Everyone
Possibly your first chat to the crew you’ll be dealing with, so they know you and know you’re on the ball – you’ll be looking out for their work and they’ll be looking out for yours.
Editorial needs to talk to:
Director – you probably already know your director so find out about any holes you’ve noticed in the script… Find out about camera style, tone, any VFX, how many cameras, where they’re shooting, where the film will be shown – cinema release, TV, web series, festivals, VOD. You won’t have a chance to ask about or influence those decisions once they’re in pre-production. And you need to know that stuff in order to assess what Editorial will need and for how long – this impacts Editorial budget.
1st Assistant Editor (if you have one, otherwise the Editor) needs to talk to:
DOP – what camera(s), what format and just a chat so that you know each other.
Post Houses – Sound Design, VFX, Online/Grade – it’s wise to meet them all, have a look at how they work and what makes it easy for them; what your codec options are, ‘spilling’ MXF audio files, Premiere traps, what lineup schedule VFX likes to use and which shots they will need first.
DIT, Sound Recordist, Continuity – a friendly intro email will get the relationships off to a good start and you’ll need to talk with the DIT about the camera format and what codecs will be needed by Editorial. Those details are the beginning of a robust workflow pipeline.
Producer – they will want to know as early as possible if you see any problems arising from the information you’re gathering as you talk with people. Will the extra footage shot by two cameras require two assistants to process? Will it extend the schedule? How many edit suites? How many drives will you need? It all impacts on the budget.
Adobe Premiere
If you are using this editing platform you must contact the Sound Designer and Online before setting up your systems. Your relationship with them is crucial to a smooth workflow. Keep watching for Adobe Premiere notes coming up in this Guide.
Talk to the people you’ll be working with. Colourist Claire Burlinson at Park Road (Courtesy of Park Road Post Production Ltd)
Producers need to talk to absolutely everyone, especially:
DOP – how many cameras, camera cards? What days for what gear?
DIT, Sound Recordist, Continuity – these are essential technical functions. Untrained mates won’t do. Can impact the budget later.
Post Houses – talk to them all. Sound Design needs to see the script – they can advise a realistic budget and schedule, and perhaps what location sound you should get in order to keep costs down.
Here’s why you talk to your VFX house very early and give them the script >
And why you involve your Archive in the early stages of your project >
Funders/Marketing – check you have the full and latest list from your sales agent, distributor and investors.
Last updated on 12 January 2022
Top Image: The cast and crew of Stray (Courtesy of Long Road Films Ltd)
© Directors & Editors Guild of NZ 2020. We grant permission to reproduce the content in this guide for personal and educational use only. Commercial copying is prohibited. We retain the right to be identified as the author of this work; please credit ‘Directors & Editors Guild of NZ’ whenever quoting from or reproducing this guide.