Determining exactly how long does it take to edit a movie usually depends on whether you're referring to a low-budget indie project or a massive superhero blockbuster. If you're looking for a quick, "one-size-fits-all" number, you're probably going to be let down. For most feature-length films, the editing and enhancing process can consume up anywhere from three months to a full 12 months of someone's existence. It's a workshop, not a run, and there are a million little issues that can either speed it upward or—more likely—drag it out for weeks.
You may think that since a movie is definitely only 90 to 120 minutes long, it shouldn't take more than a few weeks to piece jointly. But honestly, the actual "cutting" is definitely only a fraction of the job. You've got to organize terabytes associated with data, sync upward audio that was documented separately, fix mistakes that happened upon set, and attempt to discover the "soul" of the story among hundreds of hours of organic footage.
The rough timeline with regard to different projects
If we're getting realistic, a regular independent feature movie usually takes regarding four to seven months to get through post-production. Including everything through the first day the editor rests down with the footage to the final day the colorist and sound mixer finish their tweaks.
Big-budget Hollywood films are a different beast. Because there are so many stakeholders—producers, studio executives, test audiences—and a huge amount of visual effects (VFX), these projects can effortlessly stay in the editing and enhancing suite for a year or more. On the other hand, a brief film or a very simple skin flick might only take a month or two. But actually then, when the director is a perfectionist, all bets are off.
Busting down the levels of editing
To understand exactly why it takes so long, you have to look at what's actually happening at the rear of those glowing displays. It's not just a guy with a pair of electronic scissors.
Organizing and the set up cut
The very first stage is often the particular most tedious. Just before a single creative choice is produced, the editor or even an assistant provides to go by means of each and every clip. These people have to label them, sync the particular high-quality audio with the video, and organize everything simply by scene.
Once that's completed, the editor develops the assembly cut . This is basically the entire script laid out through start to finish using the greatest takes. It's generally a mess. It's way too long, the pacing is terrible, and it's frequently painful to view. For a 2 hour movie, an set up cut might be three or 4 hours long. This stage usually requires a couple weeks.
The rough cut
This is where the actual work begins. The editor and director sit down and start trimming the fat. They look regarding the best performances, adjust the time of jokes, create sure the story actually makes sense. They might realize that Scene 12 really works better if it happens after Picture 15. This is definitely a repetitive, soul-searching process that can take two to three months . It's all about test and error.
The fine trim and "picture lock"
Once the rough cut will be each and every, they proceed into the great cut. This is how these people obsess over personal frames. Should this cut happen two frames earlier? Does this close-up linger too long? When everyone finally wants that the visible side of the particular story is perfect, they reach picture locking mechanism . This is a huge milestone mainly because it means the timing from the movie will no longer change.
Precisely why it takes much longer than you'd think
There are a few "hidden" factors that consume up time and often catch new filmmakers off guard.
- Video clip ratios: Some directors like to shoot a lot . If a director shoots hundred hours of video for a 90-minute movie, the editor has to view every single minute of it. That's a massive time sink.
- The "too many cooks" problem: In the professional world, the particular editor isn't simply answering to the particular director. Producers and studio heads often have notes. You might spend two several weeks perfecting a picture just for an professional to say, "I don't like the lead actor's face there, " pushing you to begin over.
- Technical glitches: Computers accident, hard drives fall short, and software up-dates can break a project. It's a sad reality of digital filmmaking that sometimes a several days are dropped just to technical troubleshooting.
The invisible work: Sound and Color
People often forget that "editing a movie" isn't almost the pictures. Once the picture is locked, the movie still looks and noises a bit "raw. "
Color grading is a huge portion of the process. A colorist goes through the entire movie to make sure the lighting matches through shot to shot and to give the film the specific "look. " This can take anywhere from a week to a month depending on how stylized the movie is.
Then there's the particular audio design . Many of the sound you hear in a movie wasn't really recorded on set. Foley artists have got to recreate footsteps and the rustling of clothes. Sound publishers have to add background noise, plus the composer offers to time the particular music perfectly to the edit. This "post-audio" phase generally runs concurrently with the later stages of video editing, nevertheless it adds days of oversight plus reviews to the total timeline.
Does the genre matter?
Absolutely. A romantic comedy is usually much faster to edit than an action movie or even a documentary.
Action films are incredibly complicated. A single 3-minute fight scene may have 200 various cuts and dozens of visual effects layers. Matching those fast-moving pieces will take an incredible quantity of precision. If there's heavy CGI involved, the editor has to function with "pre-viz" (low-quality animations) for weeks before the final effects are finished.
Documentaries are possibly the hardest of all. In a scripted movie, you might have a blueprint (the script). In a documentary, the story is usually "found" in the editing room. An editor may spend six months just trying to shape out what the particular story actually is definitely, shifting through 100s of hours associated with interviews and b-roll.
Can a person speed it up?
Sure, a person may edit faster, but there's usually a trade-off. You can hire a larger team of assistant editors to handle the organization, or you may work 16-hour times, but that's a fast track to burnout. A few directors, like Eastwood, are famous intended for working very rapidly and trusting their first instincts. Others, like David Fincher, will obsess more than a single series for weeks.
At the finish of the day time, the answer to how long does it take to edit a movie is: as long as it wants to be great. You can rush a project your door in 8 weeks, but if the particular pacing is away from or the psychological beats don't land, all that work you did on set was with regard to nothing. Editing is definitely often called the particular "final rewrite" associated with the film, and you can't actually rush a good story.
Therefore, if you're arranging a project, provide yourself more time than you believe you need. Between the technical hurdles, the particular creative disagreements, as well as the sheer volume of footage, the editing room is exactly where the movie is usually truly made—and that kind of miracle just takes time.