Fine Cut of the Film Nearing Completion

After several rough cut screenings, survey feedback reviews, and visits back to the ol’ drawing board, The Camino Documentary‘s rough cut is finally flourishing towards an even more cohesive fine cut. Now that the characters’ stories are finalized, the post-production crew is hard at work honing the cut into the best film possible.

The difference between a rough cut and a fine cut is that the former concentrates on narrative structure, while a fine cut is tackled after the story is in place and visual and aural cues need refining. In other words, the foundation has been laid but the bricks and mortar are still works in progress. The main focus right now is getting the b-roll to look just right. B-roll is the video imagery that is secondary to a scene. It is typically laid over dialogue, or used as alternate footage to what might be happening onscreen. For example, if we show an interview of a pilgrim talking about visiting a particular albergue, then we show a static shot of the exterior of the albergue while the pilgrim is still talking, the albergue shot is considered b-roll.

Lydia with Jack and Wayne at a recent screening in Seattle
Lydia with Jack and Wayne at a recent screening in Seattle

Our current priorities include working with a composer to create music that helps to set the tone for the movie, stabilizing some long lens camera shots, laying down the final map graphics, and creating the title sequence. That means four more people have been hired to help out — the composer, visual effects artist, and two computer graphics experts, respectively.

Once we have all these elements in place, then we will hand off the cut to a sound mixer who will adjust all the sound levels and add in the background sounds as needed and we will take the cut to a post production facility where we will do what’s called “color correction.” The sound mix will take about six days and the color correction approximately five. With that done, we will be ready to output which will then take a couple more days.

With all of these people working in concert, this phase requires a lot of coordination for the work flow to be executed smoothly. For instance, it’s best to finish the music before taking it to the sound mixer. Post-production entails highly technical and specialized equipment and processes, so much of the funds donated to the film are spent in post.

We heard back from Sundance recently and unfortunately we did not get chosen to be in the festival this year. This is of course very disappointing, but not entirely unexpected. Of more than 12,000 submissions, only 170 film were picked, so that means that over 98% of the submissions were rejected. This is a setback, but it is not a barrier. There are plenty of other highly esteemed festivals in which The Camino Documentary still stands a chance of premiering!

As we are moving into the final phases of the film, we are finalizing the credits. If you would like to see you name on the big screen, please make a donation today! The more you give – the longer your name is on screen! For more information on donation credits and to donate please go to: http://www.caminodocumentary.org/get_involved.php.

Thank you all for you your continued support and encouragement!

The Camino Documentary Team

3 thoughts on “Fine Cut of the Film Nearing Completion”

  1. So we can see the steeples of Santiago in the distance eh? Great stuff Lydia and would certainly love to hear where and when the film will be released!!
    Good luck once more and here’s to the undoubted success that it will be.

    Arthur

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