need tips from Post to Big Screen?

heil_cf2

heil_cf2

Member
I am just finishing shooting my first feature, I shot it P2 - AVC-I100 1080 24PN on HPX300A, as this is very low budget movie, I will need to edit it myself, please give some tips on the steps involving editing the raw footage to the big screen. i need to know :
1. which is the best editing software - Final cut Pro, CS5 Premiere, Edius - I have Edius 6 but am willing to buy one of the other two
2. color correction (which software)
3. sound and effects (somebody is doing this for me)
4. when the editing and everything else is finished and the film is ready, what is next, it is sitting in my computer, how to deliver it to the theater, on hard disk or Film or something else??
5. do i need to uprez it from somewhere to make it 2k, or it is okay for digital theaters?
6. do i need to transfer it to the film? to distribute

please help if you know the process from Post to the big screen.
and I am very hopeful that this movie is going to at least 5-10 theaters, I am talking to a distributor who is very interested, but I need to know before I talk to him that I know stuff, you know what I mean, I can't ask him these questions, :violin:

thanks
 
The only person from this community I know of to make an HVX no budget feature and have a DCP made for state of the art theatres with digital projection is Faith Granger. Her movie is called "Deuce of Spades" and has a thread in the user films section here. Although by now its probably three or four levels from the top as it was released middle of last november.
 
agree with heil.
these are very important and 'carved in stone' questions that i also need answers for..
strange that there's not even a sticky on that.. (will be glad to maybe get linked to other professional sources?)
thanks
 
If you're already shot your picture and are now starting to worry about post, you may already be in trouble. Successful films usually have an editor in place before they shoot, and the editor starts working on day one (or night one, really). The editor will look through your dailies every night or the next day and let you know if you have gaps in coverage, if you have issues with picture or sound, if you need to schedule a re-shoot.

1- Hire an experienced editor. If the project is as important as you say, then it's worth spending the money. The right editor for you is a story teller who will not only be able to make a coherent whole out of all the little bits of sound and picture, but they will be a technician and artisan who will be able to make all of this stuff work in a way that makes it play smoothly together.

2- There is no substitute for a decent colorist. I'm talking about the difference between making it look pretty on their own monitor, and making it look pretty on any monitor, TV or projector. A colorist is an artisan. They have as much technical skill an knowledge as they have an artistic eye an bent.

3- Change picture to sound and see #2 above. All of the same concerns apply.

4- If you hire the professionals that I suggest, they will answer this for you. You may also want to consult with a good online editor. The sad fact is that unless you try to distribute the film yourself, you'r not likely to get any distribution at all, rendering the entire question academic.

5- If you want to make a DCP, you need to have a 2k image. You're expert colorist may know how to do this. If they don't, a really good online editor or dub house will.

6- I refer you back to #4. If you want to make a film print, that will cost you at least another $10k or $15k on a Cinevator, with no negative. Which doesn't account for quality. A decent quality negative and print will be 2 or 3 times that cost.
 
thanks for the info...
suppose i'm a one man band concerning first post work:
editing and decent sound handling - providing an offline fine cut.
can you please refer me to any reading tips on how to try
getting a bit of finance for the REST of the post work? (online, sound, etc..)
i suppose my situation is different when living in Israel,
but at least getting to know the facts on how to raise finance on completing a self made feature?

thanks :)
 
Premiere Pro, Sony Vegas, and Avid Media Composer all have free trials for you to try and see which one best fits your likes and needs. You may even be able to finish the fine cut in the 30 day trials! ;)
Finishing funds, or gap financing is something that does happen more often than you think - but you need to have a business plan in place, and be able to show return on the investment. Usually last money in, is first money out when sold. I would also recommend highly that you find an editor you can work with who has feature experience. First time directors working as first time editors can work once in a very long time, but the odds aren't that good.

Michael
 
thanks for the information, let me be more clear
1> for dailies stuff, i downloaded all my footage, on my computer by myself, checked out any errors, done re-shoot that i needed.
2> to hire an Editor, i don't think so, over the budget, which I want to keep as close to zero, I am editing myself for 4-5 years now, i did editing for TV programs and now (Producer+directer+cameraman+editor+reporter+graphic designer+assignmentDesk=one man army ) of a national weekly television show (sports updates), I think I can handle the editing part, not as good as a pro editor, but it will not look that bad(i think)
3>to hire a colorist > yes i will do that
4> to hire a sound person > i have one
5> to uprez and the general workflow, technical details I want to know, like if suppose i am editing in premiere, or FCP, and i want to make it 2k, shoould i just render out stills and then in AE or Photoshop make the resolution of the still 2k, then bring it back in 2k project, or like Edius 6.0 they have 2k project presets, just import into a 2k project will make it 2k,
6> uprez - when to do it, before or after CC
7> distribution - I already have two distributors asking for my film, its (film) not in English and there is little competition in the market of my language, in Canada it will be playing in atleast 7 theaters( I think), I edit 7 TV shows a week that airs all over Canada and I can promote my film on those shows for free,
8> on free trials > i don't need free ones, as i have Edius 6.0 and CS5 production premium pack
9> to put it on film - may be i need that, but in digital theaters they can play the film from ???? i want to know..a DVD, a hard disk drive, a MPEG file on a USB, or what else, and how I can make that delivery right from my computer - i already read almost everything regarding this on wikipedia, all general answers not specific answers, and i think this forum can provide that
 
MichaelP said:
Premiere Pro, Sony Vegas, and Avid Media Composer all have free trials for you to try and see which one best fits your likes and needs. You may even be able to finish the fine cut in the 30 day trials! ;)
Finishing funds, or gap financing is something that does happen more often than you think - but you need to have a business plan in place, and be able to show return on the investment. Usually last money in, is first money out when sold. I would also recommend highly that you find an editor you can work with who has feature experience. First time directors working as first time editors can work once in a very long time, but the odds aren't that good.

Michael
Click to expand...

thanks for the info :)
however, i still very much like to read more in depth material on ways to finance a ready made offline feature..
any tips or 'business plan', what are my options on getting (or even earning?) money from it ?

thanks
 
Not to beat a dead horse to death, but these are things that should have been worked out before production began. Test test test! There will always be unplanned things that come up, but these are basic questions that should have been asked before you shot.
 
El Director said:
Not to beat a dead horse to death, but these are things that should have been worked out before production began. Test test test! There will always be unplanned things that come up, but these are basic questions that should have been asked before you shot.
Click to expand...
there are many things, which should have been asked before shooting, and those were ignored, so now what, should I rest in peace?? or ask questions now and figure out what to do next. we learn our whole life and my questions here and my experience with my first film will help me to not repeat these mistakes,
 
1. which is the best editing software - Final cut Pro, CS5 Premiere, Edius - I have Edius 6 but am willing to buy one of the other two
2. color correction (which software)
3. sound and effects (somebody is doing this for me)
4. when the editing and everything else is finished and the film is ready, what is next, it is sitting in my computer, how to deliver it to the theater, on hard disk or Film or something else??
5. do i need to uprez it from somewhere to make it 2k, or it is okay for digital theaters?
6. do i need to transfer it to the film? to distribute

please help if you know the process from Post to the big screen.
and I am very hopeful that this movie is going to at least 5-10 theaters, I am talking to a distributor who is very interested,

Okay, first step. Get a deliverables list from the distributor that's interested.

This will tell you how they expect the film to be delivered. What format, etc. So, 4, 5 & 6 depend on the distribution arrangement. So I'm not sure what you need to know before speaking to the distributor. What is their plan? Theatrical? (That's rare for low budget movies) So, before worrying about theaters find out what the distributor is planning for the movie.



Secondly Q. 2 & 3 are dependent on 1. The color correction software (like COLOR which we used) needs to be compatible with your Editing system and 3. sound person better know how to deliver what you need which again will be spelled out with the distributors Deliverable List.

So, I encourage you to get your hands on that deliverables list and work from that.

-M
​
 
Is there a rule of thumb as to what distributors expect from a straight-to-DVD indie film? In general, do they expect a fully mixed, color corrected product ready to be released? Or is it typical for filmmakers to solicit distributor interest with a final cut screener (sans CC and mix)?
 
You're better off with a finished master. You also want a website with a trailer and other pertinent information. You will want to provide your distributor with a direct link to the trailer. Don't make them hunt for it. Once they see the trailer, they will request a screener.

For direct to DVD, it will be a HD master, SD master (full height anamorphic and letterbox), 5.1 and stereo mix. If foreign is even considered, then double all that (PAL), add stems for both 5.1 and stereo, dialog master with timecode and who says what, etc. But they will tell you exact requirements.

Michael
 
Michael,

Does this hold true for the majority of films under $100k? Preparing a master would be a sizable chunk of that budget. Would it make more sense for a microbudget to simply prepare a working cut and expect a distributor to prepare a master (if desired)? Hard to see how such a film of this size would recoup costs.
 
shutterspeedfilms said:
Michael,

Does this hold true for the majority of films under $100k? Preparing a master would be a sizable chunk of that budget. Would it make more sense for a microbudget to simply prepare a working cut and expect a distributor to prepare a master (if desired)? Hard to see how such a film of this size would recoup costs.
Click to expand...

that's EXACTLY what i am wondering about. i am now shooting a feature with 8000$ max budget. i'll definitely HAVE to count on someone's help in preparing a master (online post work, CC, sound mix)...
 
Way back in February Faith Granger had already sold just over Two Hundred Thousand Dollars worth of DVD's directly from her website of her very first feature before she got her DCP made and that cost her $8k. She basically had already figured out how to get FREE world wide publicity and basically told the interested distributors to go shove it up their a&*) and from what I know she is making decent money now since she quit her job to travel around the country and screen her film at all of the big state of the art Digital Theatres as she gets All of the money and no distributor gets a nickel. The total opposite of what normally happens on a no budget first feature. Sony even gave her a FREE hi-res digital projector at NAB and sponsored her because she used Sony Vegas to edit on and of course Sony is basking in her glory as though she made a hollywood level film for nothing only because she used Vegas.
 
hmmm.. that's very nice to know.
have to admit i just watched the teaser and although it shows great production efforts,
i personally still find it a bit amateurish looking for my taste, but it's nice to know low budget features get such a big support.
however, here in Israel it's quite difficult to get any finance
without people sticking their noses in your ideas and waiting a year for answers..
i guess the optimal thing to do is finish the film myself and send it to every festival available.
let's hope i could produce a decent film ;)
 
I'm going to comment this coming at it from another angle. Even if you completely ignore all technical aspects and edit the movie in whatever software makes you happy, as long as you can shoot out an EDL in CMX 3600 it can be reconformed and colored from the raw materials. If the movie isn't good, it really doesn't matter if you have everything in a cute little DCP since no one will be interested in it. Since you seem like a technical guy (and most of the info you need is already in this thread) I'd take careful note of everything, but don't lose focus on what's most important: story.
 
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