Why Your Movie Needs a Post Pipeline
Congratulations! You spent hundreds of hours writing a script, raising money, networking and hiring crew, finding locations and talent, maintaining your shooting schedule and making sure all of your beautiful footage is backed up and safe.
Now what’s the plan for finishing this bad boy/girl?
The reality is, even accomplished producers working with decent budgets often rely on help from editors who don’t have established workflows beyond making proxies and maybe some color correction.
And that’s no shade on them!
One person can do a lot with the available tools and make it very far. In fact, most people who have a phone and Instagram could probably cut together a decent reel with footage shot on the same device.
Managing the flow of media and personalities from shoot to final delivery is another challenge altogether.
With the speed of modern productions and the expectations put on editors to be faster and more multifaceted in their abilities, the idea of a post pipeline might seem antiquated or even slower than barreling ahead and just getting it done.
My clients definitely need fast, high-quality editing skills, but what they really care about is that I have a reliable process that reduces risk by guaranteeing repeatable results, keeps everyone on the same page, and saves them money down the road.
WHY THE POST PIPELINE IS CRITICAL
Consistency
Most productions have a lot on the line: time, money, reputations. Having a process prevents expensive bottlenecks and creates repeatable systems instead of spending time reinventing the process for each project.
This established workflow provides confidence that when problems do arise, we already have a blueprint in place to handle them.
That peace of mind alone is worth the years of experience and troubleshooting it takes to create a high-quality pipeline.
Communication
99% of bottlenecks that occur in post are due to miscommunications or misunderstood deadlines.
With an established workflow, we all agree which phase we’re in and we don’t skip ahead until the current phase is finished and signed off on.
Often the communication is with fellow post-production crew like colorists, assistant editors, sound mixers or other editors. Having an organized and documented pipeline saves time and money when handing off files to these crew members by reducing confusion and missing files.
Time and Money
Productions of all sizes suffer from lack of time and money. If editors are having trouble finding files, are confused about versioning or spending time trouble shooting technical issues, they are costing the production money.
If the project is finished but a new editor has to be brought on to create promo content, the onboarding time costs money. The easier it is for them to pick up the project, relink and start editing, the more money is saved.
If we’re trying to send files for color and the sequences haven’t been prepped to the colorist’s spec, they will bounce back and cost more time and money to redo.
The Grain Wave Process ensures that all projects are future-proof with documented archives and consistent file structures.
I hope this post shines some light on why post pipelines are so important. I am passionate about demystifying the finishing process for filmmakers so that they can be less intimidated and finish their projects with confidence!
If you’re interested in learning more about post pipelines and workflows, check out these articles:
Dailies and Proxy Workflow Explained