cinemasetfreeReviewing a shoot day
Work shot by shot. Rate as you go, write the note you'll want in three weeks, and circle the ones worth cutting with. Circling is the filter that makes the rest of post possible.
Reviewing a shoot day’s takes
Two scenes, eleven shots, ninety takes. An editor cannot start from ninety.
Go shot by shot, not chronologically
Takes are grouped by the shot they belong to, which is the order you actually judge them in. You are comparing take 3 against take 4 of the same setup, not against something from another scene.
Rate as you watch
A 1–10 rating on each take. Ratings are for sorting; they let you come back and see the top of a setup without rewatching everything.
Write the note now
“Good but the boom dips at 0:14.” “Best read of the line, camera drifts.” You will not remember this in three weeks, and the editor was not there. Notes are the highest-value thing on this tab and they take ten seconds.
Circle the selects
Circle the takes worth cutting with. It is the film term, and it means the same thing here as it does on a camera report. Two or three per setup. That’s the eight takes the editor starts from.
Upload the keepers
Only uploaded takes can be cut with. Uploads run in the background with a retry, so a failed one shows Retry upload rather than vanishing.
A take that exists as a card but has never finished uploading is a note to yourself, not footage. Check the status before assuming post has what it needs.