When 2016 Sundance Film Festival goers sit down in a theater to watch a film in the NEXT category, they’re bound to be talking about it later. These films combine ingenuity and vision to tell stories in new, unexpected ways. It’s no surprise that many filmmakers on the cutting edge of American cinema chose a post-production workflow featuring Adobe Premiere Pro CC, an editing platform that lets filmmakers edit nearly any type of footage in its native format. Here, we share insights into the experiences of four filmmakers premiering films in the festival’s exciting NEXT category.
Dark Night
CREDIT: Helene Louvart, Courtesy of Sundance Institute
In Dark Night, a suburban landscape plays witness to the inevitable, unfolding events that culminate in a Cineplex massacre. Over the course of one day, from sunrise to midnight, six strangers—the shooter among them—share in this new American nightmare. Writer and Director Tim Sutton’s unique perspective is evident in his precise camera work and how he and his editor, Jeanne Applegate, worked together to shape and frame the narrative.
Applegate chose to edit the film with Premiere Pro CC, largely because the film’s cinematographer, Hélène Louvart, created LUTs in camera that the team wanted to see while editing. Working with Avid would have required transcoding, but when the team tested Premiere Pro it worked perfectly.
“With Premiere Pro CC, we were able to edit our ProRes and RED RAW footage and see it with the custom LUTs,” says Applegate. “We had a great experience using Premiere Pro and I’m so proud of the film.”
How to Tell You’re A Douchebag
CREDIT: Cory Fraiman Lott, Courtesy of Sundance Institute
Tahir Jetter, director, screenwriter, and producer of How to Tell You’re a Douchebag, describes the film as, “A rom-com with an edge.” Jetter shot his first feature film in just four weeks and Editor Jared Rosenthal began editing half-way through. After starting in mid-July, they delivered the complete film to Sundance at the end of September.
The duo previously worked together on Hard Times, a YouTube web series, so already had a good working rhythm. They used Premiere Pro CC to edit the film because they wanted a quick, nimble system without a lot of lag time. “In choosing between Avid and Premiere Pro CC, the logical choice for us was Premiere Pro, particularly because the turnaround time for the picture was very quick,” says Rosenthal.
Using Premiere Pro also enabled them to easily integrate with Adobe After Effects CC, Media Encoder CC and Photoshop CC. “It was just nice to have such a speedy workflow between our various systems as we moved through different parts of post,” says Jetter.
Operation Avalanche
CREDITS: Andy Appelle, Jared Raab, Courtesy of Sundance Institute
Spying, mystery, and conspiracy abound in Operation Avalanche. Set in the 1960s, Screenwriter and Director Matt Johnson, Producer Matthew Miller, Editor Curt Lobb, and DPs Andy Appelle and Jared Raab initially wanted to shoot on film but quickly realized it was cost prohibitive due to the amount of footage needed. Instead, they used a process championed by a film school friend, Pablo Perez—shooting on RED RAW, printing the R3D files to film, and then bringing the footage back to digital. This process helped them achieve an authentic 1960s look with 2015 efficiency.
After starting to cut the film with Final Cut Pro, the team quickly switched to Premiere Pro CC when they realized they could edit the RAW files natively. “We loved using Premiere Pro CC to edit Operation Avalanche and are total converts,” says Miller. “We migrated to Premiere Pro to accommodate editing .r3d files. Now there’s no turning back.”
Throughout the process they would edit, project to a screen, shoot the scene with the projection, and then bring that new footage into Premiere Pro for editing. This added complexity and—along with archival content such as NASA footage from various media sources—helped create a film that is so interesting and layered that Lionsgate purchased it before it even premiered.
The Eyes of My Mother
Courtesy of Sundance Institute
Screenwriter, Director, and Editor Nicolas Pesce earned his spot in the NEXT category with the dark, haunting film The Eyes of My Mother. While the film is filled with trauma and imbalance, the editing process was the exact opposite. After being “raised” on Adobe Photoshop, Pesce didn’t hesitate to edit his film with Premiere Pro CC.
“Using Premiere Pro CC was a no brainer,” he says. “I also created all of the subtitles and credits for the film in Photoshop and Illustrator. Especially after this project, I’m a huge fan of Adobe Creative Cloud.”
On set, Pesce and an assembly editor worked on different machines at the same time, easily passing timelines back and forth. They also appreciated the easy integration with After Effects using Dynamic Link. The result is a visually rich, haunting tale of isolation and imagination.
NEXT category introduces bold projects
Films in the NEXT category stand out, even amidst the full Sundance Film Festival program known for its commitment to featuring original storytelling. Adobe salutes the NEXT category filmmakers, who push the boundaries of creativity and workflow, and is honored help them realize their visions.
Learn more about Adobe at the 2016 Sundance Film Festival
Learn more about Adobe Creative Cloud video and audio tools
Download a free trial of Adobe Premiere Pro CC