Basic of Rough Cut in Post Production

Basic of Rough Cut

I’m not sure what your definition of “rough cut” is. Generally, there are three phases of editing features: editor’s cut (also known as an assembly), director’s cut and producer’s/studio cut.

This is my super common experience on one editor/one assistant movies at around the $5M budget level.

Editor’s cut begins as production begins and the goal is to keep up with camera as much as possible. These initial cuts are fairly rough assemblies, but some scenes will come together nicely during this phase. If your assistant is super fast and capable, they might be doing sound passes on the scenes as you finish them. DO NOT GET LOST IN THE HARD SCENES IN THIS PHASE. So many editors get caught in the trap. If you get behind in your editor’s cut, you will never really catch up. Do the best you can, and keep moving through scenes. If you have some easier days (unlikely), then you can revisit some of these problem scenes. But keep moving—keep assembling your scenes!

Production at my level will be scheduled for as few as 15 days (yuck) to as many as 35 days (a rarity, but welcomed). 21 to 25 days is probably most common.

The last of the dailies will arrive a day or two after the last day of production and you should be finishing up assembling the last of the scenes a few days after that. Then all of these scenes are joined and put into order.

For the assembly, your goal should be to include everything, but to make it as palatable as possible at the same time. But an editor’s cut in no way is a good watch. We call it an assembly for a reason. If your director is experienced, they will understand this. If they have never seen an assembly before, you need to give a long list of caveats before hitting the space bar.

I have been given as few as three days and as long as two weeks (after production wraps) to complete the editor’s cut. On bigger budgets, the editor can expect more time.

The director’s cut begins with said screening of the editor’s cut. This is generally followed up with a deep conversation and usually a follow up screening with start-and-stops for notes.

The director’s cut is usually six weeks at my level. I have been on shows where the director is given just a week, however. That is really hard.

During the director’s cut, every attempt is made to shape the footage into a final film, with a decent temp sound mix, temp VFX and temp score.

The director’s cut is then presented to the producers and/or studio for the final push. (Note: on my tier of films, the producers and studio cut is usually combined into one, but I have been on films where the producers have a separate phase before the cut goes to the studio).

The director usually stays involved for the studio cut. If everything has gone smoothly and all of the hard work is evident, the the studio cut can be as simple as addressing a handful of notes and you are having a celebratory lunch a few days later. But more commonly there will be a few passes on the film that lasts a couple of weeks. On some really difficult shows, it can go as long as the director’s cut (six weeks or—gulp—even longer).

After the studio has blessed the cut, turnovers are executed and the other departments start their work (color, sound, vfx, music, etc).

The editor is generally off the show at this point and only the assistant stays on. I always want to be present at the sound mix, however, and I am usually paid to be there (usually a week). On VFX heavy shows (like ones with a creature), I will stay engaged during the reviews of VFX shots as they come in. I am not usually paid for this, however. I will be sent links and I can review shots on my own time.

Having a rough cut is the first goal that you should set out to achieve during the post production phase. Editing a movie is a daunting task that can only be completed in stages; the rough cut is the one that needs to be completed first because all of the decisions that you will make in the other phases are dependent on it. Once it has been completed and approved, you are able to turn your rough cut into polished work.

Step 1: Edit When You're Shooting

The process of editing a movie begins before any footage is even shot. During pre-production, the director will create shot lists and storyboards. It is during this planning stage that he first begins to think about how the final product will come together. He will then use his vision to plan out his shots so that they all edit together smoothly during the edit. This foresight allows him to maintain control over his work.

Step 2: Assemble the Rough Cut

There is a cliche but a true saying that a movie is made three times: once during pre-production (with the shot lists), again during production (when unforeseen compromises/opportunities change the shot list), and finally in post production when all the footage is put together to create the movie that audiences will see. It is with the rough cut that all of the creative decisions in editing are made. Do we cut to a close up or wide shot? Was the actresses performance better in take 5 or take 6? Does this reaction shot that we never thought of including make the scene better? All of these decisions and choices are made for the rough cut.

Step 3: Watch and Change the Rough Cut

Once the rough cut is assembled, watch it over and over again. Take notes about what you thought worked and didn't work and then make the changes. You need to get the materials together that make the best movie. Once you are confident that you have that, you can move on to polishing your work.

Step 4: Trimming Your Clips

The first step in polishing the work is trimming the clips down to their best lengths. Get the timing of the scene right with the performances and make sure that the cuts are smooth and seamless. You want to get everything to be perfect.

Step 5: Add Transitions

Once the clips have been trimmed down to their final lengths, you should add transitions to your video like fades and dissolves. Don't go overboard with them. A few can make a movie better, but a lot can make it cheesy.

Step 6: Create the Effects

Do whatever special effects work needs to be done. Once that is complete, your picture edit should be near complete and you can move on to audio editing. 

Step 7: Add Sound Effects, Music and Foley

Watch the rough edit a lot to see what audio work needs to be done. It ranges from project to project but will most likely include editing the originally recorded audio, creating ADR, and adding sound effects, music and foley. Editing the audio for your project is extremely important. You need to have great sound design to sell the movie to audiences.

Step 8: Color Correction

Once the audio and picture are both complete, you need to perform color correction on the project to make it look its best. The reason that this step is near the end is because you don't want to waste your time color correcting video that won't make the final cut.

Step 9: Watch the Movie over and over Again

Now that the work has been polished, it is still not complete. Take advantage of the fact that you have a deadline and keep watching the movie; do whatever you can to make it better right up until the last second.