Veronika Bordas spent the summer in Munich, Germany, as an intern at a post-productions movie company, ARRI. She wrote that she knew little about this process, so learned a great deal, and also received a full language immersion from 9-5 daily, since only German was spoken at the company. Here is her on the job report from Munich:

Making Movies in Munich

Veronika Boras
San Antonio, TX
Harvard University 2010

It's hard to believe that it's already the end of my 9th week here. I have learned a lot during my internship, as I was not very familiar with all of the steps that film goes through after being shot. In my time here with the company, ARRI, I have been completing a full rotation through the different departments. My work day is usually 9-5, but depends on when the people in a particular department arrive. When I first rotate to a new department, I observe what the people there do, and they show and explain what goes on. Afterwards, I get more hands-on and can try out some things.

My first three weeks I was with Kopierwerk, which is where undeveloped negatives go first. Each full-length movie is usually six reels long, each reel 300m long, with thousands of tiny photos on each. There are huge machines that develop negatives, both for movie and for TV rolls (movie film is 35mm wide, TV film is 16 mm). Here they also cut negatives based on directions given by the producer, so that if a producer is sure he doesn't want a certain part of what was filmed, he does not have to pay for having that part of film go through more processing. There are also the scanners that are built here on site, for scanning in negatives before digital work. The film goes through analog color correction, where someone corrects the overall picture for red, green, and blue colors, also to make sure that different scenes are similar to each other in colors. This department also deals with the end product; after all of the alterations, both analog and digital, have been made to the film, and the film is now stored digitally, before it can go to the movie theater, the rolls of positive film are printed--this is done with lasers.

My fourth week I was with AVID/Telecine. AVID is the software used to edit the final movie from all of the footage that has been shot. This department is mostly freelancers who are hired by a producer and pay ARRI to use the machines. It was neat for me to observe as a movie director came in and sat down with a Cutter, giving instructions and suggestions on how he wanted his movie, while the person sitting next to him fiddled with the shots. I saw a fight scene edited together, from what looked like over-exaggerated and slow punches never reaching their targets to what one sees on screen. Telecine works with digital color correction, more precise retouches than what can be done with analog correction. When major productions are under way, directors will send in reels from current footage called Dailies that are quickly developed, color corrected, and sent back to the directors.

My fifth week was with Sound. My first day, a dubbing for an English sports show into German was being made. Various speakers would come in and read the lines; after listening to the original English sound byte, they tried to imitate the accents of whom they were dubbing, as each speaker usually spoke the lines of more than one person. What surprised me the most was to learn that the only sound used from the original recording is the dialogue--all else, from slamming doors, footsteps, rustle of clothing, background nois--is created artificially! When a movie has been edited together, a sound technician re-creates these sounds using very basic equipment in a sound studio. Part of the studio's floor is wood, part is gravel, part is concrete, etc., so that he can make the right-sounding footsteps; he sometimes changes shoes, too. He has to be careful to time his steps with what he sees on the screen. I was most impressed by the re-creation of chicken sizzling in grease, recreated using Styrofoam, paper, and bubbles blown through a straw into a glass of water. I also learned about how sound is transferred to the physical film--it is exposed, using light, like pictures are, onto negative film; then the two different negatives are together when the positive is created from them.

My sixth week I was with Transfer, which is where film from one digital medium is transferred to another. The next week I was with Digital Intermediate, where digital images and film clips are cleaned and refined using software, which I learned to use.

This week I am with VFX, Visual Effects, which is very interesting. One of the main projects being worked on right now is a motorcycle that tumbles, throwing its driver off, before it crashes into a tree and bursts into flames. There are people in VFX who build the 3D model from scratch and others who add in the smaller details to make the final image look more realistic. One project requiring less work is a snow scene, where the scene was shot with foam on the ground. The foam sometimes wavers with the wind; this needs to be corrected. Snow also needs to be edited onto the roofs and windows. I am learning to use the video editing software, Shake, which can be used for all of these tricks.

Right now I am learning to make 2D shots appear 3D by adding depth.

I've enjoyed living in Germany this summer very much. I'd taken intensive language courses this past year in preparation for now, and I'm glad I did, as only German is spoken at work. I have noted how my speech and comprehension has improved since I've gotten here. Munich is a wonderful city to live in--big, so that there's always something to see, but compact enough that it's very easy to get around. There are many small bakeries and grocery stores nearby. The public transportation system is very convenient, but it's also so easy to just walk everywhere. The weather tends to be in the 70s and it rains fairly often, but the cool weather is nice. Back at the beginning of the summer, there was much excitement as Germany was doing very well in the European Soccer Championships.

I will soon be back to work studying at Harvard, and will always remember my summer in Munich.