Post-production

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Post Production, as explored here, is associated with entertainment and media production, and is part of a series on filmmaking. Often referred to in brief as Post it is not just a phase of production, it is an indispensable department on larger filmmaking and video production projects.

Post Production is synonymous with editing and editorial. It deals specifically with the processes of assembling, tailoring and building out the raw audio and visual assets of a motion or moving picture (movie, television, video, etc.), into an eventual audience ready entertainment product. In the legitimate entertainment industry, Post Production is not merely a term, it is a highly defined phase of processes, it is a department, also referred to as Editorial, and it is a budgeting definition, proper spelling is title case. It is not a sub-phase of a departmental process, ergo, Pre-Production (part of the Production department, and one of the many phases it is responsible for), so it is not hyphenated, nor is Post Production one word. Post often begins concurrently with principal photography, also referred to as physical production, and carries on after a production concludes, or wraps, its production schedule. ^[1][2]

Post Production can be a highly involved, complex and time intensive process with schedules that can span several months to a year or more, dependent upon project scope and requisites. [1]

The traditional first part of the Post Production process non-linear (analog) film editing, has mostly been replaced by digital or video editing software, which operates as a non-linear editing (NLE) system.

Once the production team is satisfied with the picture editing, the editing is said to be locked. At this point, the turnover process begins, in which the picture is prepared for lab and color finishing, and the sound is spotted and turned over to the composer and sound designers for sound design, composing, and sound mixing.^[2]

Post Production consists of many different processes grouped under one name. These typically include:^[3]

• When content is shot on film it is typically transferred to video, DPX, OpenEXR with a telecine or a more modern motion picture film scanner.
• Editing the content of the film or television program.
• Writing, recording and re-recording, and editing the soundtrack.
• Adding visual effects – mainly computer-generated imagery (CGI) which is then composited into the frame.
• Sound design, sound effects, ADR, Foley, and music, culminating in a process known as sound re-recording or mixing with professional audio equipment.
• Stereoscopic 3-D conversion in the case of content that was shot in 2-D which is scheduled to have a 3-D release.
• Color grading (and color correction) in a color suite.
• Subtitling, closed captioning, or dubbing.

In many instances, Post Production runs concurrently with the physical production or principal photography of a project. The of creating a film usually takes longer than the actual shooting of the film. It can take several months to complete, because it includes the complete editing, color correction, and the addition of music and sound. The process of editing a movie is also seen as the second directing, because through post production it is possible to change the intention of the movie.

Furthermore, through the use of color grading tools and the addition of music and sound, the atmosphere of the movie can be heavily influenced. For instance, a blue-tinted movie may evoke cold in one way or another. The choice of music and sound will alter the dramatic effect of the scenes that they accompany.

In television, the phases of post-production include: editing, video editing, color correction, assembly, sound editing, re-recording, animation and visual effects insertions, combining separately edited audio and video tracks back together and delivery for broadcast.