That much material in such a small box?

The audition stage is covered by four directors. One of them is Maarten Post. In the beginning, he was sceptical because of the amount of material and the different sources: “We work on one timeline with material from twelve cameras and on top of that there are 24 audio layers, so it is a very big project. We didn’t think you could do it with such a small remote set. But to our surprise, it worked well.” Maarten prefers to do the final editing on a proper set because of the confidence monitor. That makes it easier to see if a shot was stable. “But it is fine to do a rough cut for the show from your own home. It allows you to work uninterrupted for long periods of time, because you don’t have the distractions that you have in an office. I can work faster and start earlier. Normally, during that period, I’d be at Blue Circle from 10 am to 10 pm. When I work from home, at least I get to see my girlfriend on weekdays. And it will be ideal if, in the future, I ever become a father.”

Good for the budget

“The directors are massive fans,’ says Benthe. “And for me the advantage is that it is a lot cheaper.” Benthe has been working with the same directors for three seasons so they’ve built up a level of trust. “When you have good directors that stick to the schedule, then I don’t mind them working from home.” She does emphasise the need for proper planning.

As the project progresses, the directors spend more time together. Benthe: “It is easier to give each other live feedback. So, they still get together at Blue Circle on a regular basis.” And during the semi-finals and finals they work at Blue Circle as well. Maarten: “Cutting down the semi-final recordings is too difficult to do on one of those remote work stations.”

Exchange without a media manager

Editor Tijs Hartman judged the items using the viewing platform Frame.io, a kind of private YouTube. Benthe: “He was super enthusiastic about it, because he could check and judge the rough cuts anytime via an app.” Stijn: “We created a connection between the Avid and Frame.io, so that we as media managers didn’t have to get in the middle. The guys put their timeline in a folder that would land on Frame.io within a few minutes. The editor gets a notification when the rough cuts are ready. They are fully in control, there is no need for human interference. And it works!” Maarten: “Frame.io allows you to add rough cuts into the show from the comfort of your own home so you can watch them back later. The app makes remote editing much easier.”

Joint kick-off

EMG Media Manager Stijn was involved in setting up Holland’s Got Talent. “From selecting the camera’s, setting up the workflows to helping with the spotting and logging.” He found a joint kick-off very useful. “We got together with all disciplines to discuss the workflow. That helps make things run smoothly.” Benthe adds: “You make it very clear who does what, so you can take it from there. For a producer and facilities company that is a really smart move.” Benthe loves working with EMG. “It’s been a good year where we work out what is possible and help each other.”