The SyncOnSet Blog

When Lenka Padysakova was approached about doing Costume Design for a Straight 8 competition film, she knew she’d be facing some challenges. The story required multiple costumes, but there was a catch; the three-minute film would be one continuous shot - no cuts and no re-dos, and they wouldn’t even get to watch it back before submitting. Here’s the exact challenge handed down to them from Straight8.net:

“To make a short film on one cartridge of super 8 with no editing and to see it for the first time together with the audience - at our Cannes Film Festival premiere if it's good enough.”

Take a look at this awesome short film here, and then read on to hear from Lenka about her process working on this unique project.

The Straight 8 short film you worked on, “Wonderful, Terrible Thing,”  is really unique. Can you tell us a little about how you got on board with the project?

Yes, it is a cute little thing! I was approached by the Director, Nick Carew, for the project. We got along so well right when we met, and we’ve been friends and worked together since then. Nick had the film all planned out, and though he knew exactly what he wanted, he was open to my suggestions and gave me creative freedom.

What was your first thought when you realized you had to be able to visually show the passing of time and changing relationship through costumes without any cuts?

We were required to shoot this on one single role of Super 8 stock - there could be no editing and no re-takes, so incorporating multiple costumes was my main challenge. In the past, I had designed costumes for burlesque performers who would need to remove their clothes gracefully in front of the audience while on stage, so I decided I could approach this project a bit like that. I realized I could layer costumes together so each piece could easily be removed in order to create a “new outfit.”

We noticed you use dancers in all black to help with the changes. How did you come to that solution?

Those “invisible hands” were Nick’s idea. I thought it was a great idea that added movement, connection, and a “soft touch” to the whole story.

Were there other “quick change” tricks you used to help everyone into an out of their costumes?

Lots of Velcro and snaps! Luckily there is a soundtrack over the whole film to muffle out the sound of the Velcro.

How did this project differ from other projects you've worked on as a Costume Designer? 

Well, the biggest difference is that there was no continuity to keep track of since it was all one shot. We also didn’t need any multiples, since there were no stunts or scenes where costumes would get destroyed.

Do you think SyncOnSet could have helped you on this project? [Note: SyncOnSet wasn’t around yet!]

I could have used SyncOnSet to keep all outfits organized throughout the day. We were rehearsing all day long, and a few pieces could be forgotten while removing and replacing the layers during rehearsal. With SyncOnSet, I would have been able to go back to my characters and check to make sure all the pieces were on again before each take.

Is there anything else you want to share with us about working on this project and working with this team?

The whole team was just fantastic; so professional, fun, and dedicated. We were thrilled when the film was selected out of 115 entries to premiere at the Cannes Film Festival. It also screened at Cannes Lions, Berlin, and London Rushes, and was selected by Kodak to play at the Camerimage International Film Festival. After this film, the Director asked me to work with him again on a fascinating documentary called The Magdalenes. This documentary won the Courseware & Curriculum Non-Broadcast Award and General Education Non-Broadcast Award nomination at the Learning On Screen Awards of 2014.

Check out a sketch Lenka shared with us along with the final product, below. 

On September 27th, the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences announced SyncOnSet Co-Founders Brett Beaulieu-Jones,  Jeffrey Impey, and Alexander LoVerde as recipients of the 68th Primetime Engineering Emmy Award for their development of the industry-leading software for TV and Film production design departments.

The Primetime Engineering Emmy is  “presented to an individual, company or organization for engineering developments that considerably improve existing methods, or innovations that materially affect the transmission, recording or reception of television.” For the 68th Primetime Engineering Emmy, only five other companies will receive the distinguished award.

SyncOnSet was born out of a simple idea: replace the three-ring production binder with professional software designed for how production teams work. Starting with a solution for Costume departments, the product quickly expanded to solve the unique workflow challenges of Makeup, Hair, Props, Set Dec, and Location departments. The ease of use and significant time and cost savings (hundreds of hours and thousands in printing costs each episode) led to rapid adoption.

“Sync OnSet is an irreplaceable system in the Game of Thrones costume department. Working between units, it provides a clear link for our continuity. Time-wise it saves us so much when breaking down scripts, as traditionally this would’ve taken an age. We would not be without SyncOnSet today or tomorrow. It is our information axis!” - Emmy Award Winning Costume Supervisor, Sheena Wichary

In only four years, the software has been embraced by thousands of TV series and films around the world. SyncOnSet has been implemented by over 2,500 TV series and feature films and 50% of scripted television for U.S. distribution. The software has been used by all major film studios, undergoing rigorous security testing.

“It’s rare to see this kind of exceptional rate of growth and market penetration from an emerging company in the production space.” - Bob Beitcher, CEO of the Motion Picture & Television Fund.

SyncOnSet has grown into a leading entertainment technology company, employing 23 people with offices in Boston and Los Angeles. SyncOnSet Technologies, Inc. is VC-backed led by Rose Park Advisors, a specialized investment firm that applies the theory of disruptive innovation developed by co-founder Clayton Christensen.

“We’re beyond thrilled to be recipients of the Engineering Emmy. Recognizing a technology solution in our category is also an acknowledgement of the value of the crew we support and the need to provide them with the best possible technology solutions.” - Alexander LoVerde, CEO & Co-Founder, SyncOnSet

From left to right, Co-Founders Brett Beaulieu-Jones, Jeffrey Impey, and Alexander LoVerde

The Los Angeles County Museum of Art’s newest fashion exhibition ‘Reigning Men: Fashion in Menswear, 1715-2015’ puts the spotlight on the long-neglected history of menswear.

Given SyncOnSet’s close ties to the costume design community, we jumped on the opportunity to see such a wide array of fashion offerings that are authentic to the given styles of their time. The exhibit does a great job tracing cultural and historical influences across centuries. From the bespoke double-breasted tail coats with intricate embroidery of aristocracy in the 18th century to the colorful, mass produced mod outfits of the 20th century.

The collection is displayed by theme: (1) Revolution/Evolution, (2) East/West, (3) Uniformity, (4) Body Consciousness, and (5) The Splendid Man.

Revolution/Evolution is filled with pieces that questioned the fashion status quo of the time, including a rare, full zoot suit set.

East/West points to the influence of Eastern culture on Western fashion, such as caftans and Hawaiian shirts.

Military style’s incorporation into menswear across centuries is explored in Uniformity, from trench coats to camouflage.

Body Consciousness proves that body shaping is not a practice exclusive to women. The padded stockings, corseted underwear, and inflatable pants range from subtle to exaggerated.

The Splendid Man focuses on some of the collection’s most notable, over-the-top looks.

Read LACMA’s take on the exhibition here. And be sure to catch the 200+ looks for yourself by August 21st!

The first time I visit The Collection, I am told it’s a bit empty. This is great news because it means it’s working. We are in the thick of pilot season and costume designers have made good use of the highly curated high-fashion rental room run out of Warner Bros. Studios Costume Department. This is also hard to believe because when I walk in, it’s like I’m walking into a sartorial wonderland. With warehouse-high ceilings and racks and racks of mint-condition clothing, shoes, and accessories organized by style, decade, or designer, this place is any Costume Designer’s dream, and hardly seems empty.

The Collection, which officially opened on February 2nd of this year, is a gathering of high-end assets from Warner Bros. productions which can be “shopped” by costume teams and stylists. Pieces are rented on an as-needed basis, either weekly or for an entire production, but they can’t be used for stunts or anything that would destroy them. The pieces in The Collection are hand-picked from the bevy of clothes and accessories that get turned in for use at the Warner Bros. rental house. Once archives takes the “hero items” and anything that would be kept for historical needs, the team at The Collection gets to pick out the best of the best – expensive designer items that might deserve or need a little extra care and attention.

And care and attention they get! The Collection is equipped to protect pieces against light fade and other environmental damage, and even has a temperature controlled room across the hall for all of the costumes from The Great Gatsby. The main goals at The Collection? Preservation and excellent service. Some of these pieces, like an exquisite white gown with sewn-on feathers, are fragile and require extra care. As part of The Collection, they get that extra care, thus giving the pieces a longer lifespan and providing a much better value to The Collection’s core customers; Costume Designers.

The Collection is a brilliant way for Costume Designers to get expensive pieces on their talent without breaking their budgets. As Tangi Crawford, Director of the Warner Bros. Costume Department, tells me, “It’s like Rodeo Drive at your fingertips.” Instead of shopping at Dior and Diane von Furstenberg, designers can come to The Collection and shop an entire DvF section or cruise through vintage pieces from the 1940s onward.

My second visit comes at a time when many of the pieces that had been out on rental are back, and while I couldn’t have imagined the room looking more vibrant and full than the first time, I now see what they meant. There are perfectly picked racks of menswear; blazers, dress shirts, leather jackets, and slacks; women’s dresses, skirts, overcoats, and blouses; pieces organized by designers, sizes, fabric, and style.

Then, there’s the floor-to-ceiling shoe corner. With a library ladder that sweeps around the racks of sneakers, pumps, boots, sandals, flats, loafers, and every other type of shoe imaginable, and a cute seating area complete with industry magazines, the shoe section of The Collection is a perfect backdrop for Warner Bros.’ video interview series. And as for the quality of the shoes, it doesn’t get better than this. YSL? There. Christian Louboutin? Of course. Jeremy Scott for adidas? Yep! Gucci, Prada, Jimmy Choo? Check, check, check!

And not to worry, you can pull your entire look together with the accessories of The Collection. No inch of space is unused, with hats suspended from the walls near the ceilings, glass display cases of all different styles of jewelry and sunglasses, a wall of handbags, and ties and scarves in every color of the rainbow.

Taking in about 30 new pieces a day, The Collection continues to grow and be an incredible resource for Costume Designers looking for high-fashion pieces without breaking the bank. And while The Collection is only open to costume teams, we all get to enjoy the benefits of seeing actors from our favorite films and television shows wearing amazing pieces expertly chosen from the magnificently curated racks of The Collection.

SyncOnSet’s LA crew had an amazing time taking in the sites (and stars) as a sponsor of the costume community’s biggest night: the Costume Designers Guild Awards.We even got to join the press at the iconic white carpet to discuss fashion on TV and film with the designers themselves and the stars who most appreciate their craft.

Clockwise from top left: (1) Jaime Camil, Jane the Virgin (2) Janie Bryant, Mad Men, Telenovela (3) Lamorne Morris, New Girl (4) Kristen Burke and Mairi Chisholm, Sleepy Hollow (5) Lou Eyrich, American Horror Story (6) Johanna Argan, House of Cards.

We loved celebrating the design community and greatly welcomed the excuse to dress up!

We can't believe 2015 is over either. It was an exciting year at SyncOnSet: from a revamped logo and new hires, to the relaunch of our parent company's site, wymsee.com. We're excited that you've been along for the ride and continue to support us as we grow.

Thanks to your feedback, we can barely keep track of the updates we've made to SyncOnSet. Just to name a few:

Money Tracking for Costumes

New and improved Wrap for Costumes

Speed increases

Chat support in our web application

"SyncOnSet has changed the way I feel about doing my job... It has made my life easier and work more enjoyable. I'll never go back to the old way of doing things. I really love this program."

—Erica Frank, Key Set Costumer

Sync OnSet is all about productivity and workflow. But have you ever wondered how we conduct our own technological lives? Here’s a peek at the Sync OnSet team’s mobile home screens to see how we streamline our own work flow. Look closely and you might even see our Sync OnSet mobile app in the mix! Don’t forget to download our app here so you can sync on the go, too!

I need a little breathing room on my home screen, and I’ve turned off notifications for pretty much everything (except my email apparently!). Candice, Marketing

We hosted a costume comedy night at Upright Citizens Brigade in LA as a way of thanking our clients who've been instrumental in Sync OnSet's success. We are lucky to be part of a tech company where we know so many of our users personally, especially since everyone on our team truly admires our clients' creative work. Sync OnSet’s designer-in-residence Carey Bennett helped organize the evening; she is best known for her costume design work on ‘Scrubs’, ‘The Office,’ and currently designs for ‘Undateable.’ She also designed costumes for UCB in their early days in NYC on Comedy Central. The night was topped off with a comedy performance by UCB's premier touring improv group.

"When I was made aware of Sync OnSet I thought, ‘FINALLY! Somebody is picking up the ball and helping us move into the future!’ When I saw how easily it could streamline my process, organize and sync my crew, and keep paperwork to a minimum, I was sold."

—Carey Bennett

Guests enjoyed Sip OnSets while providing anecdotes from their years of costuming experience for the performers to reenact and use in their performances. Everyone received their own touch of yellow in the form of costume-themed goodie bags filled with SOS swag and yellow costume tools.

All of us here at Sync OnSet had a great time, and we hope you did, too. Make sure to join us again soon at our Tech Teas with Carey Bennett and to share your favorite #SOSatUCB moments with us on Facebook and Twitter.

For pictures of the event, check out our Facebook album and be sure to tag yourselves!

We've created a new resource for all of your costume needs. Our boards include quick reference guides for costuming as well as resources so you can find what you need for your next show, film, or project.

Forgot the name of a collar? We've got you covered. Think you're forgetting something in your set bag? We've got tips for that too. Check out our boards on fabric, speciality clothing, size charts, and more.

Productions are coming to Sync OnSet everyday, big and small, greenlit pilots and renewed seasons, features and episodics; all kinds! So many productions! So many departments! This weekend, we’re releasing an update to how productions with multiple departments collaborate!

When we launched over 2 years ago, we were primarily a costume workflow tool.  As the years progressed, we’ve added more departments, from Makeup and Hair, to Set Dec and Props, even a little love for Locations. Through the new releases, productions of various sizes have been collaborating off of one centralized breakdown in Sync OnSet and questions around permissions have come about, for obvious reasons.

We’ve been hard at work over the past 2 months putting the pieces together, and now, finally it is ready. A wonderfully intuitive way of adding in every department head into Sync OnSet!

New Permissions, you say? Permissions to what? It’s a great question; a valid one.

Here’s what it means:

It’s all the regular permissions from before: Read Only, Edit Scenes/Characters, View Actor Contact Information, Budget Access and so on. BUT! Now each department has their own Department Head.  Each Department Head runs their department - adding users, dropping users, setting department specific permissions, and so much more!

We wanted department heads to have control over who can access their department specific information.

At the head of it all is a Production Owner - this person (usually the UPM or POC) can change the Department Heads when someone leaves or moves on to a new exciting project.  They can’t snoop around any of the department stuff, unless of course you invite them into your department - see the department heads are really in control!

It even looks really pretty!

You added a bunch of BG into Sync OnSet. Now you have to add each BG 1-by-1 to each Scene? NOT ANY MORE! You can finally add your background characters to a scene in bulk. It’s great!

So a production meeting ends, you get those background breakdowns and now you want to update your breakdown in Sync OnSet, right? Not a problem. You can easily go scene by scene to add them– all in one step! The new background popup allows you to create new background characters while bulk adding existing background all at once. So when those 30 Doctors that appeared in the last scene come back again and 5 new Patients appear, you can add them both in – at the same time. No more clicking back and forth a million times. This should hopefully save you a ton of time. Let us know what you think!

This week we are happy to announce a huge improvement to the revisions feature within our app. This was a frequently requested feature, and one that will make handling the constant revisions from production a breeze!

You can now upload your revision, either PDF pages or the full script, to automatically update your breakdown.

Here’s how all this magic works:

First things first. Characters.

Characters are constantly changing names, getting added to scenes and getting cut. We are here to help!

When you upload a new script, we spot all the new characters in the latest revision.  Early on in production, when character names change a bunch, you can easily rename your old character to his or her new name - one button, done!  You will still need to remove any characters that were cut from scenes. To be extra safe, we didn’t want to automatically delete any characters. Better safe than sorry!

Second things second? Scenes!

Scenes are added, Scenes are omitted, Script Locations change. It can get unmanageable at times. Well… not anymore.

After you’ve confirmed the character updates, and you are ready to move on, our new Scene confirmation page compares scene updates, omits, or additions for you to accept or deny.  Basically, when a new scene is added, it will be highlighted in green or if omitted, pink.

When a scene has new characters or updated script locations, we highlight it in yellow.  And scenes without any revisions will be grey, making it super simple to see all the actual changes at a glance. Color coding at its finest.

We're very excited to finally announce the release of our Set Dec solution. Our team has spent hundreds of hours talking with set decorators, leadmen, buyers and set dressers to ensure that we built features that addressed their needs. These include allowing set dec teams to upload rental sheets and continuity photos in one place to easily recreate sets, instant photo-sharing, and quick search of inventory and set history.

  We've worked closely throughout the development with many different set dec roles on a range of productions, including Tim Metzger, leadman on Showtime's Happyish. “I’m very excited by Sync OnSet for Set Dec because it will make the logistical work that we do during all stages of production, which historically has been very labor intensive, much easier for my whole department,” said Tim Metzger. “Sync OnSet was very responsive during development and worked with me to customize the product to bring real efficiency to our workflow and the Sync OnSet team even made training easy." Check out the full announcement at Below the Line: http://www.btlnews.com/crafts/production-design/wymsee-launches-sync-onset-for-set-dec/

“It’s not fun when there are too many cooks in the kitchen.,” Jerry Popolis revealed when discussing the details of his days on set.  Although his favorite component to his work is the creativity, it can be difficult on any set with a number of floating opinions.  But despite this occasional situation, Jerry is sincerely passionate about his creative work and genuinely loves working on period films. Period films are most enjoyable to him as there is a great deal of creativity and specificity that go into making the end result not only rewarding, but stunningly magnificent. Jerry says, “The era in itself  tells a story, but the hair and the make-up and the costumes all tell the story of the specific time period.”

From beginning his career with unpaid work to his most recent projects on “Birdman,” “Noah,” and “Silver Linings Playbook,” Jerry has certainly been involved with a number of exceptional projects. His most recent favorite “is probably ‘Noah’ because it was big and epic. I did the department heading, which was quite an endeavor...We shot parts of it in Iceland and the rest in New York. The traveling was exciting, but it was pretty intense and exhausting work, but definitely rewarding.”  

As one of our most loyal users, we asked Jerry about his experience with Sync OnSet thus far. Jerry elaborated…

"...When I found out Sync OnSet was offering a training, I thought I would give it a try. The class was definitely a big help -  getting that training, help setting it up and being shown how it worked really helped when first starting out..

“Download the script and it’s all broken down for you. I mean you have to tweak it to fit to what you’re working on, so you do have to modify it for yourself like adding shoot days, but the breakdown was great and so simple. On set it’s great, it’s really great for continuity photos. I take a picture with my iPhone and tag it to the scene.

“Now we get the footage of what they shot the day before...now what I do is watch the footage on my iPad and pause it to take screenshots. I can expand and crop an actor and then enter it straight into Sync OnSet. I don’t have to go up to the actor for a headshot, I can do it from the footage.”

Fun Fact: If he weren’t working in the industry, he would be doing what he loves to do in a salon.

For those of you who haven’t heard, Sync OnSet recently sponsored a Costume Cafe Podcast! In her latest episode, host Colleen Monroe recaps her evening at the 8th Annual Outstanding Art of TV Costume Design Exhibit, which took place at the FIDM museum in downtown LA. During the podcast, you’ll hear some of the conversations she had with talented individuals including Ann Foley, the designer of “Agents of Shield,” Sync OnSet users Jenn Rogien and Joshua Marsh, the design duo from “Orange is the New Black,” Andrew Prince, the Jewelry designer from “Downton Abbey,” and Jenny Eagan, the designer on “True Detective.”

Sync OnSet users Jenn Rogien and Joshua Marsh talk about the evolution and “hierarchy of color” when designing “Orange is the New Black.” From the pops of color in the flashbacks to incorporating the overall color story of the show, Jenn Rogien and Joshua Marsh elaborate on their careers and designing for the show, as well as their best advice for new and upcoming designers. Rogien says, “I encourage people to test drive...see if it’s really for you because the appearance of costume design is very glamourous and the reality is a little bit different than what you see portrayed on TV,” while Marsh advises listeners to “learn as much as you can and say yes as often as you can!”

Follow and listen to stay in the loop!

The countdown is over and Emmy nominations are out! Congratulations and best of luck to all nominees. We are proud to work with nominated productions including Game of Thrones, Boardwalk Empire, Fargo, House of Cards, Girls, Silicon Valley, Bonnie & Clyde and Louie.  

Special shout out to some of our Sync OnSet users nominated this morning:

OUTSTANDING COSTUMES FOR A SERIES, 2014

Boardwalk Empire

Joseph LaCorte, Costume Supervisor

John Dunn, Costume Designer

Game of Thrones

Sheena Wichary, Costume Supervisor

Michele Clapton, Costume Designer

Nina Ayres, Assistant Costume Designer

Alexander Fordham, Assistant Costume Designer

OUTSTANDING MAKEUP FOR A MINISERIES OR A MOVIE (NON-PROSTHETIC), 2014

Fargo

Gail Kennedy, Department Head Makeup Artist

Keith Sayer, Personal Makeup Artist