Wednesday, January 29, 2020

Making a Low-Budget, DIY Film Part 6: Final Cut

I put the finishing touches on Unknown Number tonight. I've spent the past week and a half editing the film, doing color correction, final sound mixing, etc. I wanted to get a cut together for submission to a film festival, and in the process of revising what I'd already worked on, I realized I was much closer to being finished than I realized. Barring any significant issues that I become aware of after sharing the video with a few close, trusted friends, I'm prepared to say that this one is "in the can".

I'm very pleased with how this one turned out. One thing I became aware of in the post-production process was some of the little technical aspects that I could have smoothed out if I'd been able to work with professional-level gear. I'm not at all discouraged by it, though, and consider the results exceptionally good for a micro-budget short filmed with a consumer-level camcorder.

These are the things you have to do to make a DIY movie.

The funny thing is that for all of the post-production work involved in this one, the actual completion of the process feels almost anti-climactic, like it came together much easier than I'd originally anticipated. I should mention that I did more extensive post-production color correction on this one than I've done for any of my previous films.

I won't get into too many details about that process. It's tedious but necessary work to get the image to where you want it.

Assuming I don't make any further revisions, my next step will be to think about unveiling the film. I will certainly make it available online to view soon, but I may need to hold it back for just a while if I end up submitting to other festivals. I tend to avoid festivals for the most part these days, because the chances of getting are so slim, the costs to submit are so high, and frankly, more people will see your film on YouTube than they ever will at a festival. Still, it can be a nice way of bringing a little extra attention to your film before putting it out there.

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