Free software in low-budget digital film post-production: “life in a dance.”
Blanca Rey, Jesus Odreman. February 13, 2023.
“The documentary «Life in a dance» is a co-creation of two artistic teams: Duendeando and El Perro Andaluz 2.0, who join forces to narrate the artistic career of Flamenco Dancer David Morales Ramírez.» (Odreman, 2020). so it begins a post published by the production team of the documentary “La vida en un baile” (Blanca Rey, 2021) at the beginning of its production process, in which the documentary blog was used to share experiences throughout its production:
“It is an independent co-production, which without having any type of prior financing has been carried out from the technical design of a workflow based on Free tools (Free and open source software), added to DSLR cameras and Digital Sound Recording. (…) So, in addition to aspiring to be a useful historical document for the preservation of the cultural memory of Flamenco in La Línea de la Concepción, through the history of the life of bailaor David Morales, this work also represents a filmmaking with a minimum budget, which uses free tools (FOSS), from its initial conception, through its production and recording process, and during its editing and post-production, to culminate in a digital film copy, DCP , and compressed versions for streaming distribution.” (Odreman, 2020).
In the opinion of the team, in this digital film it was possible to verify experimentally that the tools FOSS (free and open source software), are totally suitable for producing low-budget independent documentary films, a leave of one workflow design developed in Free Software, including Linux-based operating systems, in combination with proprietary tools that are free to use, such as DaVinci Resolve in its free version.
This selection of tools was key to solving some technical problems of the content produced with special effects, although it is usually considered that this type of work can only be done with subscription-based tools or with high-cost licenses:“As the Post-production process progressed, we resumed this exercise to meet the requirement of removing the fire extinguisher from the scene of Cantaora Esperanza Soria. To do this, we made a 3D copy of the object by removing the environment elements in the scene, but trying to preserve its structural integrity and visual texture originally captured by Meshroom and this work was done in version 2.92 Beta of Blender.”(Odreman, 2020).
Since 2005, El Perro Andaluz has specialized in the production of documentaries that record and value the stories of oral tradition, generally excluded from official history discourses. With two television series, and several dozen short films, La Vida en un Baile (Blanca Rey, 2021), which had its world premiere at the Cartagena de Indias International Film Festival –Interrupted (2022), and released in India at the5th International Folklore Film Festival 2022 (Thrissur) It is their first feature film and also their first international co-production.
References:
Odreman , J ( 2020 ) «Low Budget Digital Cinema». Blog. Life in a dance. Spain (Spanish). Recovered from:
Odreman , J ( 2021 ) Free software in digital film post-production: »Life in a dance» Documentary by Blanca Rey.Blog. Life in a dance. Spain (Spanish). Recovered from:
Attachments: workflow design, VFX with CANON T3i, Meshroom, Fspy, Blender, DaVinci Resolve Linux, ASUS tuf fx505gt & POPOs!, and posters from the documentary.
LA VIDA EN UN BAILE 