Since its debut in 1989, Antikrundan has been an established program in Swedish television, charming audiences with its unique mix of historical artifacts and captivating storytelling. However, behind the scenes, the SVT production team faced considerable challenges, particularly in managing and editing the vast amount of footage collected during their intense summer filming schedule.
The show's allure lies in its ability to draw a wide array of participants and artifacts. Editors often juggled between multiple roles, contributing to the show's success beyond mere editing. The production team was frequently impressed by the variety and uniqueness of the items presented, from vintage Michael Jordan sneakers to paintings worth a fortune. The show never ceases to amaze.
The Challenge: Managing a Mountain of Footage
Each summer, the Antikrundan team undertakes two weeks of extensive filming, capturing a wide variety of items brought in by approximately 1,000 visitors at each location. This process generates a massive volume of footage, which has to be meticulously sorted, reviewed, and edited into the engaging content viewers have come to love. A team of six editors have to begin their work almost immediately, often without preliminary input from the producer, requiring a high level of independence and efficiency.
Enter KLASH
KLASH, with its integration in the team's AVID Media Composer Environment, provided a much-needed bridge between the initial dailies and the final cuts. The producer took to KLASH, admiring its ease of use and reliability. The editors, despite initial hesitations, soon recognized the benefits of streamlined commenting, sorting, direct file downloading capabilities, and direct secure sharing options with collaborators.
Automation
For SVT, KLASH developed and launched an automated file transfer application where the creator can click and send the file to playback in AVID Media Composer. Then it will be automatically transferred to the relevant folder on KLASH.
On KLASH, each folder and subfolder has its own unique transfer code. With Vantage Telestream, a media processing platform, transfer codes can be automatically attached to the file names in SVT’s production system. Once the files reach KLASH, the transfer code will be automatically removed, and the files will be placed in the correct folder. KLASH saves time by making it possible to automatically send files from production environments to KLASH, despite the amount of raw material that had to be uploaded.
The technology is based on an FTP connector. With the same kind of connector, you can seamlessly transfer dailies from on-set cameras (“Camera to Cloud”) as long as your camera has a built-in FTP connector.
In many modern cameras, proxy files can be saved on one camera card and raw files on another. Making it possible to connect the proxy file card to KLASH in the cloud, and keep the raw files on the other card.
“A good tool for people who are not that amused by technology”
The Workflow in Antikrundan
The raw material would enter a selection phase where it would be funneled down through discussions. Once the clips have been chosen and the rough editing is done, Antikrundan uploads them to KLASH, using a systemic approach to forward feedback to their editors.
During the first feedback rounds, the editor, producer, project manager, and program manager go through the material very carefully. They post the material on KLASH so that everyone can look at it and add comments, markers, and drawings along with feedback meetings where they go through it together.
Once feedback has been provided, editors will export the comments and markers to Avid Media Composer to edit a new version. This is done in an iterative process where editors upload new versions to KLASH, gather more feedback, and then export markers and comments back to AVID. The iterative process continues until a final version is reached.
Once the program is done they would again upload it to KLASH as a final version where they share it externally to experts using KLASH’s share feature. The share feature lets users create individual shares sent via either a link or email that can be protected with security options such as passwords, two-factor authentication with mobile phone number, and watermarking. Of course, having material being leaked before production is a big no-no in any industry working with confidential material, no reason not to use the secure options.
The Transformation
The integration of KLASH led to noticeable changes in the production workflow. The platform ensured a collaborative environment where all team members, regardless of their technical experience, could engage with the content. Its intuitive design, complemented by features like drawing tools, marker exports, and automated file uploads, streamlined the editing and review process.
“Klash is a great tool because it's very simple, accessible, reliable and it never messes up"
The Final Take
The journey of Antikrundan with KLASH reflects a broader narrative in the world of television production. This is an example of how innovative tools can be integrated into traditional workflows, not just to simplify processes, but to enrich the content and the storytelling experience. Antikrundan has been around for decades and is likely to continue for many more, thanks to its ability to adapt to the changing world.