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
perl@rdin.UUCP (05/11/84)
Will, You're right about the edited work print being used as a giude for editing the master negative. A question that has always been in my mind is this: Do they do the editing on the ORIGINAL negative or on a copy of the negative. If they do the editing on the original, do they make a "backup" copy first? Robert Perlberg Resource Dynamics Inc. New York philabs!rdin!perl
burt@axiom.UUCP (Burt Janz) (05/16/84)
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Bob,
Editing is NEVER done on the original negative!!! A first print
is made (sometimes called the "dailies") of all the film exposed on the
previous day. Then, the director decides which (if he hasn't already
decided on the set) one of the prints he wants to use. It is these
set of prints which is hurriedly tied together to make a preliminary
version of the film for review by the director, producer, and (if there
is music) the music director. Music cues, dialogue, sound effects, and
special effects are then overlaid onto this print. If it all works, a
second negative (production negative) is made of the PORTIONS of the original
negatives. This new negative contains all the scenes, in order, which will
appear in the film. Then printing commences.
The original sets of negatives are kept in a vault in the can. This
vault is usually well protected from the outside by air-conditioning,
controlled humidity, security police and locks, etc. This is why some of
the early films have been able to be reproduced. What was once thought were
"lost" negatives (because of the STACKS AND STACKS of cans, usually either
unlabled or badly labeled, and some not even catalogued) have been found,
and we are given new prints of some very good works. (Recently a new
print of "Modern Times" was released to restricted schools and libraries.
It is supposed to contain scenes which the tv versions held by PBS places
and such DON'T have. I wanna see....)
Just thought you'd like to know...
Burt Janz @ Axiom Technology, Newton MA 02164
617-965-8010alex@sdcsvax.UUCP (Alex Pournelle) (05/23/84)
It's not strictly true that what you see on the screen is made from a copy of the original negative (an "interneg" or CRI). A lot of older movies were cut directly from the camera negative. This practice (done of course because (a) it's cheaper and (b) it looks better) has died down somewhat because of the Great Yelow Box (Kodak) has put out much better interneg stock than it used to. 3-strip Technicolor (where RGB or complement prints are made) is only done in China and Britain and only seldom there. Because of "progress", Technicolor sold all its eqpt off to their foreign bureaus. Don't count on magnetic copies of films to survive, either. Ten years is a good upper limit on the reliability of most videotape, unless it's stored off-planet. Just hope that people get REAL digital video/audio out in time to save The Evening News. Alex