Avid Technology > Case Studies > Avid Everywhere: The Secret Behind Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation's Success

Avid Everywhere: The Secret Behind Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation's Success

Technology Category

Sensors - Acoustic Sensors
Sensors - Camera / Video Systems

Applicable Industries

Equipment & Machinery
Transportation

Applicable Functions

Logistics & Transportation
Procurement

Use Cases

Last Mile Delivery
Time Sensitive Networking

Services

System Integration

About The Customer

The customer in this case is the production team of Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation, a high-profile action film. The team is composed of a group of talented professionals, including video editor Eddie Hamilton, supervising sound editor James Mather, and sound re-recording mixer Mike Prestwood. These individuals have extensive experience in the film industry, having worked on other fast-paced films such as Kingsmen: The Secret Service, X-Men: First Class, and Kick Ass. Despite their experience, the intense deadline for Rogue Nation required them to rethink their editing workflow and collaborate in entirely new ways.

The Challenge

The production team of the highly anticipated action film, Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation, faced a daunting challenge. They were tasked with delivering the final cut of the film five months ahead of schedule due to a change in the release date. This required the team to rethink their editing workflow and collaborate in entirely new ways. The team had only 12 weeks to lock in the cut after the end of the shoot, with the first screening taking place just nine days after the shoot. The sound team was also under immense pressure, tasked with delivering a complex Dolby Atmos mix made up of more than 400 tracks in just a few months. The early stage of editing meant they had to mix for individual sequences, rather than entire reels.

The Solution

To overcome these challenges, the production team turned to Avid Everywhere, a suite of industry-leading creative tools built upon the Avid MediaCentral platform. The suite included Media Composer, Pro Tools, Avid S3 control surfaces, and Avid S6 control surfaces. Media was stored on an Avid ISIS shared storage system, enabling teams to quickly access and transfer media. The seamless integration between these tools allowed the director, audio team, and video team to collaborate at every step of the process, greatly speeding up the entire production workflow. Using Media Composer, the team built up massive “selects rolls” for each scene, containing every line and angle variation. This allowed them to quickly audition all the different takes on a single timeline and pick their favorite. The sound team was provided with Quicktime files containing well-structured temporary mixes early in the process, which gave them a solid foundation to build on.

Operational Impact

The use of Avid Everywhere allowed the production team to overcome their challenges and deliver the film on time. The seamless integration between the tools in the suite enabled the team to collaborate at every step of the process, greatly speeding up the entire production workflow. The team was able to eliminate any creative ambiguity, focus on the big picture, and work as quickly as possible. The sound team was able to accurately reproduce the sound of an action sequence that takes place on the wings of a four-engine A400 military airbus, achieving the heaviest pressure levels they’d ever managed at 113db. The use of Avid Everywhere allowed the team to focus more on creativity than logistics, making decisions based on what’s best for the film and the director’s vision.

Quantitative Benefit

The team was able to deliver the final cut of the film three days before its international premier.
The sound team was able to deliver a complex Dolby Atmos mix made up of more than 400 tracks in just a few months.
The team was able to lock in the cut just 12 weeks after the end of the shoot.