Post-Production

Hi, Jonny Jorayo. You could check Stage 32's Job Board (www.stage32.com/find-jobs). It gets updated regularly.

Stage 32 has a Community Open House on November 25th. It'll help you connect with creatives and industry pros. You can sign up here: www.stage32.com/education/products/stage-32-s-november-community-open-ho...

And it's Stage 32's November Write Club. It's a chance to connect with writers, directors, producers, etc., and it could help you reach a goal(s). There's three prizes this week! Write Club isn't just for writers. If you're interested in joining, Week 2's blog came out Monday. www.stage32.com/blog/november-write-club-week-2-insights-from-the-stage-...

OK thank you

You're welcome, Jonny Jorayo. Hope you find jobs on here!

Jonny Jorayo Thank you for sharing your experience, it’s clear you have an impressive skill set and a lot of versatility. I understand how challenging it can be to break into new markets, especially in industries with tightly-knit local networks. From my experience, finding remote work abroad often comes down to consistently showcasing your work and connecting directly with directors and production teams. Having a strong portfolio or demo reel that highlights your range in sound design, Foley, and composition is key, as it allows potential collaborators to see exactly what you can do. Smaller or indie productions are often more open to remote collaboration, which can lead to valuable credits and help expand your international reputation.

Jonny Jorayo You're in a very competitive area, globally as well as locally. So understand that it takes some time and commitment to building your career. Network as much as possible with your local people. Reach out to them and remind them you are around and available - eventually someone will take a chance on you. When they do, make sure you do your absolute best work without any complaint, and they will remember you well. As Cyrus Sales says, work with smaller productions as much as possible and build that portfolio. Do your best for them as well, as they too will remember you and mention you to other productions.

I don't remember the first moment, Behnam Hojati, but the VFX in Terminator 2: Judgment Day blew me away as a kid, and it made the movie scarier.

Behnam Hojati I don’t think there was ever a single “aha” moment for me. For me, it came gradually over time with experience and a genuine desire to develop better stories. You start out working on random shots, then realize the importance of telling a story, then learn how to tell that story effectively, and eventually you learn how to use VFX to enhance and elevate it. It’s a process, and each step builds on the last.

Ashley Renee Smith This is honestly one of the most fascinating videos I’ve watched in a while. I think it’s because this is a new area of film for me—color grading. I’ve been focusing on learning it, so watching this was incredibly insightful.

For me, authenticity when remastering or restoring comes from keeping the original in mind. While working on a project, it’s important to maintain the integrity of the original work. It’s easy to add a piece of yourself into something, but it’s much more challenging to step back, remove yourself, and focus solely on enhancing what’s already there.

I’d also like to add that I’ve never seen this movie before and may not have even heard of it, but I absolutely love the color grading. I’m adding it to my watch list.

You're welcome, Cyrus Sales. I think I saw you in the video.

Great work, Cyrus Sales! It is overall quite dark, so you can add "fake" lights as secondary grades, using radials or gradients. One tip to make something pop is to push the complementary color of the background. A quick example adding a radial grade below to show the idea.

Maurice Vaughan You did as the audio engineer, I think I might start pulling a Stan Lee lol

Patrik Gyltefors Thank you so much for the feedback! I’m currently in the process of learning color grading, which has been an area I’ve been working to improve. Would you mind sending the picture to me directly? I wasn’t able to click on it to enlarge it, and I’d like to see exactly what you’re referencing. Additionally, if you have any tips or guidance on color grading, I’m very open to learning and would greatly appreciate your insights. Thank you again for your time.

You should, Cyrus Sales!

Looking forward to facilitating this webinar - being able to use a tool like Premiere Pro can give you so much creative freedom and confidence to take action yourself and move your projects forward!

I'm super excited to share about editing, which is something I'm very passionate about. This webinar is going to be awesome! If you're a beginner, hopefully you will come away with a lot of helpful tools that you can use to get started on your creative journey, and I'll do my best to answer any questions you have.

Thank you Matt for the thoughtful note, excited for the webinar tomorrow!

Thank you Sebastian, you're so right about that!!

Many thanks to Matt Power who has masterfully shown us that making the jump to a professional tool like Adobe Premiere Pro is something... even I can do! ;)

And thank you to everyone who attended live - excited for you and those who will be watching on demand to start putting together your stories on that timeline!

You're right, Behnam Hojati. This makes my scripts scarier, and it makes the movies I watch scarier. And using sounds instead of monsters can save money when filming a movie.

Maurice Vaughan "Absolutely, that’s a great point. Sound not only heightens fear but also stretches imagination; it forces the audience to fill the unseen with their own dread. In a way, the best monsters are the ones we never actually see, only hear. Appreciate your insight, my friend."

Behnam Hojati Could not agree more. Horror is all about tension and anticipation, and sound is the invisible hand guiding the audience’s fear. That subtle undercurrent, the quiet before the chaos, is where the real dread lives. It’s fascinating how a single, well-placed sound can trigger more emotion than anything visual ever could.

Exactly. The best horror I’ve ever seen is invisible felt, not shown. That quiet dread that creeps in before you even know why. Lately, especially post-COVID, a lot of horror feels rushed or overexposed, showing too much too soon. It takes away the tension that beautiful discomfort of being fully in the moment, waiting for the unseen to strike.

Hey, Cyrus Sales. You're right. Sometimes the most valuable thing we can do is step back for a second and just breathe. I'm on page 53 of a feature script I'm rewriting. I started rewriting the script earlier this week. Finishing the script is my main goal for Stage 32's November Write Club.

That’s exciting to hear you’re in post production. I’d suggest making a post in the Job Offers section here on Stage 32 — it’s a great way to connect directly with post-production houses and talent who are looking for projects like yours. Wishing you the best as you bring your short film to the finish line!

Thanks. I was able to land one. Cheers..!

Congratulations on landing a post-production house, Kerson Raymond!

Totally agree a good transition, whether in film or script, carries the rhythm of the story. Appreciate your thoughts, Maurice.

With the technical and financial barriers to entry into the film industry all but dissolving, we are experiencing a natural and unavoidable dilution of accomplished work, and an increase in the mediocre and unsophisticated. When I got into the industry, a 35mm camera could cost a quarter million dollars (for real!) and it took a decade or more of experience on set in a camera department before anyone would trust you to light a scene on a real film. Editing was no different - a very specialized skill done under the direction or collaboration with an accomplished director who, by definition, was a superior storyteller. You learned by working with very experienced people in a very elite industry. Now, anyone with a cell phone and editing app thinks they can be a filmmaker. That lack of experience - and a lack of knowledge and respect for what has gone before - is what you are seeing, IMO. It goes all the way up to the top producers in the major studios. So often I see and hear "new" ideas - visual or technical or plot or structure or theme - that were masterfully done in the 1920s or 30s or 40s, as an example.

Shadow Dragu-Mihai, Esq., Ipg I completely agree with your point, Shadow. From my perspective too, classic films achieved a stronger balance between industry and art.

Audiences back then could feel that balance — they paid for a story that truly delivered both craft and emotion.

Nowadays, especially in horror and action, many films follow the same formula: a group of people goes somewhere strange, chaos starts, and there’s nothing new to offer.

Even worse, they often use up all their tension and spectacle too early, leaving the rest empty and predictable.

The real masters knew how to pace emotion, rhythm, and creativity so the story stayed alive until the end. That balance is something we’ve almost lost.

I get what you’re saying, Behnam Hojati. There’s something about raw, intentional edits that really let the emotion breathe — imperfections can actually make a scene feel more alive. While technical precision is important, I agree that chasing flawless transitions at the expense of tension and feeling can sometimes drain a film of its soul. I’d take an edit with heart over perfection any day.

Cyrus Sales You’re absolutely right,

Those intentional imperfections the ones that carry a bit of unpredictability are often what make a cut feel human. I think when an editor embraces rhythm and emotion over technical polish, the story starts to breathe on its own.

Perfection might impress the eye, but imperfection touches the heart.

Thanks for sharing such a thoughtful take — it’s great to connect with someone who values that same pulse in editing.

7stcut

That was fun to watch, Ashley Renee Smith. I write scripts that'll probably have CGI in them. The effects in Interstellar are some of the most satisfying I've seen.

Ashley Renee Smith This looks so fun! I love how satisfying VFX can combine technical precision with pure visual delight. It’s the kind of work that makes people stop and just appreciate the craft. For me, some of the most satisfying effects are perfectly timed simulations or transitions that feel seamless yet impactful, where every little detail just clicks.

Caught this the other week. One of the best VFX breakdowns I've ever had the pleasure of watching.

This is dope. Love seeing a compositing supervisor break down the craft — always inspiring to learn how these techniques push creative boundaries.

I have sometimes spent hours cleaning poor sound. Yes, there are is software to do that. But it takes time. And sometimes you have bad luck. So better try to record in the best possible way. Besides, if you want those who are in front of the mic to behave in a professional way, you should show that you are professional. So it can save you trouble to spend money on entry level professional equipment.

Ashley Renee Smith I haven’t experimented with A.I. yet, but I made it a goal at the beginning of the year to get more familiar with it and see if it’s something I’d be interested in adding to my workflow. Thank you for sharing this — it’s a great starting point, especially with how fast everything in post-production is evolving.