by James Nolan, Vice President and Senior Editor, Concepts TV Productions

One of the challenges we often face with half hour shows is picking the best moments from interviews. Off-the-cuff insights often make for the most interesting television; its important to balance those Eureka moments with more straightforward testimonials that reinforce the best features of the product. So, to distill the best moments from countless hours of footage, interview transcription is key. We are excited for improvement upon video transcription apps - Adobe Premiere's searchable speech tool is a good foreshadowing of that helpful technology, but it's not there yet.

Each member of the production/post-production team using Final Cut allows for a seamless workflow. Producers can dedicate plenty of time to reviewing footage and sending clips to the approval team (clients, creative director, influential client's daughter, etc.) Helpful suggestions and creative direction can flow back and forth. The online suites can focus on artistry and fluid storytelling, and spend less time bogged down on finding the right shots.

Ease of access to Quicktimes via web delivery systems allows for constant review of ongoing edits. One client was slated to fly to the Tristate from Asia for the edit, but the constant back and forth with quicktimes allowed the client to fully comment without having to make the trip.

Automation features in the Adobe products are helpful technologies and can really cut down on post-production time. Once a style for before/afters is decided upon, the graphic artists can fly through executing multiple composites.

DRTV marketers' biggest mistake with infomercial planning is not allowing enough time for post-production. A line cut can be delivered very quickly, but allowing for all the subtleties of a great longform show, the producers need time to digest the fluidity of the show and the logic of the accented points of the show, as well as giving time for artistic styling to ameliorate the overall feel of the show. Some of these aspects can be planned for and executed before the shooting, which will drastically reduce headaches. Don't wait to get going on animation plans even during the pre-production process.