Tom Gauger
We've featured Tom Gauger in a previous newsletter; he's back, using Vegas Pro in a documentary on the Hope Diamond.
Tom writes, "The Hope Diamond, valued at over $250,000,000,made this project extremely interesting and intense. This audio book and trailer, using Sony Vegas Pro, will likely receive a Grammy nomination this year in the Spoken Word category. Because this video trailer will be viewed at the Smithsonian Institute, where tens of thousands come annually to view and admire the Hope Diamond, it was even more important to make it perfect!
"I was given personal movie clips that Evalyn Walsh McLean (last owner of the Hope Diamond) had taken during her lifetime to use in the video trailer – some available to the public for the first time. Much of the footage was very useable, but pieces with then-President Harding and the First Lady needed to be touched up in Vegas Pro, which did a terrific job restoring footage. Along with movie clips there were numerous pictures of Will Rogers, other congressional members and celebrities, etc; Vegas Pro did a great job restoring this media, even pictures dating from the earl 1900's.
"The ease of quickly being able to maneuver, push, pull, drop and drag both audio and video pieces around is of great importance. With so many included design elements onboard, Vegas Pro easily delivered, yielding quick backdrops along with consistency in the
creation of this high profile production piece. Creating cross fades on the fly, along with really efficient ripple editing, making time to figure out what works and doesn't, got things going fast and that's important when creating on a deadline and under pressure. Modifying included effects, along with importing my favorites from third party FX plug-ins was a time saver – especially when you know which third party plug-ins deliver in a known quantity or what impulse response creates that sonic magic.
"The Text editor in Pro Type Titler mode is very useful, and is as dynamic as anything out there. As a side note, Joseph Gregory, the author of the "The Hope Diamond" and great grandson of Evalyn Walsh McLean, wanted to make sure that we transported her life in a real and tangible way to the screen. He was thrilled with not only the quality, but with the rich layering and movement of all of the creative pieces within Vegas Pro to make that happen! Creating full text that resonates with the video and emotion of the visual piece was very important in this production. Vegas Pro delivered and we're moving on with even bigger projects stemming from this work!
The Hope Diamond audio book trailer "See You Later" can be found here
Tom Gauger is owner and producer at ReelMusicianPro.com, writing for Film, TV and Radio.
