saver.” “WE TELL EVERYONE RIGHT AWAY, IF YOU WANT DIRECT COMMUNICATION WITH FINCHER, PIX IS THE WAY.”
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David Fincher, Director
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David Fincher, Director
Of course, on time-starved productions, a tool that promotes speed is a blessing. But Fincher says that’s a short-sighted way of gauging the real value. The key improvement, he says, is not finishing early but more opportunities for iteration. “...IT WILL ENABLE US TO MOVE REALLY QUICKLY BEYOND THE REFLEXIVE DECISIONS...”
More bites at the apple equals more creative filmmaking. “The reason most movies fall into a ‘master, alternate master, two-shot, two-shot, single, single, moving-on!’ formula is not that people are not imaginative,” says Fincher. “It’s because there is so much pressure to decide what you’re going to do with the day’s work. So, people revert to the familiar dim sum menu. The beautiful thing is to give people a little extra time to express themselves, the time it might take to say: ‘I’ve seen it that way a million times. I would like to try this…’ It means that instead of ‘How do we finish as soon as possible,’ the conversation can be ‘How do we make this moment as good as it can possibly be?’ Scene from Mank
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Kirk Baxter, Editor
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Kirk Baxter, Editor
Mank editor Kirk Baxter would still prefer to be in the room with Fincher, but he appreciates the director’s ability to communicate his intentions in spite of working remotely. “I FIND THAT PIX IS SO CLEAR AND ACCURATE WITH THE INFORMATION.”
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Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross, Composers
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Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross, Composers
From the perspective of composer Trent Reznor, the ability to work remote seamlessly allowed him to take on a challenging project without compromising the safety of his family. Reznor and Fincher have collaborated previously on Gone Girl, Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, and The Social Network. After conversations with Fincher, Reznor and partner Atticus Ross decided to work toward a Bernard Herrmann-influenced score played on traditional, period-accurate instruments. That choice added a layer of complication to the process compared to previous projects where Reznor and Ross acted as their own musicians, music editors and arrangers. “WITH OUR FIRST PROJECT BEING PIX-BASED, WE DON'T KNOW HOW YOU WOULD MAKE A FILM WITHOUT IT.”
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Don Burt, Production Designer
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Don Burt, Production Designer
Production designer Don Burt has worked with Fincher on more than a half-dozen projects going back to Zodiac. On Mank, he decided to hand-draw many of his designs in keeping with the spirit of the period. |
Douglas Urbanski, Producer
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Douglas Urbanski, Producer
Producer Douglas Urbanski is the producing partner of Mank lead actor Gary Oldman. He also has extensive experience as a theatrical producer on Broadway and in London. He likens the shift to production backbones like PIX to the advent of Zoom and other video conferencing tools. “”
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Peter Mavromates,
Post-production supervisor |
Peter Mavromates,
Post-production supervisor Post-production supervisor Peter Mavromates brings 30+ years of experience in filmmaking, having worked with Fincher on Panic Room and Zodiac. He says that compared to his stint at Marvel, the operation mounted for Mank was a “mom and pop shop.” “”
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Eric Messerschmidt, ASC, Cinematographer
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Eric Messerschmidt, ASC, Cinematographer
Director of Photography Erik Messerschmidt, ASC, has previously worked with Fincher on Mindhunter. With extensive testing, he and the director determined that the right visual strategy for Mank was to shoot in black and white using the RED Monochrome camera. That decision, along with the optics they chose, required a lot of further research to determine how every actor, set and prop would photograph in terms of contrast and texture. “...THE ABILITY TO KEEP EVERYTHING IN ONE PLACE, AND ACCESS IT FROM ANY DEVICE, IS WHAT'S FANTASTIC.”
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A SOUND CHOICE WITH PIXThe Mank sound team make extensive use of PIX Session to synchronize playback. |
In early 2020, more than 30 years after Pretty Hate Machine shocked the ears of the world, Trent Reznor’s impact on popular music was recognized with Nine Inch Nails’ induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. While the rock cognoscenti was acknowledging his influence, Reznor was deep into his current assignment – scoring the forthcoming David Fincher film Mank. Writing for and recording period-accurate instrumentation for the 1930s-set feature film wasn’t the only major adaptation required – the advent of the Covid-19 pandemic had Reznor, Fincher and their colleagues taking remote collaboration software to another level to achieve their goals safely and efficiently. Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross, Mank composers
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“There are a lot more notes,” says Reznor. “It’s been a much more collaborative process. Translating our compositions into the language of the era with authenticity requires a lot more moving pieces. Also, we’re in a pandemic, and we can’t put fifty musicians in a room, so we used a traveling group of period-accurate microphones that our engineer had prepared, with instructions for each performer on how to record. As you can imagine, that results in lots and lots of files. We’re not what I would call highly organized people. It has tested the limits of our organizational skills, and our sanity.” |
“PIX has become a pretty essential tool,” Reznor says. “It feels like an integral and elegant solution. If there’s a rough assembly, I can just walk over to my projector and watch it. We have a constant, direct line to David, and he can make quick, frame-specific comments. It’s well thought-out and secure, and it lets us get down to our job – trying to write music, rather than navigating a myriad of other tools. Having come into the film world when we did, with our first project being PIX-based, we don’t know how you would make a film without it. We don’t see it as merely a dailies tool. It’s the central hub of the entire operation. How would you do it if you didn’t have that hub?” “THE PIX PLATFORM PROVIDES A SAFE, SECURE AND UNIFIED WAY TO MANAGE THE AUDIO PROJECT.”
“We utilize the PIX platform from production to final delivery on David’s shows,” says Molod. “For instance, on Mank, we would present David with sound options every day including dialogue, sound effects, sound ideas and ADR changes. He reviewed each of these options and commented back with a ton of notes. We can export these notes directly from PIX, and I can distribute them to each of the sound department editors, mixers, and sound designers to confirm that the changes have been made. David will comment on each take and will sometimes ask that we cut sound from one part of a take and edit into a different take. We can build a playlist in PIX of these changes and send to David for review. There are always last-minute picture changes, for example, when VFX start to drop. This back-and-forth with the ability to track the notes and changes in PIX allows us to sculpt the project directly with David up until the final deliverable.” |
Making a movie during a pandemic requires a little innovation. During the production of Mank, David Fincher’s team needed to work remotely while retaining the ability to collaborate and also to consult with Fincher at a moment’s notice. In addition, they needed secure access to footage and associated metadata. Cinematographer Erik Messerschmidt, ASC, on-set
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The workflow saw data from the RED RANGER cameras transferred on shuttle drives from production to post, where the near-set team used Fotokems' nextLAB to manage the image QC, sound synchronization and metadata updates. They generated deliverables for the editor, who could then assemble the timelines in Adobe Premiere Pro. When the editorial timelines were complete the original REDCODE RAW camera files and sound files, plus the editorial deliverables were synchronised onto a CODEX Media Vault. This real-time on-set server stored the entire production in a high-resolution proxy format along with associated metadata for each take. The upload to the Media Vault was achieved using a proof-of-concept CODEX Connect service, which also synchronized all data with the PIX cloud. Finally, the system mirrored itself to a back-up server to safeguard against any point of failure during production. |
SHOOTING BLACK & WHITE WITH REDCinematographer Erik Messerschmidt, ASC, reflects on the Mindhunter HDR workflow to shoot in black and white. |
According to director of photography Erik Messerschmidt, ASC, David Fincher has been trying to get Mank made for almost 30 years, and one of the major roadblocks has been his insistence on making the film in black and white. “THE MONOCHROME WAS SO SPECTACULAR AND YIELDED SUCH PREFERABLE RESULTS THAT IT WAS ABSOLUTELY THE CHOICE.”
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The RED RANGER camera brain is equipped with a HELIUM 8K MONOCHROME sensor that can record 8192x4320 resolution at up to 60 fps. The files came off the camera in REDCODE RAW format and do not require de-Bayering. The result is a more pure and precise image than can be achieved by shooting color and eliminating the saturation in post.
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