Planet3, a new film and television post-production boutique, is looking to make its mark on the Vancouver scene one client at a time.

Launched in September, the small shop offers what senior compositor, fx artist Tom Raycove calls ‘a specialized service,’ tackling one job and finishing it before starting another.

‘We can really focus all our energy and creativity on that one client’s specific needs and, in our opinion, deliver a product that is in keeping with what they really want,’ he says.

The boutique, started by Raycove and Jan Kozlowski, who looks after business operations and marketing, offers Flame for nonlinear digital editing and effects compositing, and the principals are anxiously awaiting the arrival of an Avid mcxpress.

Planet3’s goals for future expansion include the purchase of an hdtv editing bay and Discreet Logic’s Fire, which will allow the company to work with a larger range of clients.

Move to long-format

While the shop has been busy with special effects jobs and editing music videos for local country act Farmer’s Daughter and female vocalist Annette Ducharme, Raycove’s vision for Planet3 includes more consistent work on feature films, something they are just getting into with a project out of Vancouver’s Mocca Entertainment.

The film, Tight, directed by Bobby Dee, is about a young man who gets involved in prostitution. Planet3 handled all the editing and visual effects, which involved compositing set decorations that were overlooked during the shoot. Virtual pictures were hung on the walls of a living room, plants and flowers were composited into corners, and the lighting was changed.

Other long-format jobs in the works include a 90-minute documentary for a local company, the details of which are still under wraps, which will involve over a month of offline, online and special effects work.

As for the Vancouver post industry, Raycove has no concerns about being a small fish in a big pond, saying it’s a busy city with a lot of work happening and room for expansion and for more service providers.

‘The industry is getting busier, not slowing down,’ says Raycove. ‘The demand for different formats of entertainment, such as dvd and interactive, is increasing and developing and I see Vancouver being very well placed in terms of technology and the service it can provide. As a community, we’re creative and innovative.’

Raycove has been part of the Vancouver film and television industry for eight years, working at Gastown Post & Transfer (now Rainmaker), Northwest Imaging & fx, Electronic Arts and Motion Works Group.