Overview
Old habits die hard. The film industry is steeped in tradition. As such, there are many techniques being used that many would have considered antiquated 30 years ago. The film industry is slow to adapt to new methods and technology which can make it quite difficult to design products in this realm. Much of this is due to the impossibly strict schedules during production. It is not a friendly environment for experimenting with new processes.
The challenge is to create an interface for X2X's new pipeline technology that allows the review and markup of raw takes. It must have a shallow learning curve for lay users, and most importantly it must integrate seamlessly into the hectic production environment.
The challenge is to create an interface for X2X's new pipeline technology that allows the review and markup of raw takes. It must have a shallow learning curve for lay users, and most importantly it must integrate seamlessly into the hectic production environment.
Role
As Product Designer I tackled:
- Research
- Ideation sessions
- Sketching and iteration sessions
- UI design
- Rapid prototyping using Principle
- Paired development iteration
- Research
- Ideation sessions
- Sketching and iteration sessions
- UI design
- Rapid prototyping using Principle
- Paired development iteration
Solution
In just a few months we designed and developed a proof of concept that makes a Connected Set a reality. PIX On Set creates media that is immediately available to the director so that he or she can make annotations and notes on the image right after it has been captured. This media and metadata are synchronized to PIX to all the approved members of the production who can review them along with image files. Other approved production crew — for example, DP Erik Messerschmidt – can also add their own notes. These notes are securely conveyed through to editorial and post production along with the image files and other metadata.
RESEARCH
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We worked closely with director David Fincher for this project. We discussed the the project with him over Zoom for several weeks and eventually flew out to LA for a week to get closer look at what problems he was having on set and what he was hoping to accomplish with X2X's new pipeline.
Pain Points
David was looking for a way to better convey the thoughts and ideas he came up with during production.
The director usually tell notes to their script supervisor, or scripty, who then records the notes using symbols and shorthand so that the director can later review the takes and relay the notes to the proper channels.
For example, during shooting there is not enough time to send notes about grading to the colorist. So, David will go through the shots the scripty organized, review the shots that were 'starred', and then those notes that can then be conveyed via a phone call much later in the day after shooting has wrapped.
The director usually tell notes to their script supervisor, or scripty, who then records the notes using symbols and shorthand so that the director can later review the takes and relay the notes to the proper channels.
For example, during shooting there is not enough time to send notes about grading to the colorist. So, David will go through the shots the scripty organized, review the shots that were 'starred', and then those notes that can then be conveyed via a phone call much later in the day after shooting has wrapped.
A typical log of shots recorded by a script supervisor. The script supervisor's notes are usually recorded by hand during shooting, and then transcribed digitally later.
IDEATION
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After a few hours of whiteboarding we settled upon an MVP. A simple shot/take list and a player with a few essentials that David would need to relay the necessary information to his staff in real time.
RAPID PROTOTYPE
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With the basic concept figured out, our engineer started building the framework while I built a clickable prototype.
Using the clickable prototype we were able to perform some usability testing with David and iterate until we had a usable MVP.
Using the clickable prototype we were able to perform some usability testing with David and iterate until we had a usable MVP.
Clickable prototype showing sign in and landing flow
Our engineer was able to use the screens from my clickable prototype to code a working prototype in a few weeks. That gave us about a month of testing and QA before David's crew would ship off to Pittsburg to shoot Mindhunter. Our deadline to have a usable product that he could actually test on set was rapidly approaching.
Spoiler: we didn't quite make it.
Spoiler: we didn't quite make it.
ON SET
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With a slightly buggy prototype application in hand, our team went to Pittsburg to work on set with David Fincher and the crew for Mindhunter.
Early Insights from the Film Set
- Most of the production crew carries around an ipad, and many of them connect keyboards to them
- The set is hectic, and every second counts. The director won’t bother wasting any time waiting for the application. If the take is not ready to review within 5-10 seconds after "CUT", he will immediately move on to preparing for the next one.
- The set is like a faraday cage. There are a huge array of competing wifi signals and maintaining a cloud connection is difficult. We added a wifi signal strength and cloud connectivity display to the UI to allow the director to see if it was worth waiting for the next shot to finish uploading. If the signal was low or non-existent, it would allow him to move onto preparation for the next shot.
- The primary user for this tool was always going to be the director, but it was immediately apparent that he was not the only one that it could be useful to.
- There was a lot of curiosity around this new prototype. We quickly set the assistant director and script supervisor up with the app.
- It wasn't long until the costume department was curious as well.
- The primary user for this tool was always going to be the director, but it was immediately apparent that he was not the only one that it could be useful to.
- There was a lot of curiosity around this new prototype. We quickly set the assistant director and script supervisor up with the app.
- It wasn't long until the costume department was curious as well.
ON SET RESEARCH AND TESTING
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Throughout the time on set, we continued improving the prototype to better work with the users.
Because of the issues we connectivity issues we encountered on set, our IT department suped up our connectivity, and I also added a wifi and camera connectivity display so that the director would always know whether the app was ready, and whether he could rely on it for the next shot.
I also added placeholder shot cards to better illustrate that the app was working, and to maintain a better sense of continuity, rather than having the shots simply appear once they are finished uploading.
I made some quick prototypes to test a few different version ideas of the different states before we built them.
Because of the issues we connectivity issues we encountered on set, our IT department suped up our connectivity, and I also added a wifi and camera connectivity display so that the director would always know whether the app was ready, and whether he could rely on it for the next shot.
I also added placeholder shot cards to better illustrate that the app was working, and to maintain a better sense of continuity, rather than having the shots simply appear once they are finished uploading.
I made some quick prototypes to test a few different version ideas of the different states before we built them.
POST MORTEM
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Overall the prototype was a success. David and the team were stoked about the ability to quickly access shots, and it was a huge asset for the continuity team.
Next steps are to use the insights we gathered on set and create a beta version that we can start testing with more production teams.
Next steps are to use the insights we gathered on set and create a beta version that we can start testing with more production teams.
