Set-Up
My previous research on dailies prompted me to make decisions on the types of folder/bin and file naming and organisation that I wanted to follow before and during filming. As I've never created dailies before, this research and pre-production decision making was very useful.
Firstly, using a 2TB hard drive that guaranteed having enough space for large Blackmagic files, I set up the initial folders that I wanted to use for organisation during both production and post-production:
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| Hard Drive Layout |
'Audio', 'Dailies' and 'Video Footage' were created for my dailies process, and 'Cuts' and 'Outtakes' were prepared for later in editing. The remaining folders that will be added during post-production are 'Music' and 'GFX'.
To further prepare for sorting each day and scene's audio and video, I created bins for each day and scene under Audio, Video Footage and Dailies. Along with creating bins for atmos tracks, SFX (sound effects) and potential ADR (automated dialogue replacement) in the Audio bin:
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| Day by day layout |
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| Scene for scene within each day layout |
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| Audio bin layout |
All of these organisational bin set-ups and labelling were extremely useful in organising all audio and video from each scene and day to their assigned bins.
Also within audio, I created bins that would separate audio recorded in-scene to match footage, and audio that was recorded after each scene for the purposes of Foley or atmospheric tracks for sound design (as requested in my sound list, which can be found on my journal). I'm very glad that I did this, as not only was it a useful tool when navigating my audio in the dailies process, but this also benefits the organisation of audio during post-production:
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| Separate audio layout |
Once all of this was complete in preparation of both production and post-production, I was ready to start.
Work Space & Work Hours Changes
The initial plan for the dailies process was for me to edit on location after each scene was filmed and finished, with my work continuing into the night to create dailies for the overall day. However, during the first shoot day, we realised that this wouldn't work for the following reasons:
- The small house location only had two rooms; the living room/kitchen and the bedroom/bathroom. One of which would always be in use for filming, and the bedroom was always used as a dressing room, with a bathroom that didn't have a door (meaning the bedroom would need to be vacated every time someone used the bathroom). So as neither room was possible to use a work space, I didn't have anywhere on location to edit the dailies.
- To digitise each scene's footage and audio after completion throughout the day would have taken up hours of filming time due to the size of the files.
So, we decided as a group that from day 2 onward, the footage and audio from each day would be digitised after filming had finished at the end of each day, handed over to me, I'd edit the dailies at home throughout the day and evening on the following day, and I'd give them to the crew that night. This meant that I had my own work space where I could keep my focus, I wouldn't be in the way of filming on location, and the whole editing and delivery structure could be more organised.
Workflow
After learning how to use and perform tests in Adobe Prelude for downgrading our footage's quality in pre-production, alongside my organised bin set-ups, I was aware of the system that I wanted to use for creating dailies each day. My daily workflow from start to finish consisted of:
- Separating all clips from the current day of filming into their correct Video Footage scene bins by identifying shot types and content within the clips, with knowledge of all scenes in the script.
- Listening to all audio tracks from the current day of filming and identifying which scene they belong to, or if they're foley/atmos tracks, and sorting them into the correct Audio bins for each scene.
- Working in linear order of the script, for example I would work on scene 2 before scene 5, even if they were shot the other way around that day. I feel that this helped me to identity continuity issues and get a feel for the flow of the content in the script.
- Watching each individual clip within each scene to identify their focus (character, prop etc.), shot sizes (CU, WS etc.), any movement (crabbing, tracking etc.), possible locations (car interior etc.) and which take of the shot it is (e.g. a= take 1, b= take 2 etc.).
- After watching each clip, naming them based on what can be seen, using my previously decided labelling structure (as found in my last post) - such as 'CAR-INT-ECU-a' or 'CAR-TRACKING-WS-b'. Making the clip/shot type easily identifiable for editing. As can be seen below:
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| Clip labelling Scene 1 (original) example |
- Once completing a scene's labelling, undergoing the lengthy process of putting the scene's footage into Adobe Prelude for creating downgraded copies from Apple ProRes 422 to H.264 quality. Allowing for smooth editing on my Macbook (as previously discussed on my journal). A process that required transcoding each scene one at a time, and sometimes took up to 2 hours per scene. Using this time wisely, I continued to label the rest of the day's footage, creating a cycle of labelling and then transcoding the footage once the previous scene was finished. Also, by labelling all clips before creating copies in Prelude, the low qaulity footage was already properly labelled and reviewed, instead of needing to complete this tasks again with the copied clips:
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| Transcoded footage Scene 1 (original) example. Clip copies are now .mp4 instead of .mov |
- When finishing clip labelling, listening to the scene and take number details of each and every external audio track within each scene, and pairing them with the correct clip in order to label them with the same details. Making the audio and clip pairing very easy to identify both during dailies and post-production:
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| Scene 1 (original) label pairing example |
- Unable to edit each scene's dailies on Adobe Premiere Pro at the same time as Prelude transcoding footage due to freezing and lagging issues, once Prelude was finished, I began editing each scene. Consisting of...
- Creating a new Premiere document and project for each scene, saved into the the current day and scene's Dailies bin.
- Importing the lowered quality clips into said project, and undergoing the process of selecting appropriate clips to cut together to tell the scene's story. Although the process was completed faster than average in order to meet a short deadline, detail and thought were still put in to selecting which shots to use and the overall timings of cutting them together. This way I could decided whether the shots will cut together smoothly in post-production or not.
- After completing each scene, creating a new project for the entire day's dailies, and putting each timeline's components into one timeline. This was helpful to see if any linear order scenes cut together smoothly, and to have all scenes from the day together in one project.
- Rendering the timeline, followed by exporting the dailies into a video that can be given to and viewed by the Director and Producer that night.
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| Day 1 and all dailies Adobe Premiere workflow/project examples |
Alongside making a large amount of extensive notes, and keeping in contact with the Producer and Director throughout each day to confirm whether reshoots would be needed or not (both of which to be discussed below), this was the step for step workflow and task list that I completed for all seven days of dailies' organising and editing. By using the same system for every day, my workflow was smooth and organised, and prepared me for the type of workflow to use in post-production.
Once finishing all dailies' editing and filming had wrapped, I then added all dailies scenes to one project/timeline, rendered and exported it, for our group to watch and review the following week, and for my own review before post-production.
Notes
During each day of reviewing footage and sound, along with cutting together clips and scenes, I made sure to make a lot of notes for the Producer and Director to read. I feel that by writing down all of the positives from the day along with all of the issues that need to be corrected, it gave the crew a sense of where the strengths and weaknesses were within filming, and alongside contacting them directly, this made them aware of the reshoots needed and why, and any issues that we may face in post-production.
Below are examples of my notes' set-up and an examples of a day's notes:
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| Day 4 Example of my notes |
Issues & Reshoots
During the first 5 days of filming (the house location), the schedule was set for filming 20 scenes, averaging at 4 scenes to be filmed a day, at specific times of the day for lighting. However, within the first day of filming, there were issues with sound equipment that slowed down the process, along with the initial set up time of dressing the set. This caused the first day's scenes to become slightly rushed, and I felt that I could see that within the footage, due to a lack of coverage, limited shot types, and too much use of shaky handheld shots.
I was very aware that the entire crew only had a limited amount of time to film all 20 scenes, however I knew that the Director and DOP hadn't captured what they wanted the scenes to look like, and upon reviewing the dailies of that day, they agreed that they weren't happy with their scenes. I therefore said that in order to produce scenes that capture the look and feel that they originally wanted, and for the scenes to cut together smoothly - which was crucial in my opinion, they needed to reshoot 4 out of 5 of day one's scenes.
As this had a large impact on the rest of the week's shoot by adding 4 more scenes to the week, it sometimes caused other scenes to become rushed. As I was reviewing all footage and cutting it together back to back, I was highly aware of extremely strong and well shot scenes in comparison to those that lacked this, and I felt that to get the best for the film, certain other scenes needed to also be re shot, due to the same issues as above, as well as some scenes not capturing the impact that they needed - such as scene 19's original shoot not making a character's death appear realistic or emotional enough.
In total, five scenes needed reshooting (1, 2, 5, 17 & most of 19), with extra shots filmed within the same week for two scenes (18 & 20) and pick-up shots needed at a later date without actors for three scenes (7, 8 & 21) - to be discussed in another post.
Although my pointing out of all issues and reshoots needed in my editing notes and conversations with the crew put a lot of pressure on them during the first five days of filming, I knew they were much happier with the results of the re shot scenes, and that the end result of the week of filming was to a very high standard.
I feel that with all of the successful original scenes, paired with the re shot scenes, and extra audio and clips from their original scenes, the film is able to be cut together very smoothly.
A less drastic reshoot example of the improvements made between an original scene and a re shot scene are in the H.264 dailies videos of scene 5 below...
A less drastic reshoot example of the improvements made between an original scene and a re shot scene are in the H.264 dailies videos of scene 5 below...
Scene 5 Original
Scene 5 Reshoot
Improvements:
- A clean static CU instead of an unbalanced handheld shot.
- A better framed, smooth tracking shot of the couple.
- A more intimate shot of the kiss and hands - CU.
- Much more varied coverage and shot types.
Results
Overall, by having a clear organisational structure for Double Exposure's video and audio files, I was very well prepared for post-production editing as well as dailies editing, with no further labelling and bins required, as it was all well prepared. Also, by undergoing a fast-paced editing workflow in Premiere, I got great practice of cutting together our film within tight deadlines, I feel that this is also very helpful preparation for the post-production editing workflow.
Due to the amount of reshoots required during filming, I'm extremely pleased that I undertook the tasks of creating and reviewing dailies, as without these reviews and flagged-up issues during the production process, we wouldn't have been able to reshoot any scenes with actors, and the film wouldn't be quite as smooth and professional as it's proving to be with those reshoots and considerations made. In summary, I think that the dailies had a very positive impact on the film, and gave me a great start to moving on to post-production.
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