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by Mark Purvis It was good to be back at IBC, which had a real sense of business being done and genuine excitement for the future of our industry. No-one will have missed the big theme trending on the showfloor and conference which was the move to Cloud. All of the major public cloud vendors – GCP, AWS and Azure were at the Amsterdam RAI in force – as were the CTOs of all the major Studios. High on their agenda is the wholesale move of creation to distribution workflows to Cloud as outlined in the MovieLabs’ 2030 Vision. We were proud to have played a small but significant role in demonstrating, with AWS,camera to cloud workflows, where we also had a chance to learn how our cloud-based platform Origami plugs into the future of media content creation to meet MovieLabs’ Vision. Built on the philosophy that creativity should fuel technology, Origami is one of a growing suite of technologies designed to reduce the technical constraints for feature film and TV drama so creatives can focus on what’s important. If it wasn’t clear already then IBC2022 underlined the seismic changes that have accelerated over the last couple of years: We are moving forward fast as an industry into Cloud as the logical evolutionary step. Let’s consider where the industry has come from: The traditional method for making film and TV, spanning nearly a century, was for film negative to be processed in a lab and for sound and picture to be assembled, laboriously (remember Steenbecks?), and synced in editorial. Twenty years ago, the digital intermediate process greatly enhanced this by allowing greater manipulation of footage across editorial and VFX before conform, grade and final master but post production remained a rigidly linear workflow. It could be no other way. The technology had reached its limits. Not any more. The transition of the entire postproduction chain to the Cloud is in full sway and represents a paradigm shift from Post 2.0. You can call it nonlinear if you like but a more accurate term for Post 3.0 is collaborative. Once media is in the Cloud everyone can access it simultaneously and work on different aspects of post in parallel. This not only speeds production by smoothing away inefficiencies in moving media from A to Z but it enriches the potential for creative collaboration. This is exactly what we were demonstrating with AWS at IBC. Using Cloud for post is far from new - the industry has been using servers held in data centres off premises for aspects of the post workflow for well over a decade. VFX was among the first areas of production to use bursts of Cloud compute to speed rendering. More recently, Camera to Cloud using tools like QTake enable early viewing of footage in proxy form. The difference between that way of working and Post 3.0 is that you can now send Original Camera Negative (OCN) to the Cloud and work with optimised images as soon as it is captured - irrespective of where your creatives might be. Traditionally the DI has been done on premises with dedicated hardware but the move to Cloud means you can all but divest your machine room with all the headache of capex, maintenance and heat/power costs that entails. This game-changing advance could not come a moment too soon. The sheer volume of content being commissioned by studios and streamers together with the heightened demand to hit a succession of tight deadlines presents several challenges to facilities. The first is that with so much content coming down the pipe there are not enough vendors to actually deal with it in any local market. Consequently, the post production work on tentpole features and major episodic TV needs to be spread internationally. The challenge is how to ensure that file sharing and communication is seamless. A second issue is that even when you go from facility to facility the experience is inconsistent. This is even the case locally when hiring multiple shops in London, for example, let alone exporting that model across territories where some vendors won’t have the experience of delivering into Hollywood. We are seeing a lot of facilities having to step up and deliver on expectations of quality they might not have had manage before. These are the challenges that Origami is designed to address. Origami being a suite of tools for post-production, with the first product released to the market Phoenix, automating the delivery of VFX files We’re not the first to automate VFX and DI/Drama pulls but Phoenix, running on Origami, is the first to take advantage of the scalability and global reach that Cloud brings. A unique feature of Origami is it goes to your media, eliminating unnecessary replication and then delivering to the defined vendor, keeping with the Movie Labs 2030 Vision. You simply submit your cut file of choice (EDL, ALE, XML), which Phoenix converts to ACES-compliant Open EXR files (or DPX for legacy workflows) and delivers to designated stakeholders as and when needed. There are not enough skilled people and not enough hours in the day to cater for the scale and speed of today’s production output. Trying to do this manually will burn time and money. Cloud-native tools like Origami erase those inefficiencies and frees talent to do tasks they actually want to do – creating art. Just because you can work in the Cloud doesn’t mean your workflow or the tools that you use need to change. Also demonstrating Cloud capabilities with AWS at IBC were Moxion, Pixitmedia, Filmlight, Adobe, Autodesk, Blackmagic Design, Qtake, Colorfront and more. Editors and colorists, for example, can still work as they did before but linking high resolution media and masterfiles in the Cloud will open up new creative opportunities. This includes the opportunity to work in parallel with other departments and the opportunity to introduce AI/ML to enhance production. Already highly repetitive manual tasks like rotoscoping are being driven by AI tools in the Cloud. Enabling parallel workflows will accelerate production. With Origami, Mission Digital is a part of this pan-industry forward momentum.

When you hear the word ‘DIT’ (Digital Imaging Technician), what comes to mind? If you’re drawing a blank, you’re not alone. Even Ingrid Civet, Training & Development Liaison at Mission Digital, had to google the role when she first started working in production. So, what does a DIT do? Well, this type of work is so fluid in its nature that a one-size-fits-all definition doesn’t quite cut it. From devising workflow for production and post-production crews to managing data to working closely with the DP before and during production – the itinerary is endless and constantly changing depending on the project. It’s no wonder that DIT freelancer Lucy Keal says that being an “all-rounder is a huge advantage” to anyone considering this line of work. One thing is for certain though: DIT’s are a crucial part of helping the DP achieve their artistic vision. We spoke to Lucy and Ingrid (Training and Development Liaison) about all things DIT, freelancing life, access to the role and, for Lucy, being one of the only female DIT’s in the business. Lucy, how did you get into freelancing? I was the go-to editor at university, and I guess DIT work was sewn into that. I soon started getting involved in professional editing and DIT work – eventually projects were coming thick and fast! Freelancing with Mission Digital has been such a breath of fresh air and has made me feel so much more secure – instead of relying on a laptop, a charger and a dream, I now have kit and robust support networks in place. What’s it like being one of the only female DIT’s in the industry? On jobs, people have commented how strange it is to see a female DIT, so I feel like a strange novelty act. I think one of the biggest problems women have in the industry is imposter syndrome – feeling like not knowing everything means you’re not right for the job. DIT’s are expected to know everything to do with the camera and everything to do with post and colour grade, as well as having to keep everything organised, so there really is a lot of responsibility. When it comes to overcoming imposter syndrome, it’s so important to have a support system that you can lean on. That’s where Ingrid comes in! Ingrid, could you tell us about your role and how you support freelancers like Lucy? Working in the production department at Mission Digital means that collaborating with freelancers like Lucy is a given. Having said that, the more we grew as a company, the more I realised that there needed to be a focus on training to ensure talents are well looked after, especially because the role can be quite hard and lonely sometimes. Creating a safe and accessible space in which they can talk and develop their skills was needed. Do you think roles like yours will eventually become more commonplace? There are a lot of resources for directors, cinematographers etc. but I hope that DIT support is something that will keep growing. Having people that look after DITs and their development will be rewarding for everyone involved - I hope that’s something we can continue to create at Mission Digital. Lucy, how important is Ingrid’s role to you? She’s been a life saver! When Ingrid sat me down and asked me what I needed to thrive, it took a lot of pressure off. The job is stressful enough on set, without having to think about the networking and everything around it – so having someone there to help is a huge relief. How can access to the role of DIT be improved? Lucy: It’s starting to happen – Mission Digital have opened the dialogue with people interested in learning. It’s not really presented as a job option at film school, because it seems way too niche. Having a training scheme in place just shows how much progress is being made. Ingrid: I came from a production background and had to learn what a DIT was through Wikipedia because I’d never heard of the role. It’s so much more than just copy and pasting! It’s such a diverse job and it’s developed so much during the digital age so it’s really important for freelancers and companies like Mission Digital to take a step back and start by educating people first. Do you think the pandemic will help spark more interest in this line of work? Lucy: If my friends are anything to go by, yes! A lot of them started off with the 9-5 set-up and either realised they couldn’t do it anymore or had been let go by their company. So yeah, more and more creatives are looking at freelance work as a credible source of income. The volume of jobs out there has also significantly increased – there are so many productions that need people. Ingrid: After the five-month blackout, all the major distributors like Netflix and Amazon needed content ASAP. Honestly, the winter after the first lockdown was absolute madness – there was such a boom in the industry that we didn’t even have time to do short-forms. Whilst it’s slowly getting back to normal in terms of busy periods, the need for content is still really high and people are stepping up to the plate so quickly. Companies are also working hard to make sure rates are monitored, so freelancers can take the risk with more peace of mind. We need to find ways to standardise training across the country - this will hopefully encourage more women to take the risk. That’s what I’m hoping for. What would be your advice to anyone considering work as a DIT and what skillset would benefit a potential DIT? Lucy: Being a bit of an all-rounder is a huge advantage. Understanding cameras and post production also helps, because the DIT is the liaison between those two departments. It’s a case of the more knowledge you have on a floor level, the better. If you enjoy part of being on set but also part of being away from set, working as a DIT strikes the perfect balance. Follow Lucy and Ingrid on LinkedIn. Learn more about Mission Digital. Republished from the Summer Edition 2022 of Cinegirl magazine. Article by Louise Howland https://www.cinegirl.net/home-all-issues/behind-the-dit-curtain-a-conversation-with-lucy-and-ingrid

A Book Come To Life Ever since Mission Digital began our operations in Wales, we’ve always been on the lookout for great productions to be a part of in the region and we are excited to announce that we have just completed the first block of His Dark Materials directed by Academy award winning Director Tom Hooper and lensed by Justin Brown, whose distinct look makes the rushes look spectacular! Coming in for the second block of filming are two friends of Mission Digital - director Dawn Shadforth, who worked as a director with us on Danny Boyle’s Trust, and Suzie Lavelle who was the cinematographer on a few episodes of A Discovery of Witches. A reunion of sorts if you will. As a story that is very close to the heart of many of the team at Mission Digital (it may have even inspired the naming of children) it goes without saying that we are thrilled to be involved in bringing the adventures of Lyra and Pantalaimon to the screen in a story we think is brilliantly suited to episodic television. His Dark Materials is Mission Digital’s second project with Bad Wolf having serviced the above mentioned A Discovery of Witches, one of the many high end television shows and feature films that we have serviced from our Welsh office located in Penarth. For His Dark Materials Mission Digital are providing the DIT, Digital Dailies and Q Take Video playback services, looked after by Alex Golding, Ram Tripathi, Matt Williams, Alex Dias and James Kahn. Mission Digital have been servicing high end Welsh productions for several years now with credits that include, The Bastard Executioner, Will, Show Dogs, Journey’s End, Born To Kill, A Discovery of Witches and His Dark Materials to name a few. https://www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/latestnews/2018/his-dark-materials?ns_mchannel=social&ns_linkname=corporate&ns_campaign=bbc_press_office&ns_source=twitter Our Welsh Story Since beginning our operations in Wales, we’ve been on the lookout for great regional productions to be a part of. And last year, we started a very fruitful relationship with Bad Wolf Productions, a TV and film production company that has graduated from shooting A Discovery of Witches onto the much larger, His Dark Materials. His Dark Materials started shooting earlier this year, and has recently finished its first block of filming. This first block was directed by Tom Hooper (The King’s Speech, Les Miserables) and cinematographer Justin Brown, (The End of the F**cking World) whose distinctive look has made the rushes look truly spectacular. The second block of filming will be helmed by two friends of Mission Digital in the way of director Dawn Shadforth, who worked as a director with us on Danny Boyle’s Trust, and Suzie Lavelle who was the cinematographer on a few episodes of A Discovery of Witches. A reunion of sorts if you will. Mission Digital continue to be hard at work with our team on set, which comprises Alex Golding as a DIT, Alex Dias as our QTAKE Video Playback operator, and James Khan running a digital dailies lab fo the shoot. We’re really proud to be such a significant part of Wales biggest current production, and hope the best for the whole crew during the rest of filming.