The film’s in the can, so to speak. What’s next? Post production and days of sitting in a darkened room trying to make a coherent story from what you’ve shot. Ashley Wing and Clayton Fussell, the Devon and Cornwall filmmaking duo, offer five tips to get through the long, dark filmmaking time of post production
Ashley Wing and Clayton Fussell’s Five Tips on Getting your Post Production sorted
1.   The key in post production is perseverance. It’s easy to let things grind to a halt as there can be less impetus. This is especially true if you require VFX
2.   Don’t edit the film yourself. Always get an external editor. Someone who will be objective and brutal with your rushes. The story is ultimately told in the edit so it’s vital that the editor understands what you want and knows the style you are going for
3.   Be patient. Unless you have a festival deadline looming take the time that is necessary to get things as perfect as they can be, but accept that any compromises you had to make while shooting will ultimately rear their head in post
4.   Consider what deliverables you want and what you are aiming to do with the film. If you are going to want HD deliverables (assuming you shot in HD or higher) you need to make sure your editors system can handle this amount of data and number crunching.
5.   Never forget the story you started with. Always go back to your script and keep it fresh. You will watch the film about 1000 times before post is over so you need to be able to keep focus on the story and work towards telling in the best way possible
Stay tuned to D+CFilm for more from the filmmaking pair along with a week-full of top filmmaking tips from Ashley Wing and Clayton Fussell.
• Catch Ashley Wing and Clayton Fussell on the D+CFilm Show, episode 3 and check out their Cottage Industry Films site
(image: still from OMG)
