Common Video Post-Production Terms

Some of the most important terms have to do with getting out the actual product. In post-production terminology the delivery is when you finally get the film to the main source of funding. This is usually the film studio and disturber to back your production.

When you are putting together the final film there are lots of stages in editing where not all the elements are actually in play. The D & E is when a television program or film is mostly put together including effects and main audio, but no music is put in. This is often used for promotional venues, things to show investors, trailer and TV spot construction, and “sneak peak” clips.

Digitization is when you take the raw footage, whether it is on film or digital video, and then capture onto the computer for editing. If you are using digital storage devices when you are filming, then it is already digitized.

The assembly cut is the cut that the editor first communicates to the director. The final cut is the last edit of the film, similar to a final draft in editing. The final mix has all of the outside post-production elements, such as video graphics and sound mixing, put into the final cut.

When it comes to sound effects there are a variety of different names for slightly different techniques and products. A Foley is a sound effect that is created in post-production that is intended to match up to some video, such as a car sound. A Walla is similar, but only for sounds that are supposed to be produced by characters. Wild lines are those that were recorded without any accompanying video just in case they are used in editing for continuity.

You may hear a person talk about “flipping the negative,” which really just means reversing a specific shot so that it is “flipped.” This is done in case there are too many shots sequentially that have similar framing.

A Flatbed machine is a classic editing system that uses a manual cutting of the film, which is a linear process. All editing systems are now software systems, such as Avid, Final Cut Pro, Sony Vegas, and Adobe Premiere. These are all non-linear editing systems because they do not make permanent alterations to the raw footage and treat editing as media management.