Post-production is the stage that comes after the filming is completed and the editing phase of the visuals and audios start. It refers to all those tasks associated with cutting raw footage, assembling it, adding music to it, dubbing, and sound effects to name a few.
The post-production phase is highly collaborative and may take a few months to even a year depending on the needs and the size of the project undertaken.
If you are looking for film schools in Montreal and want to start a career, you are at the right place as we discuss the steps involved in the post-production of a film.
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1. Secure the footage
Once the shooting ends, the first thing to ensure is that you have a reliable storage space secured. It could be from some hard drives to RAIDs which are a combination of hard drives. RAID can be external or installed in a computer system used specifically by editors who handle a lot of footage.
3. It begins with picture editing
This brings us to the next step – image or picture editing. This is where the cinematographer and editor work together and come up with suggestions. Once the editor goes through the script and looks at the dailies from the footage, they can start working by making an Edit decision list or EDL through which they will cut the film to its best advantage.
This is a great responsibility and therefore the quality of the editor decides greatly on how a film turns out to be. Editing software recommended are Final Cut Pro, Adobe Premiere, Avid, etc.
Assembling the footage is a time-consuming process and takes anywhere from a month to several. The first draft of the film is referred to as the Rough Cut and the final version is known as the Answer Print. When the director is happy with the result, they ‘lock’ it, and then the sound editing process begins.
After this comes creating sound. Sound editors are responsible for assembling a film’s audio tracks, cutting its dialogue tracks, removing unwanted sound or noise, and enhancing the film’s experience with sound effects.
Sound effects are often done by the foley artist so if a pre-recorded sound from the set doesn’t go well, foley artists recreate that sound. Sometimes actors come back to the studio and re-record their dialogues, and this is known as ADR or automated dialogue replacement.
4. Scoring or securing music
The next step is to score or secure a film’s music. The best approach is to work with a music composure and formulate an original soundtrack of the movie, which is easier than licensing other people’s work for your movie.
5. Sound mixing
Once you have the music and sound effects ready, it is time to layer each track on top of another to do the mix. Sound mixers adjust the volume levels of the film and eliminate anything that doesn’t go well with the movie experience.
After this, VFX artists work once the film is locked. Color correction or color grading is also achieved either on or before adding visual effects.
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