This week we saw the full rough cut of the film. For the assembly, Prakshi just worked forward: I kept a running list of notes while she continued to plow through every scene of the film. For the rough cut, we pored over every scene and sequence, reviewing specific moments, discussing reactions and performances, and adding in temporary music tracks. This was a very thoroughly reviewed cut of the film, and it was exciting to see how it was all hanging together.
I sat down and watched the film - not at my desk, as I wanted to see the cuts in a different format. I wish I could have put it on my TV. When I’m writing and I review a script, I always read it on my tablet instead of my computer. Something about the change in dimensions tricks my brain into thinking I’m looking at something I haven’t seen before.
Watching the entire film at once was very illuminating. There’s a definite arc in the temp tracks I’ve pulled, so that’s exciting! And there’s an arc for sure in the performances and the color palette. The film as a whole is holding together very well.
My biggest concerns right now are in Act 1. Once you get to the Act 1 climax, it feels like the movie settles in. In that first chunk of film, though, a lot of characters are being introduced, and we see a lot of the protagonist feeling ill at ease. In our next cut, we’ll dig into shaping that more, so we understand her internal journey rather than kind of watching her be lost, a little confused, a little bored - which loses some of the tension of the film in this current cut.
Since we’re such a small production, we’re doubling jobs. That meant we were spotting this for picture, but also for the temporary score and sound effects that can help tell the story. There were a few times that we thought a track might need to be replaced, but came up with a music editing solution instead. Really, the track worked for part of a scene, but not another part - so we discussed how to bring it in and out to pair the music with the scene better.
We’re also learning which things need to be shifted by a change in approach; which through some basic tightening; which through a more illuminating track; and which through sound design elements that can shape the environment and provide the context in which the scene is happening. I have had very few chances to work with composers and sound designers, so I feel there will be some experimenting in this next stage as we figure out which element of our post-production tools can do which work. It’s exciting that there are so many methods to create tension, elevate a performance, or up the stakes.
We’re working on high-priority edits first, as there are a few deadlines we’re trying to hit at the beginning of September with a rough cut. Then we’ll really get into the fine cut territory. But the story is holding together, the performances remain strong - it’s all work we’re excited to do, not major problems we’re scared we won’t be able to fix. And that feels good!
