Basic Film Production
Matthew T. Jones
Film as a Medium
Supplementary Notes
Production Phases

There are three phases of production
common to most professionally
produced motion pictures. These are:
• Preproduction phase
• Production phase
• Postproduction phase
Preproduction Phase

In general, the
preproduction phase
encompasses all
aspects of
preparation that are
performed before the
camera starts to roll.
Some aspects of
preproduction
include:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Screenwriting
Storyboarding
Funding
Assembling a crew
Casting
Costume Design
Location Scouting
Set Design
Properties (“props”)
Scheduling
Preproduction Phase

Screenplay/Script: The screenplay
supplies the general plan for the
production of a film. There are two
types:
• The “spec” script
• The “shooting” script
Preproduction Phase

The “Spec” (Speculation) Script is the version
of a screenplay that writers distribute to
producers in the hope that it will be “optioned”
(i.e. considered for production). It primarily
contains:
•
•
•
Slug-Line (brief description of the setting, e.g. “INT.
ROOM – DAY” which means the interior of a room
during the day)
Business (descriptions of characters/action)
Dialog (the lines intended to be spoken by the actors)
Preproduction Phase

The Shooting Script is a much more
detailed version of the spec script that
includes numbered scenes, specific
camera angles and other technical
information. An example of a page from
a shooting script (from the film Pieces by
Andrew Halasz shot here at William
Paterson) can be seen on the next slide.
Preproduction Phase

Writing a screenplay and analyzing a film
narrative require an awareness of similar
concepts:
• Character
• Conflict
• Action
• Story
• Plot
Preproduction Phase

Character
• Agent of physical and social action
• Subject to physical and social action
• Subject to needs and desires
• Subject to social norms, mores, and laws
Preproduction Phase

In an instructional book on screenwriting, Syd
Field (1979) divides character into interior and
exterior aspects. Viewers of a film don’t have
access to the character’s interior life and so it
must be expressed in the exterior life through
actions taken in professional, personal, and
private contexts. One pursuit of narrative
analysis is the interpretation of character
motives based on action.
Preproduction Phase
Preproduction Phase

Conflict
• The source of narrative conflict is the needs
and desires of the character when they are
met with oppositional forces. There are three
basic types of narrative conflict:
• Character versus Nature (i.e. the physical world)
• Character versus Character
• Character versus Self
Preproduction Phase

Action
• In a film narrative, a character is expressed
through his/her actions in responding to a
conflict. Two overlapping types of character
action are:
• Social Action (e.g. dialog, communicative behavior)
• Physical Action (e.g. stunts, athletic behavior)
Preproduction Phase

Storyboarding: A storyboard is a series
of drawings intended to represent how
the film will be shot, including how each
frame will be composed and how subject
and camera motion will occur.
• The storyboard articulates the mise-en-scene
of the film.
• Mise-en-scene: All of the elements that compose
the shot.
Preproduction Phase

Funding: Films are generally expensive
to produce. Even small independent
productions with unknown actors can
cost hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Because of the level of investment
involved, most films rely on either
production companies (“Hollywood”
films) or independent investors
(“Independent” films).
Preproduction Phase

Assembling a Crew: A crew is the group
of workers on a film set who are
responsible for facilitating production (as
opposed to acting). Although large
productions may employ many crew
members in many different departments,
there are only a few basic positions
which are detailed later in the production
phase.
Preproduction Phase




Casting: Choosing actors to play roles.
Costume Design: Choosing or designing
the clothing/costumes that the actors
wear.
Location Scouting: Choosing the
locations where the film will be shot.
Set Design: Constructing sets where the
film will be shot.
Preproduction Phase


Properties (“Props”): Choosing the tools
and objects used in the film.
Scheduling: Coordinating all aspects
necessary to the production.
Production Phase

The production
phase refers to the
period of time when
the film is actually
being shot. Some
aspects of
production include:
•
•
•
•
•
Direction
Camera operation
Lighting
Sound recording
Acting
Production Phase

During production, these roles are
usually delegated to the production
departments listed on the next two
slides.
Production Phase

Production Departments
•
•
•
Direction
•
•
Director (oversees all aspects of the production)
Assistant Director (works closely with the actors)
Camera
•
•
•
Cinematographer (oversees camera operation and lighting
plan)
Camera Operator (operates the camera)
Assistant Camera (loads camera, pulls focus)
Lighting
•
•
•
Cinematographer (oversees camera operation and lighting
plan)
Gaffer (head electrician)
Grip (sets up lights)
Production Phase

Production Departments (continued)
•
Sound
•
Talent
•
Miscellaneous
• Sound Mixer (records the sound)
• Boom operator (positions the microphone)
• Clapper (displays the clap slate for the camera)
• Actors (perform before the camera)
• Production Coordinator (scheduling)
• Continuity “script girl” (watch for continuity errors)
• Make-up Artist (apply make-up to actors)
• Production Assistant (various jobs)
Production Phase

All of the departments and positions
described on the last two slides serve
one goal: to capture the sound and
image necessary to tell the story.
Although going into every detail of
production is far beyond the scope of
this course, let’s consider the “nuts and
bolts” that go into filmmaking.
Production Phase

How does the camera work?
• When we are watching a motion picture, we
•
are actually watching a rapid series of still
images that are projected in rapid succession
on the screen.
We are able to perceive motion in a film
because of the cognitive/perceptual
phenomenon known as persistence of vision.
Production Phase

How does the camera work?
• The motion picture camera is a tool used to
rapidly expose a continuous series of film
frames to light that is reflected off of objects
and focused onto the film by the camera’s
lens. The following three slides display
diagrams of the inside of a basic motion
picture camera.
Production Phase

How does the camera work?
• As you can see, the film makes its way from
the spool into the loop and through the gate.
The aperture in the gate is a small square
hole that allows light to pass from the lens
onto the focal plane of the film. This process
is represented in the diagram on the left of the
next slide.
Production Phase

How does the camera work?
• Once light has been focused by the lens, the
camera shutter opens. The shutter is shaped
like a revolving disc and it’s function is to
allow a single frame of film to be exposed to
light ONLY when it is completely motionless
inside the gate. This normally occurs 24
times per second. See the following slide for
shutter operation.
Production Phase

How does the film record the image?
•
In the instant that the shutter opens and closes,
exposing the film frame to light, a chemical reaction
takes place on the surface of the film. The coating of
emulsion, which is composed of light-sensitive silver
halide, is burned away in various degrees (depending
on the intensity of the light) leaving behind a “latent
image” that is revealed once the film has been
processed. The following two slide illustrates this.
Production Phase


Shot / Mastershot
The 180 degree rule.
Production Phase

Now that we understand the basic
mechanism, let’s consider some of the
ways that it can be manipulated during
production:
• Types of shots
• Types of angles
• Lens choice
• Movement
• Lighting
Production Phase

Types of Shots
• There are four basic shot types that are based
on the apparent proximity of the subject.
• Long shot
• Full Shot
• Medium shot
• Close up shot
Production Phase

Types of Shots
• The Long Shot (a.k.a. Establishing Shot)
• In the most pragmatic sense, long shots can be
used to establish a location, acquainting the viewer
with the onscreen space so that the sequence of
shots that follow is not disorienting.
• Long shots can also be used to suggest a wide
variety of meanings such as isolation, loneliness,
freedom, emotional distance, and more. (Note that
interpreting any particular shot or sequence of
shots is dependent upon the context of the film.)
Production Phase

Types of Shots
• Full and Medium Shots
• Full shots include the entire body of a subject from
top to bottom while medium shots generally include
the body from the waist up.
• Full and medium shots tend to mimic our point of
view when we are engaged in a social encounters.
Production Phase

Types of Shots
• The Close-Up Shot
• Close-up shots capture a single object, or feature
within the frame. They are commonly used to
reveal subtleties and/or create a sense of
engagement or intensity.
Production Phase

Types of Angles
• There are three basic types of angles which
refer to the position of the frame with respect
to the subject within the frame.
• High Angle
• Low Angle
• Straight-On Angle
Production Phase

Types of Angles
• High Angle
• A high angle shot refers to a camera position
where the lens aims down at the subject from
above. An extreme high angle is sometimes
referred to as “bird’s eye view.”
• High angles can be used to reveal the layout of a
room or to make a subject appear weak and small.
As mentioned previously, however, the context of
the scene and the larger film must be taken into
account prior to interpretation.
Production Phase

Types of Angles
• Low Angle
• A low angle shot refers to a camera position where
the lens aims up at the subject from below.
• As opposed to the high angle shot, the low angle
tends to make the subject appear intimidating and
powerful. Again, the larger context of the film must
be accounted for.
Production Phase

Types of Angles
• Straight-On Angle
• A Straight-On shot refers to a camera position
where the lens is aimed directly at the subject.
• Especially when used in conjunction with the full or
medium shot, this angle mimics our point of view in
a social encounter.
Production Phase

Lens Choice
•
•
The only function of a lens is to focus the light that is
either projected or reflected from the surrounding
environment onto the focal plane of the film. However,
lenses come in a variety of focal-lengths which make
the depicted scene appear at different distances.
There are three basic types of lenses:
• Telephoto lens (a “long” lens)
• Wide angle lens (a “short” lens)
• Normal lens
• Zoom lens
The image on the next slide shows the basic function
of a lens.
Production Phase

Lens Choice
• Lens choice is guided by two primary and
strongly related factors:
• Focal Length: The distance perspective of the lens.
• Depth of Field: The range of distance that can
focused in front of the lens.
Production Phase

Lens Choice
• Telephoto Lens
• The focal length of a “telephoto” lens results in a
magnified perspective, not unlike a telescope,
which makes objects appear closer than they
actually are when viewed with the naked eye. The
telephoto lens has a relatively shallow depth of
field, meaning that only a narrow range of space
before the lens can be put into focus. It also tends
to compress the foreground and background of the
field, making images look flat or two-dimensional.
Production Phase

Lens Choice
• Wide Angle Lens
• In direct opposition to the telephoto lens, the focal
length of the wide angle results in a distanced
perspective, which makes things appear further
away than they actually are when viewed with the
naked eye. The wide angle lens has a relatively
deep field, meaning that a vast distance of space
before the lens can be put into focus. It also tends
to create a more three dimensional effect. An
extreme wide angle lens is sometimes referred to
as a “fish eye” lens.
Production Phase

Lens Choice
• Normal Lens
• The focal length of the “normal” lens is similar to
the actual distance of objects in the field of view
when viewed with the naked eye.
• Zoom Lens
• The focal length of the “zoom” lens is able to be
manipulated while in use, and can range from
telephoto focal lengths to wide-angle focal lengths.
Production Phase

Camera Movement
•
Camera movement guides the perspective of the
spectator and causes him/her to attend to those
events and features which are most important to the
narrative and aesthetic of the film. There are five
basic forms of camera movement:
• Panning
• Tilting
• Tracking
• Trucking
• Booming
• Crane
• Hand-Held
Production Phase

Camera Movement
• Panning
• Panning refers to the left to right or right to left
movement of the camera as it remains on a single
axis. This is demonstrated graphically on the
following slide.
• Tilting
• Tilting refers to the down to up or up to down
movement of a camera while it remains on a single
axis.
Production Phase

Camera Movement
• Tracking
• Tracking refers to the sideways movement of the
camera as it captures a scene.
• Trucking
• Trucking refers to the forwards or backwards
movement of the camera as it captures a scene.
•
(These are demonstrated graphically on the following two slides.)
Production Phase

Camera Movement
• Booming
• Booming refers to the vertical movement of the
camera as it captures a scene.
• Craning
• Crane shots permit a wide range of sweeping
motion and height in capturing a shot. This is
demonstrated graphically on the next slide.
Production Phase

Camera Movement
•
Hand-Held
• Just as the name indicates, hand-held camera
•
movement is performed without the assistance of a dolly
or tripod. Hand held shots tend to have convey the
subjective point of view of a character since they imitate
a first-person perspective. Hand held shots are
commonly used in “slasher” films to create a feeling of
panic.
Steadicam: A steadicam is camera mount that is
attached to the operator’s body. It serves to reduce
jerky movements and create the sense of a steady flow
through space.
Production Phase

Lighting
• Lighting refers to how a scene is lit, and, to a
large extent, how it is exposed on film. It is
among the most complex and important
aspects of production and can be divided into
two categories based on location and two
categories based on style.
• Location (Indoor versus Outdoor lighting)
• Lighting Scheme (High Key versus Low Key
lighting)
Production Phase

Lighting
•
Location
• Indoor lighting
•
Indoor lighting is generally achieved through the use of
specialized lamps with varying characteristics of
directionality (focus), throw (distance), and intensity
(brightness). There are three lights in a basic lighting
setup (also see the next slide):
• Key Light (provides the primary source of illumination)
• Fill Light (illuminates the shadows left by the key light)
• Back Light (separates the foreground from the
background)
Production Phase

Lighting
• Location
• Outdoor Lighting
• Outdoor lighting is generally done with large,
•
powerful lamps known as HMIs.
In addition to lamps, other devices such as
reflectors, flags, and neutral density gel may be
used to increase or reduce the intensity of sunlight
on various parts of the scene.
Production Phase

Lighting
• Lighting Scheme
• High Key
• High key lighting is a style in which the ratio of the
key light to the fill light is high and, thus, fills in most
of the shadows in the scene resulting in a bright,
evenly lit image. High key lighting is often used in
light-hearted comedies and dramas.
Production Phase

Lighting
• Lighting Scheme
• Low Key
• In opposition to high key, low key lighting refers to a
low ratio of fill to key light, which results in a darker
image with more “contrast” and shadows. This
scheme is most often associated with film noire
crime stories of the 1940s but is also frequently
used in horror films and early German expressionist
work.
Production Phase

It is the job of the director and
cinematographer to coordinate these elements
into a strategy for capturing the action on film.
One common and efficient strategy is referred
to as Shot / Mastershot or Shooting for
Coverage. This technique involves shooting a
full shot of the entire scene before moving in
closer on a re-shoot to capture more specific
cutaway shots that can later be coordinated
with the master. (Continued on the next slide.)
Production Phase

Another strategy that is commonly employed in
directing a scene is the 180° rule, which posits
that the camera should take angles on only
one side of the axis of action. The reason for
this is that shooting on both sides of the action
changes the background and may disorient the
spectator. Adding an establishing shot or
tracking the camera across the axis of action
can prevent this.
Production Phase

Sound Recording
•
Sound recording is treated separately here because,
in traditional film production, it is recorded completely
independently from the image. This is known as
“double system” sound recording. Generally
speaking, there are at least four soundtracks in any
feature length narrative film:
• 1 – the sound effects track.
• 2 – the music track.
• 3 – the room tone track.
• 4 – the dialog track.
Production Phase

Sound Recording
•
Sound Effects
• For the most part, sound effects are obtained separately
•
by a “foley” artist who coordinates sound effects in
synchronization with the onscreen action through a
process known as “looping” – where a portion of the film
is repeatedly played to perfect the timing of the sound
effects. This is considered to be part of post-production
which we will cover next.
Alternatively, for low-budget productions, libraries of
prerecorded sound effects can be used or sounds can
be recorded during production by the sound mixer and
boom operator.
Production Phase

Sound Recording
• Music
• Film music is either purchased (if it is not in the
“public domain”) or scored specifically for the
production.
• Music that is scored is done in similar fashion to
foley sound in the sense that film is playing during
the recording session to enhance timing.
Production Phase

Sound Recording
•
Room Tone
• Room tone is recorded silence.
•
Normally, once all of the
dialog is recorded, the sound mixer asks for about a
minute of quiet to record the sound of silence in the
particular setting.
The reason for recording room tone is that all recordings
have a low level of “noise” in the background and, during
the editing process it is sometimes necessary to fill in
gaps so that there is not an abrupt change in the tone of
the background noise.
Production Phase

Sound Recording
•
Dialog
• In order to record dialog in “double system” film
•
production, it is necessary to synchronize the movement
of lips with the sound of voices. Simple as this may
seem, achieving it requires precision instrumentation.
Most modern film sound is recorded digitally, but earlier
films made use of a “crystal” synchronized analog tape
recorded referred to as a “Nagra” (manufacturer’s name)
which kept the speed of the tape constant so that no
“drifting” occurred between the picture and the sound
track.
Production Phase

Sound Recording
• Dialog (Continued)
• The function of the “clap slate” or “sticks” (see the
slide after next) is to supply a marking point for
when the synchronization between picture and
audio begins, allowing the editor to accurately align
picture with sound later during post production.
• The first film credited with synchronized sound is
The Jazz Singer (1927).
Production Phase

Sound Recording
•
Dialog
•
There are a series of steps that are taken on a film set in order
to ensure the proper coordination of picture and sound track:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
1: The director says “quiet on the set” and “roll sound.”
2: The sound mixer says “sound speed” when the tape is running
at the correct speed for recording synchronized sound.
3: The director calls out “roll camera.”
4: The camera operator says “speed” when the film is running at
sound speed (24 frames per second).
5: The director calls out “slate.”
6: The clap slate indicating roll, scene, and take is placed before
the camera and read out loud (e.g. “Roll 1, Scene 1, Take 1”).
7: The director says “mark.”
8: The slate is clapped and removed.
9: Finally, the director calls “action” to cue the actors.
Postproduction Phase

The postproduction
phase refers to the
period of time after
the film is shot, but
before it is released
in its final form.
Postproduction
includes:









Processing and printing of film.
Transferring sound to “mag stock” –
audiotape with sprocket holes.
Synchronizing picture and sound
track.
Creating an assemblage.
Creating a “rough cut.”
Creating a “fine cut” and final audio
mix.
Conforming the original negative
(A/B rolling).
Adding optical effects and
transitions.
Creating a “married” print (joining
A/B roll and sound into one final
print).
Postproduction Phase

Processing, Printing, and Transferring.
• The first few steps of postproduction are
routine, requiring more technical knowledge
than creative decision making:
• Processing: Developing the camera negative.
• Printing: Creating a “work print” for the editor to
rearrange.
• Transferring: Rerecording the original audio onto
magnetic tape stock so that it can be manipulated
and rearranged along with the picture.
Postproduction Phase

Synchronizing and Assembling.
•
Synchronizing
• Because the information for synchronization on the
•
slate is stored at the beginning (“head”) of each take on
the picture and sound track, the first task of the edit is to
synchronize these before any cuts are made. This
cannot be done later because, if cuts are made first, the
labels will be lost separated from what they refer to.
When synchronizing picture with sound, the editor
simply aligns the beginning of the sound for a given take
with the beginning of the picture, using the sight and
sound of the clap slate for a reference point.
Postproduction Phase

Synchronizing and Assembling.
• Assembling
• Following the synchronization of the picture and
dialog track, the rolls of film are divided up into
individual shots and wound onto cores where they
are placed in a rough sequence referred to as an
“assemblage.”
Postproduction Phase

Rough Cut to Fine Cut and Final Audio Mix.
•
Between the rough cut and the fine cut is where all of
the creative decisions are made.
• Rough Cut: Places the film in rough sequence from
•
beginning to end according to the screenplay. Dialog is
in place, but sound effects, and music are incomplete.
Fine Cut: All of the final editing decisions and the final
soundtrack mix are complete. The film is ready for
laboratory work (negative cutting, effects, married
printing).
Postproduction Phase

Getting from Rough Cut to Fine Cut.
• Editing is the arrangement of imagery and
•
sounds into a sequence that tells the story of
the film.
An editor may arrange based on different
aesthetic styles depending upon the needs of
the story. For example:
• Invisible editing.
• Montage editing.
Postproduction Phase

Getting from Rough Cut to Fine Cut.
•
Invisible Editing.
• Invisible editing is sometimes referred to as “classical
editing” and refers to a style that downplays the
transitions between shots and keeps the focus of
attention on the flow of events in the story. This form of
editing works in conjunction with the Master Shot /
Cutaway shooting strategy.
•
Transitions
• Cut
• Dissolve
• Wipe
• Fade
Postproduction Phase

Getting from Rough Cut to Fine Cut.
• Invisible Editing.
• Transitions
• Cut
• The cut is the most basic form of a transition
and refers to the abrupt ending of one shot that
is simultaneous with the beginning of the next
shot.
Postproduction Phase

Getting from Rough Cut to Fine Cut.
•
Invisible Editing.
• “Hiding” the cut.
•
•
Cutaway: The master shot orients the viewer to the
onscreen environment so that the cutaway shot doesn’t
appear abrupt or confusing. The viewer recognizes the
cutaway as a portion of the larger environment that should
be attended to because it contains story information.
Reaction Shot: The reaction shot transitions from an
event to a character’s response to the event. Because
we, as spectators, are focused on the event itself and the
character’s response to it, we are less concerned with the
discontinuity of the cut.
Postproduction Phase

Getting from Rough Cut to Fine Cut.
• Invisible Editing.
• “Hiding” the cut (continued).
• Shot/Countershot:
The Shot/Countershot technique
hides the cut by following the flow of events within
the scene, transitioning at a particular point based
on the spectator’s need for more information. For
example, when editing a conversation, the transition
between speakers occurs at the conclusion of a
statement.
Postproduction Phase

Getting from Rough Cut to Fine Cut.
• Invisible Editing.
• “Hiding” the cut (continued).
• Cutting on the action:
In a sequence of actions, the
cut can be made as the action occurs, overlapping
between the outgoing and incoming shot, focusing
spectator attention on the event itself rather than the
way it progresses.
Postproduction Phase

Getting from Rough Cut to Fine Cut.
• Invisible Editing.
• Transitions
• Dissolves, Wipes, & Fades.
• A dissolve is the gradual replacement of one
shot by the next, in which both shots appear
overlapping and blended for a brief period.
Dissolves can be created “in camera” by double
exposing film, but they are more commonly
produced by double exposure during printing.
Postproduction Phase

Getting from Rough Cut to Fine Cut.
• Invisible Editing.
• Transitions
• Dissolves, Wipes, & Fades (Continued).
• Wipes also replace one image with another, but
they do so “directionally,” by scrolling over one
image with another. Wipes can be either
vertical or horizontal.
Postproduction Phase

Getting from Rough Cut to Fine Cut.
• Invisible Editing.
• Transitions
• Dissolves, Wipes, & Fades (Continued).
• Fades gradually obliterate the image by
overexposing or underexposing until either black
or white remains on the screen.
Production Phase

Getting from Rough Cut to Fine Cut.
• Invisible Editing.
• Transitions
• Dissolves, Wipes, & Fades (Continued).
• Unlike the “cut” which, strategically placed, can
draw attention away from the transition,
dissolves, wipes and fades function as
conventions to convey narrative information
such as the passage of time, memory, and/or
emotion.
Postproduction Phase

Getting from Rough Cut to Fine Cut.
• Invisible Editing.
• In general, invisible editing works because it takes
advantage of the fact that the cognitive resources
we devote to attention are limited and our focus on
the form/style of a film can easily be diverted to
content.
Postproduction Phase

Getting from Rough Cut to Fine Cut.
•
Montage Editing.
•
Pioneered by Soviet filmmakers of the 1920s, montage is a
style of editing in which a series of independent images are
juxtaposed to create a new context for interpretation. Russian
filmmaker, Sergei Eisenstein’s concept of montage resembles
the Gestalt Psychology concept that the whole is greater than
the sum of its parts. Transitions in montage editing can be
guided by multiple strategies including;
•
•
•
•
Rhythm (Pacing)
Shape (Graphic Matching)
Color
Expectations (Trajectory)
Postproduction Phase

Getting from Rough Cut to Fine Cut.
• Montage Editing.
• Strategies
• “Rhythm” or “pacing” refers to the time intervals
between shots and can be manipulated to effect
spectator’s subjective sense of time. For example,
the final sequence in Birth of a Nation (1915)
created a sense of suspense and urgency by
accelerating the pace of editing.
Postproduction Phase

Getting from Rough Cut to Fine Cut.
• Montage Editing.
• Strategies
• Shape & Color:
Abstract qualities of the image such
as shape and color can link together otherwise
disparate images. The “graphic match” is a
technique that connects adjacent images in a
montage sequence based on the characteristics of
their shape.
Postproduction Phase

Getting from Rough Cut to Fine Cut.
•
Montage Editing.
• Strategies
•
Expectations: Because film is a medium that portrays
motion, the speed and direction of motion in a particular
shot creates expectations for motion in the next shot.
Mentally, we are aware of the “trajectory” of motion and
carry through the expectation of that trajectory into the
next shot. Thus, instead of cutting on the action and
meeting those expectations completely (as in “invisible”
editing), a montage transition maintains the motion, but
may change the context of that motion.
Postproduction Phase

Getting from Rough Cut to Fine Cut.
• Montage Editing.
• Alternatively, a common narrative usage of
montage editing is to compress a portion of the
larger narrative into a form that conveys elapsing
time.
Postproduction Phase

Getting from Rough Cut to Fine Cut.
• It is important to note that, although invisible
editing and montage editing have been
separated into two categories for the sake of
analysis, they are no firm boundaries between
them. Narrative films make use of both
“invisible” and montage transition strategies to
achieve the goals of the story.
Postproduction Phase

Conforming the original negative.
• Once all of the editing decisions have been
made, the original “camera” negative is
brought to a “negative cutter” who uses
cement splices and A/B rolling in order to
conform the negative based on the decisions
of the final cut of the workprint.
Postproduction Phase

Creating a married print.
• Once the negative has been conformed to an
•
A/B roll, a married print is created and joined
with the final audio mix which is inscribed at
the edge of the film optically.
For the purposes of distribution, an
“internegative” is then created from the
married print for the sake of striking positive
“release” prints that are shipped to theaters.
FIN