Major Project: Editing Workflow Research & Influence

Following my research and preparations from the dailies process, I felt that my bins, files, and overall organisational system were well structured and prepared for post-production. But I feel that it's also important to know the professional workflow of the post-production editing process that Editors typically follow and use to start their work. So before beginning this stage, I conducted research into the workflow steps to take, the types of stages / completed cuts that can be created as guidelines, and how the editing process typically works around working with others, such as the Director and Colourist.

Editing Steps Research

First of all, I found a very useful resource on 12 steps of a video editing workflow, that is specific to using the editing software that I'm using; Adobe Premiere Pro. The 12 steps and my thoughts and work effected by these are:

"1) Plan the project.

Planning your project is the crucial first step of an Adobe video editing workflow. That means using consistent file naming schemes, creating a single folder to store all your files and project elements, and even thinking generally about who your audience is and matching your editing styles to the needs of the project.

2) Gather media.

Get everything together, organized and easily accessible: captured media, graphics, audio, video and anything else you’ll need.

3) Label everything.

Label all media with keywords, bins and favorites to group everything into easily accessible categories." [1]

- I feel confident in my initial set-up that I started within the dailies process, as this matches very well with the importance of proper and consistent file naming and folder structures that are discussed in these first three steps.

"4) Start building your story.

Without worrying about being precise, start viewing clips and deciding which should go into the timeline. It doesn’t have to be anywhere near perfect. You just need to create a general framework." [1]

- I think that although this relates very well for the initial beginning of post-production editing, I was able to get useful practice of this process when creating dailies in a timely manner.

"5) Organize.

Now that you have the clips in the timeline, start watching the sequence to fine-tune the order." [1]

- I think personally to my workflow, this step is where my post-production process properly begins from my editing in the production phase, as by watching the timeline and fine-tuning the order and clips, the film will start to come together.

"6) Trim.

Once the clips are better organized, you’ll have a much better idea of what you can trim. It’s often a good idea to first trim to improve the story, and then worry about trimming for time." [1]

- This is not only a great insight into the ways that professional editors undergo trimming their work, but relative to the ways that I have always approached editing my work - by first trimming down for quality, and then later on to cut down the time.

"7) Add transitions.

This is the time to start polishing your production with cuts, dissolves and wipes. Don’t get overwhelmed. Focus on what needs to be done first, then start adding transitions to make the edits smoother." [1]

- I think that incorporating these after improving the quality of the edit will make the film come together even more and flow a lot better, however I agree that it's important to be left until later in post-production as to not get in the way of the basic fine-tuning of the edit.

"8 ) Add text & effects.

Once your story is complete, this is a good time to polish even further with necessary text and graphics." [1]

- This is one of few steps that I feel won't entirely relate to my own workflow, as sound editing will be approached before incorporating polished text and graphics. Mostly due to the importance of fine tuning our sound sooner rather than later in the process, and also due to the fact that text and graphics won't be completed until the end of post-production.

"9) Mix your audio.

Sometimes called “audio sweetening,” this is the step in which you can begin adding music, effects or other audio to create atmosphere." [1]

- Similar to the above, my workflow will differ slightly, in that music will be added slightly earlier, in order to have the composer improve upon the composition over time, and so that the film and music can be cut together to really connect the two effectively.

"10) Color-correct.

Whether you color correct in your NLE or an external application, save this step until everything else is complete." [1]

- Although I won't be colour correcting the film myself, I will be ensuring that the timeline's order, timings, clips and overall look of the film is almost finalised in order for the colourist to work on the clips that will definitely be used in the film, instead of wasting time on a half-finished cut that may either have clips removed or added later in post-production.

"11) Output.

Now is the time to output the project into the appropriate video file." [1]

- Although I may need some extra guidance from our DOP and technical adviser, I feel confident that I will deliver the film in the correct format.

"12) Archive.

Save your work – trash any clips or elements that you are 100% sure you will never need. But otherwise, archive everything so you have what you need to make any necessary edits later on." [1]

- I will definitely hold onto all my work from start to finish, I think that is very important for later use.

Overall these steps were useful in learning about the professional editing workflow that can be used in post-production, alongside learning about the similarities and differences that my own workflow will have in comparison.

Another source of information that I found was a nine-step workflow article, that looks at more specific, supportive areas to focus on during the editing process:

"1. Create a project “Edit Log” This document should be used on a daily basis to track changes to workflow, sequences and organizing structure.

The edit log is a record of what was done, where things are saved  and how workflow tasks were handled.  Included in an edit log are:

- Identifying problems

- Steps to be taken to fix problems

- Task identification" [2]

- This was something that I hadn't considered doing when editing Double Exposure, as I have never created an Edit Log before. However, when reading about how helpful and supportive it can be, I decided from this that I will use an edit log in post-production. Allowing me to keep track of my work day by day and identify changes and issues.

"2. Create a project “Master Document” Separate from the “Edit Log”, the “Master Document” contains governing notes that will be used to make future workflow decisions. A new editor, assistant editor or anyone acquiring footage can use this document as a guide on file formats, saving and naming procedures and more. If this is a smaller one-visit project, you may consider skipping this step." [2]

- As technical specifications and important notes to refer to will be incorporated into the edit log, and as this is a one-time project, I decided that I do not require a master document in post-production. But it is interesting to learn about an important part of logging when editing large, or revisited projects.

"3. Determine if transcriptions are needed. This is based on the amount of interview footage that exists." [2]

- As this step only refers to the documentary parts of the article, it is unrelated to my work.

"4. Determine project folder structure, naming conventions, saving and backup plans. Use predetermined folder and bin names to organized files on the hard drive and within the edit program’s browser.

- Naming conventions should be consistent and designed for keyword searching in finder or an edit browser.

- Autosave project files should be designated to a hard drive other than the project’s hard drive.

- Project / footage drives should be raid redundant or backed up after each edit session." [2]

- I feel confident that since the production phase I've already followed organisational guidelines, but this step was a useful reminder of how important it is to back-up your work after every session. I plan to back-up my work onto the computer every day, giving me back-ups both on my own hard drive and a second hard drive.

"5. List source footage format details. This is some of the information noted in the master document." [2]

- Again, this is less relative to my own work, but will be considered when file formats are important to be noted.

"6. Identify editing & delivery formats. Convert to one file type for editing early in the process. I use ProRes 422 or ProRes HQ. Delivery formats are different and usually smaller than edit formats. These will be dictated by the delivery platforms you’ll be using. I like H.264 for almost every type of delivery. This works well for YouTube and Vimeo." [2]

- This step highlights the extremely high importance of where to begin with the sequence format of my project. As I was using H.264 for dailies in order to import, edit, render, and export in timely and convenient ways. However, for post-production editing this would differ, and the project would need to be in a much higher quality format. Before starting my project, I planned to work with our technical adviser to ensure that I used the correct format (to be discussed in another post).

"8. Create a plan for file transcoding and naming. These days we’re often working with different recording formats, frame rates and even aspect ratios. Identifying these differences early, testing if necessary and locking in editing specs will ensure the best quality playback performance possible." [2]

- I feel that I ensured this step's success by undergoing BlackMagic footage tests in pre-production (as explored in a previous post), allowing me to learn about the type of aspect ratio, file sizes, and frame rates that the footage would be delivered at and figure out the best ways to work with them.

"9. Import, organize & log your media. The edit software will be the interface for all your edit work. Being able to account for all your video clips, photos, graphics and sound files can be a challenge if you’re not organized." [2]

- Already off to a great start with this, I will continue to make sure that all of my media is consistently organised and well located in my project for a smooth workflow.

This article was very helpful in looking into specific considerations to make, and was great for giving me ideas of workflow steps that I want to include in my own project, such as using an edit log to support my work.

Editing Stages Research

One of the most important parts of editing a film is going through the typical stages of editing, by working towards particular completed cut types, and presenting them at each stage of post-production. These can include rough cuts, fine cuts, and final cuts, but many different sources have different outlooks on exactly how many stages there should be, the requirements of each stage, and even what they're named. By conducting research into different stages, I was able to decide on which ones I wanted to follow inline with my own workflow, post-production time and deadlines.

The first article on professional editing stages explores six individual stages from start to finish:

"1. Logging

The dailies or rushes are sorted and labelled in ‘bins’. Each take can contain extra notes from the director or the cinematographer. This is the first time the editor sees the film, and since it is shot out of sequence, it is out of context of the story. A good editor views the rushes and looks for fluidity of movement and nuances that will later be incorporated into the film." [3]

- This stage already relates to my own work in the production phase of the film, however it seems to view the dailies as being created by a different person, and that they are then handed to the editor. This differs to my own work as my first step was creating the dailies myself. But this stage indicates how effective dailies can be in recognising how each shot and clip can be effectively cut together later.

"2. First Assembly

The editor considers all the visual and audio material collected on the shoot for each scene and then re-orders it in the way to tell the story best.

Hint: First assembly is like a sketch of the finished scene.

It is a good idea to save these sketches for reference later,

should the editor get stuck." [3]

- This stage is well explained as the initial set-up of the edit, by beginning to tell the story through simple organised clips and audio. The extra hint is helpful in relating to the fact that I will save multiple versions of my work after each major change, in case I need to return to that version of the project later.

"3. Rough Cut and Variations

The rough cut can take up to three months to complete. Each editor works differently. Sometimes the editor works alone and shows the day or weeks work to the director and producer, Sometimes the editor and director work together, discussing every nuance.

In the rough cut, the scenes are placed in order and checked for continuity. This all-important step in the editing process allows for revisions and new ideas to be tried and tested." [3]

- The above stage's time frame differs greatly to my own, as I would only have a matter of weeks to edit a rough cut to meet an overall 10 week deadline. I can gather from the rough cut stage that depending on choice and project type, this stage can either be continued alone by the editor, or allows for beginning to work alongside the Director. Due to a short turn around time, the rough cut would most likely be taken on by both myself and the director to better improve the storytelling and quality of the film in a short time.

"4. First Cut

The first cut is the rough cut that is accepted by the editor, the director and the producer. Selection and sequence are basically fixed, although changes can still be made. The later film is visible. Detailed fine cut starts out from its proportions, structures, rhythms and emphasises them." [3]

- This feels like an inbetween-type of stage for projects that have a longer time frame to complete. From reading this I felt that it was unlikely that a first cut would be incorporated into my own stages of editing.

"5. Fine Cut

The fine cut no longer focuses on the entire film, but on the details of each and every cut. The fine cut emphasises and strengthens the rhythms and structures identified in the first cut." [3]

- Focusing on each individual component of the scenes, clips, sound and overall quality of the film, I think that this stage would be close to the end of the project, as the film would be almost at the finishing stages.

"6. Final Cut

When a fine cut has been agreed with the editor, director and producer, the sound designer, music composer and title designer join the editor. Sound effects and music are created and added to the final cut. When everyone has agreed with the final cut, the Edit Decision List is sent to the lab where a negative cutter ‘conforms’ the negative to the EDL in order to create a negative that is an exact copy of the final cut." [3]

- This would differ slightly with Double Exposure, as audio, music and GFX would need to be incorporated into the fine cut stage in order to get feedback in time for changes before submission. However this is a good indication on the fact that once everyone on the crew agrees that the film is a finished product, it can be exported and handed over to the appropriate person.

From reading these stages, they felt like a slightly longer version of the editing process, where the editor has more time to complete each stage.

This prompted me to find a versions of the cuts that focus on larger completions per stage, as opposed to smaller cuts with less changes. So I found a helpful resource for slightly different types of editing stages:

1. "Assembly edit

This is the first stage of the editing process. The footage from your shoot is organized into scenes (usually be an assistant editor). Then, all scenes are assembled roughly, with the editor's choice on takes. No music or effects are included." [4]

- This first post-production stage can be identified as 'first assembly' in the above article, acknowledging that the video and audio are organised in a simplistic way to tell the story - chosen by the editor alone. In discussion with my tutor and crew, it was decided that in the first stage of editing that I would work alone, so the above example relates to my own process very well.

2. "Rough cut

The editor replaces takes as needed, based on the director's notes. The assembled film is reviewed and scenes/dialogue removed in order to get the film to an appropriate length, based on what works and doesn't work. Pickups are added, as well as music and story-critical sound effects." [4]

- Similar to the first example of a rough cut, this states that the film is more fine-tuned and cut down in collaboration with the director. However this example of a rough cut incorporates adding pick-up shots, music and sound effects, which I feel works a lot better with my time constraints. Therefore bringing the film and story together in earlier stages of post-production in our project.

3. "Fine cut

Another round of director's notes are addressed. If you need visual effects, you begin farming out effects and adding in rough versions of effects shots as they come in. Finalize music (make sure you're working with music that has been cleared or is possible to clear). You might screen for friends to get feedback. Overall, you eliminate any other extraneous scenes or lines of dialogue and fix anything else that isn't working." [4]

- I feel that this is a very unique perspective on a fine cut, but very detailed in how certain tasks will get the film to that fine cut stage. I plan to complete the fine cut after colour grading, followed by adding in GFX and making sure that the music is finalised, along with a group screening on our course, and last changes before the final cut/picture lock. So this example of a fine cut entirely relates to my own plans.

4. "Pic lock

We work to get the film as tight as possible, going over it with a fine-tooth comb. All effects are finalized and incorporated into the cut. Additional sound work is done, as necessary. Director and editor will be working closely together to make sure all notes are addressed and the director is happy with the film." [4]

- I feel that just before submission and after some final feedback, this would be a very suitable stage for our project, making sure that everything is exactly as we need it before rendering and exporting.

With all of the above in mind, I feel that the second article on editing stages is the most effective and suitable for Double Exposure's post-production stages. Therefore, below is the plan for:

My Editing Stages

• First Assembly: Creating a linear timeline of all scenes to get a feel for how the story flows, cut types, pacing, and film length. Followed by adding and syncing the external sound. Along with deciding on the major changes that need to be made, and deciding with the crew on any additional video and audio that needs to be recorded. This deadline is set with the Producer as 2 weeks into post-production.

• Rough Cut: Adding all pick-up shots and audio, incorporating sound design such as sound effects, fine-tuning each scene with tighter cuts, working with the Director to improve the quality of the film and to cut it down to the required length, adding the first draft of music, sound editing to fine-tune the quality of all sound, and having the film ready to be colour graded. This deadline is set with the Producer as 5 weeks into post-production (giving me 3 weeks to complete the rough cut, with 2 weeks for our DOP to colour grade and for the Director and I to continue sound editing if needed).

• Fine Cut: Receiving the project with completed colour grading, final changes to sound editing, final music added to the film, GFX, opening titles and closing credits added to the film, and fine-tuning the scenes. This deadline is set with the Producer as 9 weeks into post-production (giving me 2 weeks to complete the fine cut).

• Final Cut: All final feedback changes are completed, the last fine-tuned areas are completed, our tutor and entire crew are happy with the film, and the film is rendered and exported. This deadline is set with the Producer as 10 weeks into post-production; i.e. the day of submission (giving me 1 week to complete the final cut).

In agreement with the Producer, Director and DOP/colourist, I think that these four stages across 10 weeks allow me to complete highly improved versions of the film on each delivery, and meet with our time frames very well. But although these four stages are personalised to my own project, I feel that they draw from my research of professional editing stages and workflows, giving the editing process of this film a very professional standard of work and collaboration.

By conducting this research in multiple workflow steps and editing stages, I was able to feel well-prepared for beginning the first assembly and all other cuts of Double Exposure with confidence and effective preparation.

References

1. 12-Step Adobe Video Editing Workflow

2. Nine Steps to Organized Video Editing – Documentary & Fiction Film

3. THE 6 STAGES OF EDITING AS A FILM DIRECTOR

4. Phases of editing: assembly, rough cut, fine cut and pic lock

Major Project: Dailies Process & Results

Following my research into dailies and preparations for this task, filming of Double Exposure at its main location began on Monday 20th February and finished on Friday 24th February, with the remaining scenes at other locations shot on the following Monday and Wednesday, wrapping on the Wednesday 1st March. During this time, I underwent and completed my tasks of creating and presenting dailies to the crew.

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:

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:

Day by day layout

Scene for scene within each day layout

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:

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:

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:

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:

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.

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:

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...

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.

Major Project: Dailies/Rushes Editing Research & Preparations

During the production/shooting of Double Exposure, my task was to create dailies/rushes for each scene filmed after each day of filming. Before shooting commenced and before I began however, I knew that it was important to conduct research into what exactly dailies/rushes are defined as, why they are created, how they are used, the best set-up and workflow to use, and the effect that they have on a production.

Overall Research

Dailies or Rushes?
The first area that I wanted to look into was the difference between dailies & rushes.

Dailies, known sometimes in the UK as Rushes "are prepared at the end of each day's shooting to be viewed by the director and other staff later that night or during the following day. This allows them to make sure the footage is acceptable and free of technical problems. If any scenes need to be re shot, it obviously makes sense to do it immediately while sets and actors are still available." [1]

- This is a fantastically clear way of describing the use of creating dailies during the production phase, explaining that when creating dailies I would be preparing them at the end of each day of filming and presenting them to the Director & Producer the following day, in order to decide whether shots or scenes need reshooting and whether the footage cuts together. Allowing for time to reshoot during production, instead of needing to set up expensive reshoots after filming has finished.

Rushes, however, are evidently a more old fashioned term, as they can be described as "the raw footage from a day's shooting. The "rush" refers to the speed with with the footage must be prepared — this was more of an issue in earlier days of movie-making when film footage needed to be processed before viewing." [2]

- Although dailies may often be referred to as rushes, the definition above and many similar definitions that I've found describe my task a lot less accurately, so the cuts that I would be creating and presenting during production can be best defined as Dailies instead of Rushes.

For further definitions and descriptions of dailies in film, I found more information on the term and process from other sources.

"All material shot in one day of productions is called dailies  ... Traditionally dailies are dropped off at the lab at the end of day and are available for screening the next morning." [3]

- The above description was useful in further clarifying the overall task of creating dailies.

In 'Cinematic Terms', Dailies are defined as: "the immediately processed, rough cuts, exposed film, or first prints of a film (w/o special effects or edits) for the director (producer, cinematographer, or editor) to review, to see how the film came out after the day's (or previous day's) shooting ... used to determine if continuity is correct, if props are missing or out of place, or if sound is poor, etc., to help decide whether to re-shoot." [4]

- This was another extremely useful extended explanation of the task, describing dailies as being a roughly cut, quick cut version of each day's scenes, without any special effects or special editing. Also described as being used to check for reshoots if continuity is incorrect or if their are technical issues.

Although I had a small amount of knowledge on the purpose of dailies before conducting the above research, the information that I learned was very helpful in giving me an understanding of the overall ways that dailies are cut (roughly, 'rushed' to meet time quotas), when they are created and presented (created after each day of filming, most commonly presented the next day), and their important purpose during production (checking camera shots, continuity, for any technical issues - overall checking for any reshoots needed before filming ends).

Preparations

Testing

Once I knew exactly what I would be undergoing and creating for my Director & Producer after each day of filming, the DOP and I discussed the viability of being able to complete these tasks with our camera footage. As we'd be shooting with a Blackmagic camera that produces extremely high quality footage that digitises into very large video files, it was possible that an issue could come up with attempting to edit such large files on a MacBook laptop (the only equipment that I would be able to edit the dailies on in order to edit either on location or locally and overnight), as this could cause the laptop to either run too slowly or freeze, stopping me from being able to edit.

So, we decided to test our Blackmagic camera footage in pre-production, by the DOP recording a number of clips on a recce day at the location, and giving the clips to me to test editing on my laptop. When testing I found that a small amount of clips took a long time to copy from one hard drive to another due to their size (although the resolution was slightly higher than the real shoot's footage would be), and that the clips made my editing software, Adobe Premiere Pro, run slower and slower. As these clips totalled at 2 minutes, and our film would total at 15 minutes, it seemed likely that editing the dailies in their full high quality and size would not work.

I then decided that the best solution would be to make lower quality - and therefore lower file size - duplicates of the clips in order to edit the dailies on my laptop. With tips and guidance from our course technician, I found that the best way to do this was through Adobe Prelude, a software that allows you to simply make copies of footage and transcode them into lower quality files.

With further help from an Adobe Help page [5] and another useful online guide [6] describing the best ways to transcode high quality footage into low quality footage using Adobe Prelude alongside Adobe Media Encoder, I was able to downgrade the quality of all of the Blackmagic test clips. An example of their change is one 10 second clip went from 1.39GB in Apple ProRes 4444, to just 16.8MB in H.264, while still retaining the same frame sizing and 25 FPS (frames per second).

Screenshot example of transcoding the test clips in Adobe Prelude before them being put through Adobe Media Encoder

Although it was evident that using Prelude for my real dailies would take a very long time as the software took a long time to convert a small amount of clips, I was then able to edit the low quality footage very smoothly and easily in Premiere. Meaning that the problem was solved, and that I would be using Prelude to make low quality copies of all footage from each day in order to create dailies for Double Exposure.

Below is the Dailies Test Result Video exported in H.264:

Vimeo Link

Password: TVP

Set-Up & Workflow Research

Before beginning dailies, I wanted to find out the best ways to set-up and organise my workload such as folder organisation and file naming, as this would help me to make the footage and sound recordings easy to navigate and locate, and help me both now and in post-production to identify each clip by well described names. As editing the dailies of the film are the first step in editing the whole production, it was very helpful to learn the best ways to handle the steps of editing and keep everything organised.

In an extract from Elliot Grove's Raindance Lo-To-No Budget Filmmaking book, he states that the first stage of editing is 'Logging', which is explained as...

"The dailies or rushes are sorted and labelled in ‘bins’. Each take can contain extra notes from the director or the cinematographer. This is the first time the editor sees the film, and since it is shot out of sequence, it is out of context of the story. A good editor views the rushes and looks for fluidity of movement and nuances that will later be incorporated into the film." [7]

- This advice and guidance on the first step of editing allowed me to consider what system I wanted to use for organising bins/folders that contain each day's sound and footage, alongside sparking the idea to create my own daily notes on the scenes and the ways that they cut together.

Another article provided tips the best ways to organise scenes and each day's footage...

• "Organize the dailies according to script order, so that Scene 11 always comes after Scene 10, no matter what the shooting order was.
• Arrange the dailies in the order in which the film was shot, which helps the director remember the day better.
• Organize according to which camera the takes are from (when multiple cameras are used). For example, the director might like to see all the shots from Camera A then Camera B for the same setup. So 10A-1 "A" is followed by 10A-2 "A" and 10A-3 "A," then 10A-1 "B" and so on. Or, the director might like to organize it so 10A-1 "A" is immediately followed by 10A-1 "B." [8]

- The first bullet point helped me to make the decision of creating the dailies and presenting them in script order, as to follow the story properly. The second allowed me to consider separating each day's scenes and footage properly as to clarify exactly what scenes where shot on which day, and the last point started my decision making for the types of names I wanted to use for each video file.

Another source of information came from an article that explains effective ways to organise your edit from the start...

The website's image below shows an Editor's folder/bin labelling and organisation before beginning editing or logging [9]

- This guide and image helped me to decide on using a very similar layout for my dailies' folders and labelling, for example using 'Audio', 'Video Footage', 'Day-01' etc.

The final source of information helped me with extra workflow tips and clip naming ideas:

"Always hyphenate file names to separate words instead of using underscores.  Aside from being easy to look at, file names with hyphens are more web friendly (search engines can parse out the words).  For instance a good looking filename would be “project-name-client-name-v6.mov” [10]

- Although the name example differs, with a combination of my research on file and bin naming before beginning editing dailies, I decided on a naming system of beginning with the subject in shot, any movements, shot size, and ending with a lowercase letter to represent which take of the shot it is. For example a shot in scene 1 could be 'EMILY-CAR-EXTERIOR-TRACKING-MCU-a', or in scene 3 'WINE-BOTTLE-CU-a'. I feel that this is a personalised but professional, and effective way for me and anyone else to identify the clips, and it combines well with my naming systems for folders/bins.

I feel that the research that I conducted on dailies, preparations for my work, and the exact structure and organisational workflow that I want to use, were extremely helpful before beginning the editing process in the production phase of the film. Without this research, the organisation of the sound and footage may not have been well structured, also meaning that it would be unstructured for post-production, and it may have slowed down my work process. But with this research, I was able to fully understand my task at hand, undergo tests and preparations in pre-production, and decide on my own personal approach to dailies.

References

1. Dailies Explained
2. Rushes Explained
3. DAILIES AND RUSHES
4. Film Terms Glossary: Dailies
5. How to ingest media clips with Adobe Prelude
6. The Adobe Prelude Workflow (Part Two): Ingest and Logging
7. THE 6 STAGES OF EDITING AS A FILM DIRECTOR
8. Organizing Materials
9. Nine Steps to Organized Video Editing – Documentary & Fiction Film
10. File Naming for Video Editors, Designers & Photographers

Major Project: Pre-Production Editing Checks - Finalised Shot List & Sound Recordings List

Alongside the importance of and Editor participating in the shot list for the film, another key area of pre-production is the Sound Editor making a list of sound recordings that are needed during production in order to have full effect in post-production.

Sound Recordings List & Research

As the Sound Editor, it is important to know which key sounds are needed for the film before production, in line with the content in the script. For example, for a scene that involves a character hitting their head on a blunt object to be truly powerful, that *WHACK!* on the object needs to be clear and have an impact on the audience. So, when making note of all sounds in each scene, from dialogue, to foley (previously mentioned in a research post), to sound effects, it's crucial to know which sounds are necessary to be captured in-scene and which sounds need to be recorded externally with our audio equipment.

Therefore, I needed to make a sound recording list for my Director and Sound Technician to use on shoot days, ensuring that all sounds that needed to be recorded externally would be. For example, the sound of car keys starting up a car, or the sound of atmospheric birds in the garden - having these sounds recorded individually and clearly will highly improve sound design in post-production. In the more crucial areas, examples such as characters whistling 'Twisted Nerve' in Double Exposure's script needed to be recorded outside of the scenes they featured in, so that in post-production the tune can play through the scenes, as if it were only recorded in scene, the sound would become cut up and out of sync when cutting between shots.

Before creating my sound recordings list, I conducted research to clarify just how important the Sound Editor's tasks are in pre-production...

"Instead of simply taking audio into consideration once you get on-set, you should be preparing to make your audio amazing before production begins." [1]

This is true of all crew members during pre-production, as while sound may be overlooked when focusing on the visuals of filming, it is just as important.

"Always schedule time to record natural sound while you are on-location. Picking up several minutes of nat sound* from every location is important for preventing choppy audio in post. Be sure to record additional nat sound every time the audio environment changes." [1]

*nat sound is also known as ambient. I.e. recording a track of the just the ambient sounds of the location - even if it's just silence.

As mentioned above, a Sound Editor, along with all other crew members need to remember that recording ambient tracks of each location are key for smooth sound in the edit of a film.

"During pre-production don’t forget the audio: discuss story elements, additional recording elements beyond the dialog track and plot strategies to capture the best sound at each location at all times." [2]

Research such as that gathered from the quote above was very helpful in prompting my discussions with the crew in pre-production that I would be creating a sound list, and that it's vital for the list to be used in production.

"Ten minutes on set a day recording Foley, Walla, room tone and backgrounds will give the picture editor an arsenal of sounds while creating the temp edit.  All of those recordings forwarded to audio post will give the supervising sound editor and sound designer the raw materials to help you tell the story in the world that has been defined by all of the other recordings." [3]

"Don’t just get the shot, capture the audio universe of your shoot as well.  You’ll tell a better story, have more creative resources available during the initial picture edit and save yourself a few dollars in post while enhancing the quality of the program." [3]

These quotes are extremely insightful on the ways that sound recordings greatly improve on capturing and telling a story alongside it's visuals.


List
Following my research, I created the list below for my Director & Sound Technician to use by re-reading the script word for word, and making notes of every useful sound to be recorded...

Sound Recordings List Download

Screenshot example

While the sound list may be overly detailed, I wanted to be thorough, and I feel by providing my crew with this list, they were able to keep a clear focus on audio after each scene. In relation, I plan to create a list of sounds that need to be obtained on line to aid the sound design of the film, further into post-production.

Finalised Shot List

After receiving my alterations to the first draft shot list for Double Exposure, the Director and DOP proceeded to incorporate my notes and additions from the coverage list, and created a fine-tuned second draft, then sent it back to me. Evidenced in how much the shot list had improved on coverage and detail, it is clear that when the Editor of a film is involved in pre-production decisions, the overall decisions of the project can become much more detailed, with ideas coming from an entirely different perspective - one that focuses on the way the scenes will cut together.

While the list was much more detailed in not only coverage, but with shot labelling and movements, I had some final and small additions to make to the list, including sound design additions. These sound additions were incorporated following my sound recordings list creation, indicating at the start of particular scenes where in-scene sounds such as an alarm clock beeping need to not be included, as they need to be recorded separately in post-production.

For the most part, the visual changes, notes and additions were based on what I felt could be effective shots added to scenes, parts of the list that seemed to be errors, and further coverage that was required for the shoot. I think in line with my sound additions and sound list, the materials that I helped to improve on for the film became much stronger and ensure a well covered film.

Here are screenshot examples of my final shot list changes...

Screenshot example

And here is the link to the entire altered final shot list...

Final Shot List Editor Alterations Download

Following my alterations and the final script for the film, the above shot list was made the finalised copy.


I think that my input into the pre-production parts of film-making have had a positive impact on the production and post-production of Double Exposure. Focusing on getting as much coverage as possible, and ensuring that sound is made a priority and focused on just as heavily as the visuals during shoots. Also, by making the above lists and alterations, the dailies/rushes process and post-production will be benefited by the shots and sound changes and additions from undergoing these checks - as mentioned in my past research.

References

1. 5 Tips for Planning Your Audio in Pre-Production

2. PRE-PRODUCTION AUDIO FOR POST PRODUCTION SOUND

3. DON’T JUST GET THE SHOT