Once the film is shot and production is wrapped, you can finally go to bed! Just kidding. It’s Post-Production time. Whether you’re a director, producer, or editor, you’ll be involved in at least a few stages of this process. And there are quite a few stages. Let’s get into it.
Is Your Footage Secure?
Once you’re done shooting, before you do anything, and I mean anything, make sure you have reliable storage — a secure place to house all the footage you just spent hours shooting.
It can be anything from a basic hard drive to spinning hard drives, or even RAIDs (a combination of hard drives).
RAID can be installed in your computer or it can be external. It’s usually used by editors handling a lot of footage because it increases the performance and reliability of standard data storage.
Before you accept a job, or before you hire an editor, make sure safe and secure storage is in place.
STAGE ONE IN POST-PRODUCTION
It begins with picture editing
Which brings us to the next most important point of them all — the editing process, more specifically, picture editing (we’ll get to sound editing soon).
Your cinematographer might have some suggestions, but make sure before you hire an editor, you’re already familiar with their work.
Now the editing process can begin.
After your editor reads the script and look at the dailies (or rushes) from the footage shot that day, they can start working their magic. They’ll likely make an Edit Decision List (EDL), cutting the film how they believe is most advantageous to the story.
This is a pretty big responsibility, so make sure whoever you hire understands the tone and feel of the film ahead of time, but don’t be afraid to let them use the skills you hired them for — striking that balance will be key to telling a great visual story. Editing software like Adobe Premiere, Avid, and Final Cut Pro, are recommended.
Assembling footage takes time — it could take anywhere from a month and a half to several months. The first draft of the film is called a Rough Cut, and the final version will be called the Answer Print. When the director is happy with the visuals, they’ll “lock the picture,” and the sound editing can begin.
STAGE TWO IN POST-PRODUCTION
Next up: creating sound
Once the picture is locked, it’s time for sound editing. Hire the best sound editors because a ton of work is involved. They’re responsible for assembling the audio tracks of your film, cutting dialogue tracks, removing unwanted noise, and even enhancing your movie with sound effects. The specific sound needs for that particular project will dictate who to hire.
Sound effects are often the job of a foley artist. When the pre-recorded sound from set doesn’t well, sound so good, foley artists come in and recreate the sound.
They watch the movie in a studio and it’s most common for them to recreate the sound of footsteps by walking on tile floors or sometimes wearing certain types of shoes to get certain sounds. They come up with clever ways to make doors slam, and bones break.