Prep: deciding how footage gets from camera to the cutting room
The first real decisions a post supervisor makes happen before a frame is shot. With the DP, digital imaging technician, and editor, the post supervisor settles:
- Camera format, resolution, and frame rate, and whether production shoots any secondary cameras that don't match
- Who makes dailies: the DIT on set, a near-set lab, or a post house
- The editorial codec and proxy files, and the show LUT applied to them
- Where camera originals are backed up, how many copies, and who signs off before cards are wiped
- The naming and metadata that must survive from camera report to editorial: scene, take, camera roll, sound roll
A mismatch here costs money later. If the B camera shoots at a different frame rate than A and nobody catches it until the conform, the fix happens in a finishing suite at an hourly rate.
The post schedule
The post supervisor builds a schedule backward from the delivery date. A simplified schedule for a 90-minute indie feature with an 18-day shoot might look like this:
| Phase | Weeks | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Editor's assembly | During shoot + 1 to 2 weeks | Editor cuts as dailies arrive |
| Director's cut | Per contract | On DGA productions the director's creative rights set the period |
| Producer's cut and notes | 3 to 4 | Test screenings, if any |
| Picture lock | Milestone | Turnovers to sound, music, VFX |
| Sound editorial, ADR, Foley | 6 to 8 | Overlaps with VFX and music |
| Color and online | 1 to 2 | Conform then grade |
| Final mix | 1 to 2 | Printmaster and stems |
| QC and deliverables | 2 to 4 | Fixes after the QC report come back |
The DGA's creative rights provisions govern the director's cut period on DGA productions, so confirm those terms before promising a lock date to financiers.
Budget and vendors
The post budget lines (editorial staff and rooms, sound, music, VFX, lab and finishing, titles, deliverables) are the post supervisor's to track. Here is a worked example with illustrative bids for sound: a 6-week sound editorial package at $45,000, a 2-day ADR stage at $1,800 a day, and a 5-day mix at $4,500 a day comes to $45,000 + $3,600 + $22,500 = $71,100. Get at least two bids, and read what's included. Some mix bids include the printmaster and stems; some bill them separately.
VFX gets its own tracking sheet: shot number, scene, description, vendor, bid, status, and version. See visual effects and the VFX producer page for how larger shows split that work.
During the shoot and after
While the company shoots, the post supervisor checks that dailies land on time, that editorial is getting sound reports, camera reports, and the lined script, and that the backup copies are verified. A typical shoot-period day:
- 7:00a: Check the overnight dailies report from the lab or DIT
- 9:00a: Call with the editor about a missing sound roll from Day 11
- 11:00a: Review a VFX vendor bid for Scene 64's window replacement
- 2:00p: Screening room booked for producers to watch the first week's scenes
- 4:00p: Update post cost report for the line producer
After wrap the job moves to scheduling screenings, collecting notes, and keeping VFX and sound on pace with the cut.
Deliverables: the end of the job
The last stretch is deliverables. A distribution agreement's delivery schedule can list dozens of items: the picture master, M&E tracks, audio stems, a DCP for theatrical, closed captions, a textless version, music cue sheets, the chain of title, and errors and omissions insurance. Each element goes through QC, and a failed QC means another round of fixes. The post supervisor keeps a checklist of every item, its format spec, who is making it, and its QC status.
Who the post supervisor works with
The editor and director on schedule and cut milestones; the producers and line producer on budget; the composer and music supervisor on spotting and delivery; sound, VFX, and finishing vendors; and the distributor's delivery team at the end.
How people get the job
Most post supervisors come up through editorial as assistant editors or through post houses as coordinators. Knowing the technical chain from camera sensor to DCP is what separates a post supervisor from a general producer, and that comes from years of seeing where it breaks. Pay and deal terms are usually negotiated individually, so check the Motion Picture Editors Guild about coverage if the employer is signatory.
Paperwork and tools
Post schedule, post budget and cost reports, vendor bids and purchase orders, the VFX tracking sheet, the delivery schedule, QC reports, and the EDL and turnover lists. Storiara's Music & Effects module logs music, sound, and VFX elements found in the script during pre-production and prints them as a list, which gives post a starting inventory before the first bid goes out.