Neil Marshall’s Epic Thriller Centurion Takes Editshare’s Lightworks into Battle

EditShare announced that award-winning editor Chris Gill utilized Lightworks to edit Neil Marshall‘s latest adrenaline-fused thriller, Centurion. Released in the United Kingdom in April 2010, and scheduled for a domestic release in August 2010, Centurion relays the gripping tale of a Pict camp raided by Romans, in an effort to rescue a captured General during their 2nd century conquest of Britain.

Filmed across the snow-lit Scottish countryside from February to April 2009, and cut at Goldcrest Films in Soho, London, Centurion‘s powerful storyline was brought to life using 3 Lightworks systems connected to a shared RAID through Fibre Channel. Lightworks yielded a fast camera-to-edit solution for Centurion‘s epic battle sequences. “Speed was crucial for my editing, because Centurion‘s subject matter required multiple cameras to catch all angles of action,” said Gill. “Lightworks has no competition when it comes to speed – it is truly the quickest and simplest way to shoot and edit organic footage.”

The Lightworks system includes advanced multi-cam editing with unlimited sources and dual-SDI outputs. Editors can simultaneously view source angles in sync with the edit.

Action sequences in Centurion were enhanced using orchestrated sound effects to heighten audience emotion and tension. Lightworks’ real-time audio level controls and automatic synchronization were ideal for matching rhythm drums alongside blood-soaked battle sequences. “Music is always a big issue for the editor and when dealing with fight scenes of a large proportion, it is crucial for impact. Lightworks tells me if any portion of my multiple layers of audio tracks and video are not in sync and I can easily go in and fix them. It saves me so much time, and I never have to worry about it,” says Gill. Lightworks offers advanced sub-frame audio editing, direct-to-timeline voice over tool, Mackie protocol support, real-time playback of mixed sample and bit rates, and guaranteed real-time multi-track audio.

“Chris Gill has edited some impressive films, and has utilized Lightworks for superior results,” says James Richings, managing director, EditShare EMEA. “He has created a fantastic tale with Centurion, and demonstrated the versatility of Lightworks in motion picture postproduction. Lightworks is an advanced film editor, but with creativity at the heart of it, allowing editors to do what they are best at. And once again, Chris has shown how Lightworks’ unique toolset can help craft a powerful story.”

Lightworks Open Source
EditShare recently announced plans to make Lightworks into an Open Source editing system. Beginning in Q3 of this year, a free Lightworks download will be made available to all users. Customers will be able to familiarize themselves with the Lightworks editing system and its multitude of features including: true shared projects, instant save, 3D editorial functionality, Universal Media File support, native RED editing, native 2K support with DPX and RED, dual outputs, and a format-independent timeline.

“This is the holy grail of NLE announcements. Anyone that was ever reluctant to switch editors should truly reconsider,” said Gill. “Lightworks already provides so much creativity because of its ease of use and phenomenal speed. Going Open Source brings a whole new level of creative flexibility to the table. I look forward to utilizing these new features and seeing its success in the industry continue to build.”