Tiny Dancer: Cost-Effective Indie
Setup Crosses Continents, Platforms
Just two years after graduating as a directing fellow from the American Film Institute (AFI), writer/director Eva Husson has a feature film to her credit. Working with AFI colleagues - cinematographer Warren Kommers, editor Renaldo Romero, and post consultant Bernat Aragones - she is completing Tiny Dancer, a coming-of-age film that is being readied for submission to major film festivals worldwide.
The film's drama centers on a teenage Puerto Rican girl in New York city who faces decisions about her future when her college acceptance unexpectedly falls through. Tribulations with her first-generation immigrant family and a complicated romance add to her troubles, and she relies on her love of dance to sustain her. "The story is mostly about learning to relate to your family as an adult, to understand and accept their mistakes and decide whether or not you're going to repeat them yourself," says Romero.
"The Avid software's ability to convert PAL's 25-frame rate to 24 fps … meant we could do a full film project for an affordable price."
- Renaldo Romero, Editor, Tiny Dancer
Staying Close
With shooting locations primarily in Spanish Harlem and greater New York City, as well as three days in Puerto Rico, the five-week production period wrapped in September 2006. The filmmakers then planned to lock picture by mid-November to make their first major film festival deadline. This tight turnaround time required creativity and perseverance, especially given the project's relatively limited budget of under $1 million.
Responding to this challenge, Romero set up his own midtown Manhattan editing room, where he could be close to the filmmakers during production. With this setup, the creative team could analyze material early on to refine the look of the film and handle any re-shoots on the spot without a lot of added expense. Romero used a Macintosh G5 dual-processor desktop system with Avid Media Composer software to review dailies and assemble a rough cut during the shoot. This system was connected to a Sony DSR-11 DVCAM recording deck, some monitors, and a portable FireWire drive for a cost-effective setup.
"If not for the Media Composer software we wouldn't have been able to quickly and affordably set up our cutting room near the U.S. locations," says Romero. "Our alternative would have been to edit in Barcelona from the beginning of the shoot, where one of the editors' family members has a post facility outfitted with Avid [Media Composer] Adrenaline systems. But there, we would have had to wait for dailies to be shipped to us, which would waste so much precious time. With the software-only solution we were able to assemble the film as it was being shot and communicate right away with the director."
The setup in New York also included Avid Xpress Pro software on a Macintosh G4 Powerbook laptop, which Romero's assistant used to capture DVCAM dailies that had been telecined from the original 3-perf and 4-perf Super 35mm film and were used to create a PAL 24 fps project. Because the team knew they would be doing most of the creative cut and final finishing work in Spain, they decided to telecine to the PAL format, knowing that the Avid system would handle the necessary 24 fps conversions. "The Avid software's ability to convert PAL's 25-frame rate to 24 fps while maintaining the separately imported audio allowed us to work in an accurate frame rate from the get go. It meant we could do a full film project for an affordable price," he says.
The easy interoperability between the two Avid systems made for a seamless workflow during the intense production period in New York. "We were able to move back and forth between the G4 [with Avid Xpress Pro software] and the G5 with the Media Composer software, very easily," says Romero.
Romero also appreciated the Media Composer software's ability to maintain a full-resolution image, which enabled the filmmakers to assess their material with great accuracy during production - which was a cost-effective method for this low-budget project. He explains, "Working in full [DV25] resolution was huge. Because we didn't have the money to print dailies, looking at details and being able to tell if images were soft or not was really great."
After production was complete, the crew set up post operations at Barcelona-based post house La Pospo, where they used a Windows-based Media Composer Adrenaline system. Romero was able to easily transfer all existing files from the Macintosh-based systems in New York to the Windows-based system in Spain. "It was no problem just to drag and drop the project file," he says.
"If not for the Avid Media Composer software-only solution we wouldn't have been able to quickly and affordably set up our cutting room near the U.S. locations."
- Renaldo Romero, Editor, Tiny Dancer
Dancing with Avid
Subplots and characters collide and merge on many levels in Tiny Dancer, with the most exciting example found in the culminating dance scene. Working with world-renowned choreographer Angelin Preliocai, Husson's vision for this sequence was to blend classical ballet with a modern style. The editing reflects this innovative combination with a look all its own, born from an improvisational cutting technique. "We were trained at the American Film Institute, so our goal is to have a strong traditional narrative way of telling the story, while not being afraid of experimenting a little," says Romero.
The innovative approach is evident in the 36 fps slow-motion shooting of this dance scene. Romero says, "We shot at a slower speed and sped it up in the Avid [system] when we needed standard speed. Nobody likes to slow down the shots artificially. It doesn't look the same as when you shoot at a slower speed. This gave us more options, so we could delay our choices until the editing stage," he explains.
While the producers had scoped out using Final Cut Pro for Tiny Dancer, Romero insisted on using Avid systems on this independent film. He had used Avid systems previously at AFI; however, it was more than familiarity with the industry-standard system that influenced his decision. He explains, "I always prefer to work on an Avid. With the Avid software, you install it, and you're ready to go. It always brings all of the numbers in correctly, digitizing accurately and maintaining a proper frame rate. When you're finishing a film, that's the most important thing."
*CREDIT: © Tiny Films LLC. Photos by Diego Calvin.