K Street Post uses eQ For HD USO spots

Paul London, President and eQ artist of Washington DC-based boutique editorial and design house K Street Post, has just completed six high-profile HD Public Service Announcements (PSAs) for the United States Service Organisation (USO).
The USO is the nonprofit, private organisation that provides morale, welfare and recreation-type services to the US men and women in uniform around the world.
This is the first campaign that the USO has shot and finished in Hi-Def. The ads are airing throughout 2006 and were produced by Creative Director, Rich Park, for the ad agency Williams Whittle Associates.
In addition to more than half the footage being shot in HD using the Panasonic Varicam, the other half came to London in various formats. Some of it was news footage from hurricane Katrina supplied by the Coast Guard and other stock footage was supplied by the US Army and USO tour photographers.
“This was one of those moments where you say ‘yes, I made the right decision in buying my eQ’,” said London. “The eQ was the right tool for this type of job where you have this mixed resolution coming in. I conformed everything in the eQ and it went like a breeze. Everything came in as it should and then I did a colour correction pass with the built-in colour corrector.”
One particular challenge cropped up when some of the source material turned up with major colour anomalies.
“I had to do extensive colour correction on a couple of shots that had a sepia tone to them. I couldn’t get the original clips and I was working off of a sub-master,” said London. “The eQ was great for going back in and restoring colour in selected areas. I had to restore blue sky, flesh tones and a helicopter, and then match the shots to the rest of the footage.”
Ian Kach, who is a friend of London, provided voice-over recording services and audio sweetening for the spots.
(CD/GB)