Burbank-based AlphaDogs Post recently delivered postproduction and audio services for The Oxygen Network’s new docu-series titled My Shopping Addiction, which looks at oniomania, or compulsive shopping. Each hour-long episode profiles two different shopping addicts who, with the help of a clinical psychologist, delve into the causes of their compulsive spending and learn how to get their lives and finances under control.
Color correction was handled with the use of Avid’s Symphony Nitris DX hardware under the direction of president and lead colorist at AlphaDogs Post, Terence Curren. Executive producer Jeff Kuntz required a rich look and feel for the docu-series to help convey the emotion and tone to the audience. Curren’s tools included the Tektronix WVR7200 waveform rasterizer and the Sony Trimaster OLED evaluation monitor. Video scopes assisted in ensuring the look and legal ranges of the video signal.
Sony’s OLED evaluation monitor provided extreme accuracy in color correction, allowing for precise color manipulations in the highlights and shadows of the picture.
“It’s extremely important to maintain consistency in the color and look of the show,” Curren explained. “When color correcting, your eyes can have a tendency to drift over the course of the day when spending consecutive hours in the edit bay. With the use of these tools, I can be confident that the color is 100 percent accurate and within deliverable specs, therefore meeting the client’s expectations with the desired look.”
Marcus Pardo, VP of audio for AlphaDogs Post was in charge of all audio aspects for the series. Reality shows present unique challenges in post when it comes to audio. The majority of footage is shot on location in uncontrolled environments that can be more difficult and time consuming to fix versus shows that are shot in a studio setting. In order to fix problems such as hollow room tones and distracting background noises, Pardo used the ProTools HD2 system accompanied by Waves plug-ins and Cedar DNS One. The plug-ins made it possible to isolate tracks of audio, and allowed the audio mixer to hear specifically what needed to be fixed.
“It’s important that the viewer is not distracted by background sounds that can take away from the dialog,” said Pardo. “In my years of experience in working with reality shows I have found the combination of Pro Tools, Waves and Cedar DNS One to be the most proficient in fixing these type of tricky audio scenarios in both an efficient and time saving manner.”
My Shopping Addiction is produced by Screaming Flea Productions with Matt Chan, Jodi Flynn and Jeff Kuntz serving as executive producers.
