Post-production is where filmmaking magic transforms raw footage into a compelling story, and often where ideas can reshape and refine a narrative. For beginner filmmakers, understanding the steps and the elements of this stage is key to creating a masterful film.
by Glen Berry
Edited by Stavros C. Stavrides
Key Concepts
- Post-production is predictable compared to the chaos of filming.
- The Rough Cut determines shot selection and sequence.
- Picture Lock marks the point of no return for visual changes.
- Edit the picture and dialogue, then play back without music to assess its narrative clarity.
The Six Steps of Post-Production
Compared to the relative chaos of Production, Post-Production is a more controlled environment and far more predictable, with a well-defined workflow.
The long hours of production can be stressful, schedules are tight, locations are unfamiliar, with a large number of people navigating it all.
Post-production is the opposite. There are fewer people, the hours are regular, schedules are planned and kept with precision, and the amount of material to work with is finite.
This guide walks you through the six essential steps of post-production:
1. Ingesting and Logging
Begin post-production by ingesting footage into your editing software. Organization is key—properly label and log your clips for easy reference throughout the process.
Beginner’s tip: prioritize proper labelling and organization here. It will save time for you or another editor later on. You’ll thank yourself.
That batch of materials handed over from Production should include the script, raw footage and audio, the camera logs prepped by the camera operator on location and the sound reports, if available.
These are likely copies of the camera’s original media. Loss of or damage to the originals would likely change the lives of those responsible.
At this stage, you transfer media from the camera to your local hard drive or editing system. This often involves transcoding files to more edit-friendly formats. Attention to bit rate, resolution, and quality is essential.
These technical aspects depend on your project’s needs, details of which are beyond the scope of this article, but information about bit rate and resolution for your needs is widely available.
Once the footage is ready, start logging each clip in the editing software from with info from camera logs and slate markers. Organizing shots makes it easier to navigate and choose footage during the editing process.
If you’re not the editor, stick to technical information during footage logging and media organization. The editor will make creative notes about each shot, regardless of the notes in the camera log.
2. The Rough Cut
Editing a rough cut has a straightforward objective: get the movie’s picture and dialogue, to play in a sequence from start to finish. As the name “Rough” suggests, it will not be perfect.
Don’t strive for perfection. Rough-cut film editing is about important decisions about shot selection and shot order.
If the action of each scene in the script was covered from more than one angle during production (‘getting coverage’), the editor must decide what perspective to use at any given moment in the scene and get the movie to play from start to finish.
Accept that the rough cut will lack final transitions, pacing, and other elements like music and effects–save those for the fine cut.
Though tempting and possible to add them at this stage, they can complicate a timeline and create extra work when recutting a scene when you or your director may WILL change your minds.
The point is to see the film come together as a whole.
3. The Fine Cut
Once the rough cut is approved, move to edit the fine cut, where you focus on refining transitions, trimming unnecessary footage, and perfecting the pacing.
A fine cut should be watchable without relying on music to pinpoint the narrative and fix problems, unless, of course, music is featured or plays a vital part in the scene, such as the performance of instruments or dance.
If there are sections that drag or seem rough, music may smooth them over but that is not the purpose of music. Music should emphasize moments or heighten the feeling of moments on the screen, not fix problems for the editor.
The narrative should flow smoothly, and every cut should serve a purpose.
This article is drawn from the “Five Phases of Production” chapter in Cyber Film School’s
Multi-Touch Filmmaking Textbook
4. Titles
Adding titles to the film titles can be easily added with most editing software. However, for complex designs that require graphic or video title effects, consider working with a specialist unless you have the necessary design skills.
Title cards or text overlays need to be clear, legible, and well-integrated into the film.
5. Picture Lock
Picture lock in film and video is not a process by itself is a critical milestone. Picture lock means that there will be no more changes to the picture.
Directors sometimes have a hard time with this. They want to keep noodling with the picture endlessly. This is why you want to make them sign a document indicating that the picture is now locked.
Picture lock is critical because this signifies that the editor’s job is done. The project can now be sent to a colorist, the composer, and the sound designer for finalization, although the composer and sound designer may have been involved to a degree during the latter portion of the rough cut.
Any changes to the picture can have very disruptive effects on their work and can result in enormous inefficiencies, blown deadlines, and unhappy people. When the picture is locked, it’s locked.
6. SoundTrack
The popular mistaken description of a soundtrack is the collection of pre-recorded songs included in a movie. However, this is not what we mean when we talk about the soundtrack.
When we use the term ‘soundtrack‘, we mean everything the audience actually hears when they watch the movie. The soundtrack is comprised of four elements:
- Dialogue
- Narration
- Sound Effects
- Music
Dialogue has already been determined by the editor and is delivered to the sound designer and composer along with the locked picture as reference material. If narration is used, a ‘scratch track’ (temporary track) should have already been developed and timed into the fine cut.
The sound designer is responsible for creating a rich and multi-layered mix of sound effects that do not interfere with the dialogue. Likewise, the composer creates a score that enhances and emphasizes the emotional moments of the piece.
Both the sound designer and the composer need the picture-locked movie with the dialogue track to do their jobs, which is why arriving at the picture lock is so critical.
Summary
• Post Production is much more predictable and less stressful than production. Managing a post-production schedule is much easier than production
• The rough cut is about shot selection and shot order. Do not worry about timing. Your efforts will be wasted when you are instructed to rebuild sequences after the first viewing.
• Your fine cut has to play and be watchable without music. Do not rely on music to rescue a scene. Music will make it better but the scene needs to play without it.
• When the producer or director has signed off on the picture lock, there will be no more changes to the edit. Get signatures on paper. Any changes to the edit after this point will be painful and expensive.
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Post-Production Rules of Thumb >>
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Introduction to Post-Production
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