Post-Production Explained — Each Step of the Post-Produ… — Transcript

Explore the detailed post-production process in filmmaking, from editing to sound design and visual effects, with expert insights.

Key Takeaways

Post-production is a critical and creative phase that shapes the final film beyond what was shot on set.
Collaboration between editors, directors, sound designers, and VFX artists is essential for a successful post-production.
Technology like digital editing software and centralized storage systems greatly enhances efficiency and flexibility.
The timeline for post-production depends heavily on budget, team size, and project complexity.
Test screenings and iterative refinement are important tools for improving the film before release.

Summary

Post-production is the stage where the final film is created after footage is captured, involving picture editing, sound editing, and visual effects.
The process can start before production ends, with editors and VFX artists working concurrently with shooting.
The length of post-production varies widely depending on budget and team size, ranging from months to years.
A post-production supervisor oversees the process to ensure it stays on budget and schedule, coordinating weekly updates.
Editors work closely with directors to craft the best story from the raw footage, often making significant changes from the original script.
Digital editing is now standard, using nonlinear editing software like Avid and Adobe Premiere, replacing traditional physical film cutting.
Assistant editors play a crucial role by managing metadata and preparing footage for the editor.
Centralized storage systems such as SANs and RAID technology are essential for managing large, complex projects efficiently.
Test screenings can influence post-production changes by providing audience feedback to refine the film.
Visual effects teams create imagery not captured on set, contributing significantly to the final product.

Full Transcript — Download SRT & Markdown

Speaker A

[Music] Making a film can feel like a miracle. This series demystifies the entire filmmaking process. In our previous episode, we looked at production. Today, we'll see where everything captured on set comes together, what goes into finishing a film, and who's involved in the process.

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and who's involved in the process and cut we can fix this sound and post yeah these are the stages of film making post production before we get started remember to subscribe to studi binder and enable notifications to watch the

Speaker A

And cut! We can fix this sound in post. Yeah, these are the stages of filmmaking: post-production. Before we get started, remember to subscribe to StudiBinder and enable notifications to watch the future episodes in this series.

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sound editing and the creation of visual effects post- production can begin before production has concluded an editor for example may start cutting footage as the film is still being shot or visual effects artists may start building out digital

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Today, we're joined by editor Eddie Hamilton, sound designer Mark Menini, and composer Renee Bosio. Let's begin. Post-production is the creation of the final product once footage has been captured. The stage includes picture and sound editing and the creation of visual effects.

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months but a lower budget can also lengthen the post process if there are fewer people on the team for example Shane karuth took two years after shooting to complete his micr budget movie primer the post-production process may also be protracted with test screenings

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Post-production can begin before production has concluded. An editor, for example, may start cutting footage as the film is still being shot, or visual effects artists may start building out digital worlds. The length of the post-production stage varies widely depending on the size of the team and budget.

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stage is overseen by the post- production supervisor who makes sure the process is within in budget and on schedule the post supervisor is the person who will be communicating on a weekly basis this is how far through we

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Post-production work for Avatar: The Way of Water lasted years, whereas post-production for a smaller film may last just several months. But a lower budget can also lengthen the post process if there are fewer people on the team. For example, Shane Carruth took two years after shooting to complete his micro-budget movie Primer.

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make sure there is a movie to release by the release date post- production is much more than just placing together the shots captured during production it is the stage where a film crystallizes where massive changes can occur and new unexpected meanings can be

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The post-production process may also be protracted with test screenings, where cuts of a film are shown to an audience to gauge their reactions and make further changes. Titanic, for example, was cut down after a test audience felt several scenes were unnecessary. Don't waste my mothering time!

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closely with the direct of the film to make whatever the best story that exists within the footage is you know it doesn't really matter what was on the page and it it doesn't matter what the director thought they shot on set what

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For most films, the post-production stage is overseen by the post-production supervisor, who makes sure the process is within budget and on schedule. The post supervisor is the person who will be communicating on a weekly basis: this is how far through we are, the director's cut, how long the composer’s been working, how much ADR we've recorded, how long the sound is going to take to mix, how long the foreign language versions are going to take to mix.

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redundancy performance Improvement or both many post- production houses will use a centralized storage system that multiple people can access at once without compromising speed this is crucial for large and complex projects with multiple moving elements at once a popular system is called a San a

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Ultimately, their job is to make sure there is a movie to release by the release date. Post-production is much more than just placing together the shots captured during production. It is the stage where a film crystallizes, where massive changes can occur, and new unexpected meanings can be created.

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nothing without them there's a lot of things that they do to prepare the footage for me to make sure that you know I can do my work of editing the movie from here the editor will begin to piece together the film selecting takes

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Typically, the first step in the process is picture editing. Without picture editing, a film doesn't get finished. This crucial step is completed by the editor. My job is to watch all the footage and read the script and work closely with the director of the film to make whatever the best story that exists within the footage is.

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film before digital editing editors would physically cut together a copy of the film negative called the workprint this process typically occurred on a flatbed for most movies shot on film today the film footage is scanned and a digital intermediate is created so that

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You know, it doesn't really matter what was on the page, and it doesn't matter what the director thought they shot on set. What matters is what we actually have in terms of raw footage to make the film. It is also vital that the footage is secure. Many professional editors use a RAID, a data storage technology that combines multiple disc drives for data redundancy, performance improvement, or both.

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that's the process that's any creative process you've just got to get something down on the timeline doesn't matter if it's good or bad just get to the end then the fund starts because then you start refining it and then you start

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Many post-production houses will use a centralized storage system that multiple people can access at once without compromising speed. This is crucial for large and complex projects with multiple moving elements at once. A popular system is called a SAN, a storage area network. Organization is also paramount.

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weeks and months and months and months and then years of going over the movie can it be better can it be better can it be better that's all we're doing every day every hour looking at every moment in the film is this perfect is this the

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This is where an assistant editor comes in, helping take in files and inputting metadata such as shot numbers, take numbers, and other details. My assistant editors are essential because I'm nothing without them. There's a lot of things that they do to prepare the footage for me to make sure that I can do my work of editing the movie.

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any of your code on Facebook do you see any of your code on Facebook that's the kind of detail and the level of perfection and commitment that film editors have when they're working on a movie you know you live and

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From here, the editor will begin to piece together the film, selecting takes based on performance, cinematography, narrative necessity, and more. Editing systems differ based on the editor, but popular software includes Avid and Adobe Premiere. This type of cutting is called nonlinear. Digital editing is now the norm in the industry, even for movies shot on film.

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codes and shot numbers that allow a film to be re-edited and accessed across platforms if need [Music] be for more on the creative decisions that go into editing check out our shot list episodes on the [Music] subject what do we do

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Before digital editing, editors would physically cut together a copy of the film negative called the workprint. This process typically occurred on a flatbed. For most movies shot on film today, the film footage is scanned and a digital intermediate is created so that the film itself is not physically spliced.

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audiences several different post-production teams are dedicated to refining and perfecting the final image one of the largest of these teams is the visual effects Department visual effects refers to any imagery that is created or manipulated that wasn't captured during the

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The first cut is called the assembly, which is where the editor and director have reviewed footage, selected takes, and placed them in their general order. Like anything, a first draft is usually pretty average, but that's the process. That's any creative process. You've just got to get something down on the timeline. It doesn't matter if it's good or bad, just get to the end.

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and we have really dramatic stuff the visual effects department is led by the VFX supervisor image Works visual effects supervisor Daniel Kramer describes the role I'm in charge of the project as far as all the visual effects that we end up doing at image works I'm

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Then the fun starts because then you start refining it, and then you start improving it. The editor will then refine the footage, creating a more deliberate rhythm and mood in each scene. This results in the rough cut. Next is the fine cut, where editing decisions are much more precise, coming down to a matter of frames.

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generated imagery and refers to any visuals that are created completely by computer compositing meanwhile is combining multiple images in a single frame this includes cludes blue and green screen work as well as separately recording special effects Miniatures and

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Weeks and weeks and months and months and months and then years of going over the movie: can it be better? Can it be better? Can it be better? That's all we're doing every day, every hour, looking at every moment in the film. Is this perfect? Is this the best it can be? Is this the best line delivery? Can we... and let's go through the other 70 versions of the line and see if there's one which is slightly better emotionally for this moment.

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hurricane coloring is another crucial element in the post- production process before a colorist can begin their work the data from the editing timeline has to undergo a process called conforming conforming looks different from Project to project but generally

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Do you see any of your code on Facebook? Do you see any of your code on Facebook? Do you see any of your code on Facebook? That's the kind of detail and the level of perfection and commitment that film editors have when they're working on a movie. You know, you live and breathe it.

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what they are looking for out of each shot or scene cinematographer John Dorman explains the dp's role there might be something very specific a look that might not be their when everybody's cutting it you know there were rushes and you haven't quite

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When the editor, director, and producer are happy with a cut, they achieve picture lock. After a picture is locked, an editor may create an edit decision list or EDL. This document is a list of time codes and shot numbers that allow a film to be re-edited and accessed across platforms if need be.

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shot this includes adjusting white balance exposure and skin tones then the colorist might apply a lot which stands for lookup table this is a preset that transforms the color space of footage to achieve a desired look typically designed by the

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[Music] For more on the creative decisions that go into editing, check out our shot list episodes on the [Music] subject. What do we do now with the picture cut? It is time for additional visual work to be done. Today, it is very rare that the footage captured on set will look exactly like the footage that is shown as the final product to audiences.

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further color grading refers to the stylization of footage these are the creative decisions that help build the mood of scenes for movies shot on film The Coloring process can also involve different treatment processes and chemical baths When developing the reals

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Several different post-production teams are dedicated to refining and perfecting the final image. One of the largest of these teams is the visual effects department. Visual effects refers to any imagery that is created or manipulated that wasn't captured during the live-action shoot.

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final look a whole other collection of creatives are working on achieving a film's final [Music] sound sound is the other half of a movie and as such it requires just as much attention as the visuals the post- production sound

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VFX supervisor Adam Valdez explains the wide variety of work this can pertain to. Visual effects, you know, ranges all over the place, right? We have some that are invisible and you don't really know we've done anything, and we have really dramatic stuff.

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you want the sound of the movie to what do you want the movie to feel like and then it's my job to communicate that information to my team and say Here's how I interpret that we're going to make

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The visual effects department is led by the VFX supervisor. Image Works visual effects supervisor Daniel Kramer describes the role. I'm in charge of the project as far as all the visual effects that we end up doing at Image Works. I'm not necessarily a final say. Obviously, the director is, and there's art directors and so on, but we're there to execute their vision.

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the necessary sound effects are added usually additional sound will be necessary to record this falls under the jurisdiction of the sound designer sound designers are supervising sound editors and vice versa but often sound designers are only tasked with the creation of the sounds

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There are three primary areas of visual effects work: CGI, compositing, and motion capture. CGI stands for computer-generated imagery and refers to any visuals that are created completely by computer. Compositing, meanwhile, is combining multiple images in a single frame. This includes blue and green screen work as well as separately recording special effects, miniatures, and [Music] more.

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their dialogue for a certain scene if the audio recorded on the day is unusable we tend to want to lean away from ADR where possible and therefore we try to save what we'll call Dirty production production that has too much

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Motion capture is similar to rotoscoping. Artists use live-action footage to create realistic CGI. This footage is typically recorded in the production stage and then built out in post. My claws are...

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editor additional voices may be created by a loop group a collection of actors who will provide crowd noise for scenes with extras dubbing may also take place with actors recording over dialogue in another language for foreign distribution additional sound effects

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meanwhile will be created by Foley artists who perform live to create specific effects that can't be found in a sound Bank 1 2 for most films the addition of music is another large task within post-production sound the composer is in charge of both

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writing the score and overseeing its creation typically working closely with the director to hear what their vision is if it would be convenient to go into the [Music] call yeah Renee bosio explains composer it is kind of like the head of

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Department basically when you're the composer you're the one in charge of the original score so it's like have the conversations with the directors and the producers and whatever it takes whoever you have to subcontract or whatever it is but you're like the head of

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Department you're in charge of executing the filmmaker's vision from start to finish when it comes to the original score composers are often also the conductors who take the written music and guide the musicians through the recording process this isn't always the case

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however a lot of the times composers ALS so prefer to just be in the booth and able to hear the recording in context with everything else from a producer perspective so in that cases they'll probably hire somebody to do the

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conducting instead so that they can just then take a step back and be the ears and more of like the producer of the recording if you will the music supervisor meanwhile helps find and obtain pre-existing music for movies

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they can be involved at as early on as brainstorming face and pitching songs to directors of being like hey what about this song What About That song What About X song for this scene if a director already has the songs and

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they're already cut into the edit they may just have to handle the clearances and Licensing for those songs the fees for the usage of the song and all that stuff Randle poster for example Works closely with Wes Anderson to find and

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clear the many iconic needle drops in his [Music] films the music editor is the goet for the director composer music supervisor and editor making sure each party is on the same page understanding what is needed and for how long typically they

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are hired through production because they are technically part of the editorial team and they are in the editor's guild and everything um but more often than not composers will try to bring on their own music editors into the job because it's such a tighten it

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relationship with all of the sound in its right place it is time for mixing where the re-recording mixer will adjust the levels and get the sound ready for distribution on a complex project like a dune or a Blade Runner or a Mad Max

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there can be up to 2,000 3,000 individual channels of source audio that the re-recording mixer has to find a way to build into a seamless and enjoyable and listenable soundtrack this work is usually done in Pro Tools the mixer will typically utilize

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eqs where they can bring up or down specific frequencies so that the different sounds all mesh together without getting muddied the mixer will also be concerned with dynamic range which refers to the difference between the loudest sounds and the

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quietest a compressor will shrink this difference while an expander will widen it mixing is a complex process with both scientific and creative considerations the mixer will work with the director to get scenes sounding to their liking while also making sure that

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the mix will sound good in different exhibition environments such as a theater a television or a phone this often means exporting a few different mixes with different settings like stereo or surround [Music] [Music] sound Turn It Up Turn It

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Up post- production can make or break a film a great script great performance or great shot are all at the whim of the post team and similarly the right edit coloring decision or needle drop can elevate a good scene to an

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unforgettable one post- production process has a lot of moving pieces so planning and organization are vital make sure your project goes off without a hitch with Studio binders production software subscribe and click the Bell to see our next entry in the stages of film

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making series marketing the key to getting an audience to watch your film and check out the studio binder Academy channel for in-depth filmmaker interviews and step-by-step tutorials for creating call sheets and other production documents that's all for now

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remember sometimes you have to find your story in the [Music] cut

Topics:post-productionfilmmakingfilm editingsound designvisual effectsdigital editingpost-production supervisorfilm editing softwaretest screeningsfilm finishing process

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the role of a post-production supervisor?

The post-production supervisor oversees the entire post-production process, ensuring it stays within budget and on schedule. They communicate progress weekly and coordinate between departments to meet the release date.

How has digital editing changed the post-production process?

Digital editing replaced physical cutting of film negatives with nonlinear editing software like Avid and Adobe Premiere, allowing editors to work more flexibly and efficiently with footage.

Why can post-production sometimes take longer for low-budget films?

Low-budget films often have fewer team members, which can extend the post-production timeline as tasks take longer to complete without a large crew.

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