Movie Production Relies on iChat

April 15th, 2008 at 3:00 PM - News by Bryan Chaffin

While many people might expect to find movie makers praising MacBook Pros or Final Cut Pro, at least one production team has found iChat to be the killer app they canit do without. In his Apple a Day column for the Baltimore Sun, David Zeiler tells the story of how iChat holds the editing process together for one film production team, helps with additional dialog recording (ADR), and keeps families separated by thousands of miles connected.

Mr. Zeiler was originally chasing down a photo of Generation Kill writer David Simon using a Mac, and found the iChat connection when talking to Greg Spence, who is managing the post-production process for the mini-series.

"We use iChat religiously in our cutting rooms, as do most sound and picture editors and assistants," Mr. Spence told the Sun. "Sometimes it is as short-range as a person in an intense screening or editorial meeting sending messages to someone just outside the door, or it can be as distant as across the globe."

Even more interesting is the use of iChat to manage the ADR process. "We sign on iChat, set up cameras, the director talks to the talent, they record the line," Mr. Spence said. "After each line the recordist simply drops it into the iChat window and we pull it down in Los Angeles. Lots of low-budget shows do this now and save up to $1,200 per hour."

Less surprising is that Mr. Spence personally uses iChat to keep in touch with his family when separated by work. Read more in the current Apple a Day column at the Sun.