wmartin@brl-vgr.UUCP (05/08/84)
The use of the phrase "cutting room floor" in the recent discussion of the cuts in movies on HBO, videocassettes, etc., brought to mind a question I have long had lurking in the back of my mind. Exactly what is involved in the storage and use of the raw footage that gets cut into a movie? We see scenes of people sitting at editing machines (Movieolas?), running chunks of film back and forth, making marks with grease pencils on the film, chopping and splicing it into what we will eventually see in release. Now I believe that all this abusive handling is done with something called a "work print"; the actual original of the footage remains locked in a vault somewhere. When this work print (or prints) are finally edited into the finished version, it must be in terrible shape -- all smudged and creased. Is it used as a guide to then cut (very carefully!) the original footage, or another "master" print, and then the circulated copies made from that version? Or is it cleaned up enough to be used as the master for reproducing exhibitor prints? Where and how are the unused pieces of the footage stored? There must be some in short chunks, others in full reels. Since the companies come back to this after the fact to get the snippets or hours used to "flesh out" TV multi-night versions or to make "blooper reels", they must be stored in some retrievable form. Anybody know the mundane details of this? Is each chunk on a reel by itself, in some sort of bin, in a paper bag, or what? Do the studios have lots of security on the cut film scraps, to prevent people from fishing info out of the trash on upcoming films, or nude shots of actresses for the men's magazines, etc.? Is this all shredded or pulped, or are there really floor sweepings full of future collectors' items filling the dumpster behind the studio lots? Will
pournell@sdcsvax.UUCP (05/09/84)
If you really want to know the extremely small details of how movie companies make films, I could post something. Or you could subscribe to CineFex and American Cinematographer. Alex