Rough cut

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In filmmaking, the rough cut (also known as the first cut or editor's cut) [1] [2] is the second of three stages of offline editing. The term originates from the early days of filmmaking when film stock was physically cut and reassembled, but is still used to describe projects that are recorded and edited digitally.

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The rough cut is the first stage in which the film begins to resemble its final product. Rough cuts are recognizable as a conventional film, but may have notable errors or defects, may not have the desired narrative flow from scene to scene, may lack soundtrack music, sound effects or visual effects, and still undergo many significant changes before the release of the film. [3] [4]

Video editing workflow

A number of the preliminary stages can be undertaken by lower cost staff, or people less skilled in using expensive and sophisticated editing equipment (such as those who are not directors). With the advent of digital video editing software and non-linear editing systems (NLE), films or television shows go through a number of stages.

There is often a large amount of footage to be reviewed in a given project. An example workflow is given below:

  1. Digitizing: Ingesting the material into a digital computer greatly simplifies the handling of footage compared with its original form on tape or film.
  2. Logging: Logging the shot material allows particular shots to be found more easily later
  3. Offline editing: Video effects.
    1. Initial Assembly: The selected shots are moved from the order they are filmed in into the approximate order they will appear in the final cut.
    2. Rough cut: More shot selection, approximate trimming. The sound is untreated, unfinished, and will require sound editing. Often dialogue and sound effects will be incomplete. Titles, graphics, special effects, and composites are usually represented only by crude placemarkers. Colors are untreated, unmatched, and generally unpleasant. In modern big-budget films, this often begins while filming is still taking place. [5] The editor tapes together the first cut of the film, the "editor's cut", arranging the separate takes into a coherent story in communication with the director. [2] [6] The editor's version of the film will often be as much as two hours beyond the final running time of the film.
    3. Final cut: The final sequence of images and sound are selected and put in order.
  4. Online editing: The picture and sound quality of the project is adjusted and brought to their optimum levels.
  5. Mix: Audio is finished by a specialist with equipment in acoustically treated rooms.

Director's cut

A version supposedly nearer to the director's original creative vision is sometimes marketed as a director's cut . These special-market versions of a movie DVD are more expensive than the regular edition, as they are usually longer than the theatre version, and have extra discs often including "making of ... " documentaries, out-take collections, extended interviews with cast and crew, etc.

Notes

  1. Chandler, Gael (2012). Cut by cut : editing your film or video. Michael Wiese Productions. ISBN   978-1-61593-090-6 . Retrieved 2 February 2024.
  2. 1 2 Rubin, Michael (2000). "Nonlinear : a field guide to digital video and film editing". Playground Productions / Triad Publishing. Retrieved 2 February 2024.
  3. Benjamin Craig, "What is the difference between online and offline editing?" filmmaking.net
  4. "Coursework in Urban Documentary Filmmaking" Emory University
  5. "From Rough Cut to Director's Cut to Final Cut: How a Film Transforms Over Time". New York Film Academy . 28 April 2017. Retrieved 2 February 2024.
  6. Grove, Elliot (27 November 2021). "The 6 Stages Of Editing As A Film Director". Raindance . Retrieved 2 February 2024.

Related Research Articles

In public use, a director's cut is the director's preferred version of a film. It is generally considered a marketing term to represent the version of a film the director prefers, and is usually used as contrast to a theatrical release where the director did not have final cut privilege and did not agree with what was released.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Film editing</span> Creative and technical part of the post-production process of filmmaking

Film editing is both a creative and a technical part of the post-production process of filmmaking. The term is derived from the traditional process of working with film which increasingly involves the use of digital technology. When putting together some sort of video composition, typically, you would need a collection of shots and footages that vary from one another. The act of adjusting the shots you have already taken, and turning them into something new is known as film editing.

A film crew is a group of people, hired by a production company, for the purpose of producing a film or motion picture. The crew is distinguished from the cast, as the cast are understood to be the actors who appear in front of the camera or provide voices for characters in the film. The crew is also separate from the producers, as the producers are the ones who own a portion of either the film studio or the film's intellectual property rights. A film crew is divided into different departments, each of which specializes in a specific aspect of the production. Film crew positions have evolved over the years, spurred by technological change, but many traditional jobs date from the early 20th century and are common across jurisdictions and filmmaking cultures.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Video editing software</span> Software used to edit digital video files

Video editing software or a video editor is software used for performing the post-production video editing of digital video sequences on a non-linear editing system (NLE). It has replaced traditional flatbed celluloid film editing tools and analog video tape editing machines.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Storyboard</span> Form of ordering graphics in media

A storyboard is a graphic organizer that consists of illustrations or images displayed in sequence for the purpose of pre-visualizing a motion picture, animation, motion graphic, or interactive media sequence. The storyboarding process, in the form it is known today, was developed at Walt Disney Productions during the early 1930s, after several years of similar processes being in use at Walt Disney and other animation studios.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Non-linear editing</span> Non-destructive audio, video, or image editing

Non-linear editing is a form of offline editing for audio, video, and image editing. In offline editing, the original content is not modified in the course of editing. In non-linear editing, edits are specified and modified by specialized software. A pointer-based playlist, effectively an edit decision list (EDL), for video and audio, or a directed acyclic graph for still images, is used to keep track of edits. Each time the edited audio, video, or image is rendered, played back, or accessed, it is reconstructed from the original source and the specified editing steps. Although this process is more computationally intensive than directly modifying the original content, changing the edits themselves can be almost instantaneous, and it prevents further generation loss as the audio, video, or image is edited.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Post-production</span> Step in film, video, audio or photography process

Post-production is part of the process of filmmaking, video production, audio production, and photography. Post-production includes all stages of production occurring after principal photography or recording individual program segments.

Video editing is the post-production and arrangement of video shots. To showcase perfect video editing to the public, video editors must be reasonable and ensure they have a superior understanding of film, television, and other sorts of videography. Video editing structures and presents all video information, including films and television shows, video advertisements and video essays. Video editing has been dramatically democratized in recent years by editing software available for personal computers. Editing video can be difficult and tedious, so several technologies have been produced to aid people in this task. Overall, video editing has a wide variety of styles and applications.

Linear video editing is a video editing post-production process of selecting, arranging, and modifying images and sound in a predetermined, ordered sequence. Regardless of whether it was captured by a video camera, tapeless camcorder, or recorded in a television studio on a video tape recorder (VTR) the content must be accessed sequentially.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">B-roll</span> Concept in filmmaking

In film and television production, B-roll, B roll, B-reel or B reel is supplemental or alternative footage intercut with the main shot. The term A-roll, referring to main footage, has fallen out of use.

A sound editor is a creative professional responsible for selecting and assembling sound recordings in preparation for the final sound mixing or mastering of a television program, motion picture, video game, or any production involving recorded or synthetic sound. The sound editor works with the supervising sound editor. The supervising sound editor often assigns scenes and reels the sound editor based on the editor's strengths and area of expertise. Sound editing developed out of the need to fix the incomplete, undramatic, or technically inferior sound recordings of early talkies, and over the decades has become a respected filmmaking craft, with sound editors implementing the aesthetic goals of motion picture sound design.

Filmmaking or film production is the process by which a motion picture is produced. Filmmaking involves a number of complex and discrete stages, beginning with an initial story, idea, or commission. Production then continues through screenwriting, casting, pre-production, shooting, sound recording, post-production, and screening the finished product before an audience, which may result in a film release and exhibition. The process is nonlinear, as the director typically shoots the script out of sequence, repeats shots as needed, and puts them together through editing later. Filmmaking occurs in a variety of economic, social, and political contexts around the world, and uses a variety of technologies and cinematic techniques to make theatrical films, episodic films for television and streaming platforms, music videos, and promotional and educational films.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Principal photography</span> Phase of producing a film or television show in which the bulk of shooting takes place

Principal photography is the phase of producing a film or television show in which the bulk of shooting takes place, as distinct from the phases of pre-production and post-production.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Workprint</span> Rough version of a motion picture or television program

A workprint is a rough version of a motion picture or television program, used by the film editor(s) during the editing process. Such copies generally contain original recorded sound that will later be re-dubbed, stock footage as placeholders for missing shots or special effects, and animation tests for in-production animated shots or sequences.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dailies</span> Unedited film footage of a motion picture

In filmmaking, dailies or rushes are the raw, unedited footage shot during the making of a motion picture. The term "dailies" comes from when movies were all shot on film because usually at the end of each day, the footage was developed, synced to sound, and printed on film in a batch for viewing the next day by the director, selected actors, and film crew members. After the advent of digital filmmaking, "dailies" were available instantly after the take and the review process was no longer tied to the overnight processing of film and became more asynchronous. Now some reviewing may be done at the shoot, even on location, and raw footage may be immediately sent electronically to anyone in the world who needs to review the takes. For example, a director can review takes from a second unit while the crew is still on location or producers can get timely updates while travelling. Dailies serve as an indication of how the filming and the actors' performances are progressing. The term was also used to describe film dailies as "the first positive prints made by the laboratory from the negative photographed on the previous day".

Offline editing is the creative storytelling stage of film making and television production where the structure, mood, pacing and story of the final show are defined. Many versions and revisions are presented and considered at this stage until the edit gets to a stage known as picture lock. This is when the process then moves on to the next stages of post production known as online editing, colour grading and audio mixing.

Television crew positions are derived from those of film crew, but with several differences.

Previsualization is the visualizing of scenes or sequences in a movie before filming. It is a concept used in other creative arts, including animation, performing arts, video game design, and still photography. Previsualization typically describes techniques like storyboarding, which uses hand-drawn or digitally-assisted sketches to plan or conceptualize movie scenes.

Articles related to the field of motion pictures include:

This glossary of motion picture terms is a list of definitions of terms and concepts related to motion pictures, filmmaking, cinematography, and the film industry in general.

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