The Importance of a Seamless Post-Production Workflow
Post-production involves a whole variety of skilled jobs so, to avoid chaos, it’s important to adhere to a post-production workflow that makes the process clear and limits confusion. We take a look at this approach in more detail.
What is post-production?
Working on projects in animation or film can be broken down into three broad categories: pre-production, production and post-production.
The stages which the first two of these encompass may seem painfully obvious (pre-production is everything up to filming/animating; jobs such as scheduling talent, booking equipment and signing contracts, for example). It is often more difficult to describe what exactly post-production entails.
Starting from the simple premise that post-production is everything after the director yells “Cut”, it becomes apparent that this could become a vast array of different skilled jobs, often with overlapping deadlines and timetables. An editor will almost always be working on a film while VFX teams are working on shots within that edit. The same goes for colourists and clean-up artists.
In order to manage this potential chaos, a clear understanding of workflow and adherence to schedule is essential (despite the potential for that workflow to be ENTIRELY different on each new project).
This is when a carefully formed, and carefully considered, post-production workflow becomes your very best friend.
What is a post-production workflow?
Workflow in this context (as in most) refers to the intricacies of approaching a multi-levelled task with aspects needing to be completed in a particular order. Often, these functions are achieved by a team of skilled individuals who need very particular assets and instructions in order to work to the best of their ability and deliver on time, on budget and to a high standard.
In post-production specifically, the likelihood is that you will begin this process with ‘raw’ footage. This is the term for footage that has been filmed but no further work has yet been done to it. Everything you then do to this footage (or in addition to it) that makes it into the final content is part of the post-production workflow.
Why is it important to get your post-production workflow nailed down?
In a nutshell – money.
Every aspect of post-production requires the attention of skilled workers. Regardless of the wealth of your individual client, they will have finite budgets, and this money must be allocated efficiently. This means not having any workers booked too early or too late, but (where possible) exactly when the project is ready for their attention, and for exactly the length of time it will take them to complete this aspect.
In order for a producer to maintain this flow, they must consider, as a starting point, the following stages:
Copy the footage locally, get a detailed brief and establish your key timings.
It is CRUCIAL to establish not only final deadlines but also any internal deadlines and touch-points. While a kick-off meeting might seem obvious, often a long project can run the risk of objective-drift. Regular discussions of work-in-progress edits will curtail much of the likelihood of going off on a tangent and wasting time.
Rough cut/first pass of VFX.
Once you understand what’s expected of you, you will need to review what assets you’re working with and take a creative leap by laying out your first edit – no wrong answers. It’s impossible to craft nothing into an excellent end product, so go with your gut!
Lay out as powerful a narrative as possible and discuss it with your client once you have it in front of you. It’s at this point that any key shots needing VFX elements should be identified, and your VFX artist will thank you for every single possible moment they get to work on their shots. VFX is as much about fine-tuning as it is about creating elements, so the more time the better.
Create a picture-locked edit.
After a review (or series of reviews), you should be moving towards a LOCKED edit. The perfectionist in you (and your client) will want to keep working on your project, so it’s important to stick to your timetable in order to not stall at this point. Your picture-locked edit will give your VFX artists a full picture on how much work is required of them too.
Add final VFX elements.
Lay out what is, in theory, your final narrative, with the correct picture and visual effects. At this point you will need to book a client review, as the next (and final) stages are bespoke and therefore expensive, so you will all need to be sure your edit is correct before proceeding.
Colour grade.
You’re nearly there now – as far as the picture is concerned, you only have to send your edited footage to your colourist for a grade. They will enhance your footage to match the desired mood. While often a subtle effect, this is a real skill and takes consideration and likely a check-in or two with your client to ensure the appropriate, desired effect is being achieved.
Bespoke sound design.
At the same time as the footage is being worked on at the colourist’s studio, the locked edit (with ungraded footage) will be sent to a sound designer. They will apply either an existing track or a bespoke sound to the edit, as well as secondary sounds at the appropriate levels of volume for your desired output format.
Each of the mainstream formats takes different volumes, levels and rules so, in order not to fall at this last hurdle, it’s very important to get this right. Sound can be an almost unnoticed element (unless key to the narrative), but when wrong, it has the potential to derail your entire message.
Export final full output list and deliver.
At this stage, you will likely have your last check-in with your client – there should be no surprises to either party and if you’ve been vigilant and diligent throughout, everyone should be content with a job well done. You will need to confirm a full list of expected deliverables, and then create them to the desired specs.
It’s very important not to get complacent here, as errors can crop up in final exports, so a good producer will not only QC each file, but ask others to do so too.
As you can see, post-production is quite a lot of work. But that’s exactly why you need a workflow. It helps us get our jobs done and it helps our clients understand exactly where we’re at with their footage at any time, so they can report back to their client in turn.
Keep it flexible and adaptable, but remember that planning is key and you should always lay out your defined stages before getting to work on a specific post-production project.