It's almost time to load up on donuts and Pure Maple Syrup, because SUPER TROOPERS 2 has finished its post-production! Meow, what that means is that after a torrent of sleepless nights, the Broken Lizard team has completed the sound mix and color correction portion of the filmmaking process. Meow that we've gotten that out of the way, here's a look at the official statement from the funny men and women who brought you one of the most hysterical law enforcement-related comedies of recent years:
We've posted about how we've been doing test screenings already and some folks were confused how we do that if the film was not technically "done." The reality is that those screenings are done with an unfinished product: temp sound & music stuffed in and a low res picture. It's important to do those screenings before everything is locked in, so we can see what works and what doesn't, what jokes play and what jokes suck and then make adjustments accordingly. But at some point you have to stop that process and lock everything in. The sound mix and the color correction mark the end of that process. Both are exciting, not just because they are the final steps, but because they vastly improve the film.
By way of explanation, the sound mix is the final sound step. This is the time when you assemble all the sound elements people have been working on for weeks: the score and pre recorded songs, sound effects, any additional dialogue recorded and the sound we recorded on the day we filmed. You take all those elements into a theater sized room with all of the players: the Sound Mixer, the Sound Designer, the Music Editor, the Picture Editor and basically you go scene by scene and make sure the elements work and compliment each other: Music not too loud, dialogue all in the right place, fart sound effects rich and deep enough. Jay, Rich Perello (our Producer) and I joined that process which takes about 4 days or so. When we were done it all sounded beautiful.
While the Sound Mix is the final sound step, Color Correction is the final picture step. When you shoot your film, you get footage files each day to make sure everything is coming out the way you want. These footage files are called "Dailies." When the lab develops your dailies they throw one "across the board" look on it (like putting a filter on your pics) regardless of whether it's inside or outside, day or night. Those dailies are what you use to edit the film so often when you edit you're using footage that is washed out or colored wrong or low quality looking. When you get to the color correction process, it's like looking at a whole new movie because it's the real deal. When we started making movies you would actually work with the film stock itself but these days what they can do on the computer with digital footage is amazing. So last week Jay, Rich & our Editor, Spencer Houck, spent a few days at the film lab with Joe Collins, our amazing Director of Photography, and went scene by scene, adjusting color, brightness etc… making everything beautiful and vibrant.
With the picture and sound done, we marry the two together and boom…. final product. We've been in post for the last 8 months, always looking at an unfinished product. Now we get to watch the film in all its glory…. and that is an amazing feeling.
So, what do SUPER TROOPERS fans do meow? Well, they play the waiting game (even if it sucks). Since wrapping production, Fox Searchlight has reviewed the finished product and is presently going over scheduling for the film's release. Broken Lizard has assured fans that the moment they get word of the film's premiere date, they plan to share it with the world. Additionally, once that piece of the puzzle falls into place, promotional materials such as trailers, posters, and TV spots for the film can roll out.
Well meow, that certainly is something worth getting excited about. We'll be sure to keep you up to speed on the release of SUPER TROOPERS 2, but for meow, we'll just have to remain patient for when more information gets officially announced.
SUPER TROOPERS 2 will star Lynda Carter, Rob Lowe, Emmanulle Chriqui, Brian Cox, Tyler Labine, Marisa Coughlan, Will Sasso, Jay Chandrasekhar, Kevin Heffernan, Hayes McArthur, Maggie Castle, Steve Lemme, Erik Stolhanske and more!
Meow!