postproduction phase the postproduction phase refers to the period of time after the film is shot,...

Postproduction Phase

• The postproduction phase refers to the period of time after the film is shot, but before it is released in its final form. Postproduction includes:

• Processing and printing of film.• Transferring sound to “mag stock” –

audiotape with sprocket holes.• Synchronizing picture and sound track.• Creating an assemblage.• Creating a “rough cut.”• Creating a “fine cut” and final audio

mix.• Conforming the original negative (A/B

rolling).• Adding optical effects and transitions.• Creating a “married” print (joining A/B

roll and sound into one final print).


• Processing, Printing, and Transferring.– The first few steps of postproduction are

routine, requiring more technical knowledge than creative decision making:

• Processing: Developing the camera negative.• Printing: Creating a “work print” for the editor to

rearrange.• Transferring: Rerecording the original audio onto

magnetic tape stock so that it can be manipulated and rearranged along with the picture.


• Synchronizing and Assembling.– Synchronizing

• Because the information for synchronization on the slate is stored at the beginning (“head”) of each take on the picture and sound track, the first task of the edit is to synchronize these before any cuts are made. This cannot be done later because, if cuts are made first, the labels will be lost separated from what they refer to.

• When synchronizing picture with sound, the editor simply aligns the beginning of the sound for a given take with the beginning of the picture, using the sight and sound of the clap slate for a reference point.


• Synchronizing and Assembling.– Assembling

• Following the synchronization of the picture and dialog track, the rolls of film are divided up into individual shots and wound onto cores where they are placed in a rough sequence referred to as an “assemblage.”


• Rough Cut to Fine Cut and Final Audio Mix.– Between the rough cut and the fine cut is where all of

the creative decisions are made.• Rough Cut: Places the film in rough sequence from

beginning to end according to the screenplay. Dialog is in place, but sound effects, and music are incomplete.

• Fine Cut: All of the final editing decisions and the final soundtrack mix are complete. The film is ready for laboratory work (negative cutting, effects, married printing).


• Getting from Rough Cut to Fine Cut.– Editing is the arrangement of imagery and

sounds into a sequence that tells the story of the film.

– An editor may arrange based on different aesthetic styles depending upon the needs of the story. For example:

• Invisible editing.• Montage editing.


• Getting from Rough Cut to Fine Cut.– Invisible Editing.

• Invisible editing is sometimes referred to as “classical editing” and refers to a style that downplays the transitions between shots and keeps the focus of attention on the flow of events in the story. This form of editing works in conjunction with the Master Shot / Cutaway shooting strategy.

– Transitions» Cut» Dissolve» Wipe» Fade



• Transitions– Cut

» The cut is the most basic form of a transition and refers to the abrupt ending of one shot that is simultaneous with the beginning of the next shot.



• “Hiding” the cut.– Cutaway: The master shot orients the viewer to the onscreen

environment so that the cutaway shot doesn’t appear abrupt or confusing. The viewer recognizes the cutaway as a portion of the larger environment that should be attended to because it contains story information.

– Reaction Shot: The reaction shot transitions from an event to a character’s response to the event. Because we, as spectators, are focused on the event itself and the character’s response to it, we are less concerned with the discontinuity of the cut.



• “Hiding” the cut (continued).– Shot/Countershot: The Shot/Countershot technique

hides the cut by following the flow of events within the scene, transitioning at a particular point based on the spectator’s need for more information. For example, when editing a conversation, the transition between speakers occurs at the conclusion of a statement.



• “Hiding” the cut (continued).– Cutting on the action: In a sequence of actions, the cut

can be made as the action occurs, overlapping between the outgoing and incoming shot, focusing spectator attention on the event itself rather than the way it progresses.



• Transitions– Dissolves, Wipes, & Fades.

» A dissolve is the gradual replacement of one shot by the next, in which both shots appear overlapping and blended for a brief period. Dissolves can be created “in camera” by double exposing film, but they are more commonly produced by double exposure during printing.



• Transitions– Dissolves, Wipes, & Fades (Continued).

» Wipes also replace one image with another, but they do so “directionally,” by scrolling over one image with another. Wipes can be either vertical or horizontal.




» Fades gradually obliterate the image by overexposing or underexposing until either black or white remains on the screen.

Production Phase



» Unlike the “cut” which, strategically placed, can draw attention away from the transition, dissolves, wipes and fades function as conventions to convey narrative information such as the passage of time, memory, and/or emotion.



• In general, invisible editing works because it takes advantage of the fact that the cognitive resources we devote to attention are limited and our focus on the form/style of a film can easily be diverted to content.


• Getting from Rough Cut to Fine Cut.– Montage Editing.

• Pioneered by Soviet filmmakers of the 1920s, montage is a style of editing in which a series of independent images are juxtaposed to create a new context for interpretation. Russian filmmaker, Sergei Eisenstein’s concept of montage resembles the Gestalt Psychology concept that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. Transitions in montage editing can be guided by multiple strategies including;

– Rhythm (Pacing)– Shape (Graphic Matching)– Color– Expectations (Trajectory)



• Strategies– “Rhythm” or “pacing” refers to the time intervals between

shots and can be manipulated to effect spectator’s subjective sense of time. For example, the final sequence in Birth of a Nation (1915) created a sense of suspense and urgency by accelerating the pace of editing.



• Strategies– Shape & Color: Abstract qualities of the image such as

shape and color can link together otherwise disparate images. The “graphic match” is a technique that connects adjacent images in a montage sequence based on the characteristics of their shape.



• Strategies– Expectations: Because film is a medium that portrays motion,

the speed and direction of motion in a particular shot creates expectations for motion in the next shot. Mentally, we are aware of the “trajectory” of motion and carry through the expectation of that trajectory into the next shot. Thus, instead of cutting on the action and meeting those expectations completely (as in “invisible” editing), a montage transition maintains the motion, but may change the context of that motion.



• Alternatively, a common narrative usage of montage editing is to compress a portion of the larger narrative into a form that conveys elapsing time.


• Getting from Rough Cut to Fine Cut.– It is important to note that, although invisible

editing and montage editing have been separated into two categories for the sake of analysis, they are no firm boundaries between them. Narrative films make use of both “invisible” and montage transition strategies to achieve the goals of the story.


• Conforming the original negative.– Once all of the editing decisions have been

made, the original “camera” negative is brought to a “negative cutter” who uses cement splices and A/B rolling in order to conform the negative based on the decisions of the final cut of the workprint.


• Creating a married print.– Once the negative has been conformed to an

A/B roll, a married print is created and joined with the final audio mix which is inscribed at the edge of the film optically.

– For the purposes of distribution, an “internegative” is then created from the married print for the sake of striking positive “release” prints that are shipped to theaters.