What typically happens to all the footage that was shot for a TV show or movie once it's done? Like when they are setting up the shots or when there's multiple takes. Does that all get shredded or achived or ??? Anyone know?
What happens to the outtakes once the final cut is delivered?
- Thread starter Mr. Adventure
- Start date
No idea, but I would guess that it depends on the production. If its some big movie like the Lord of the Rings its probably kept somewhere safe to be used on the extended editions, directors cuts or other extras on the later releases. But for some weekly tv-series its probably destroyed after a certain time.
A lot of it is archived digitally and people have no excuse today, later it can be put in 'making of' or DVD extras or behind the scene of.... Imagine in the past, 8mm, super 16 mm, 70 mm, Ultra Panavision, Imax, MGM Camera 65, CinemaScope 65, PanaVision Modern Anamorphic, Techniscope....and all other film in the past when making a movie was done a physical film reel, and the editor had to take a pair of scissors cutting and editing tv/movies the old fashioned way then a lot of stuff was thrown out, and storing reels of film took huge physical space. But with the digital age there really is no excuse to throw all the other stuff out, something that did make the cinema or didn't make the directors cut or final cut...all that footage should still be out there.
Storing the data still costs some money, even if it is a lot cheaper than storing reels of film. And there is a question of file formats, drives/dvd-disks degrading over time. You cant just make a DVD and put it into storage and expect it to be easily readable after 10-20 years.
Same as before. Only the stuff that someone thinks is important is stored. Rest is disgarded, deleted or just forgotten in the storage somewhere. Either in physical storage room or some computer that just sits on the corner until someone throws it away or decides to take it to a better use and formats the harddrive.
Same as before. Only the stuff that someone thinks is important is stored. Rest is disgarded, deleted or just forgotten in the storage somewhere. Either in physical storage room or some computer that just sits on the corner until someone throws it away or decides to take it to a better use and formats the harddrive.
For most of the shows that I've worked on, because they were shot on videotape or memory card, once the final master was printed back to tape, the tapes would be returned to the taping stack for reuse on a future episode were it would be recorded over. If there was a specific interview that we wanted for possible future use (we might've used a portion of an interview in the episode it was shot for, but then wanted to save the full interview for a future episode or special DVD) we'd print it to another tape for archiving, and then the drives would be erased.
Even now with memory cards, once the final master is output to tape and hard drive, the unused stuff is rarely saved.
Even now with memory cards, once the final master is output to tape and hard drive, the unused stuff is rarely saved.
Yes, I want a whole extra disc filled with hours and hours of messed up takes and all of the five second snippets of extra footage from before and after every take that don't add any meaningful insight whatsoever into the production or the story.
Kor
For the most part I'd have to agree. I was just curious if say there was moments where an actor blew up or a take that revealed more than it should or I don't know. I was just wondering if some of that might be stuck in a vault somewhere or if it was systematically wiped out or what. For the right movie I probably would spend untold hours just watching take after take.
You don't enjoy bloopers?Yes, I want a whole extra disc filled with hours and hours of messed up takes and all of the five second snippets of extra footage from before and after every take that don't add any meaningful insight whatsoever into the production or the story.
Kor
The reason I started watching Babylon 5 was because JMS was the Guest of Honor at a convention I was at, and he brought the blooper reel. It was so funny, I decided to make an effort to watch the series.
Studios have film vaults to store raw footage shot. In a Sliders season five episode "The Great Work", the brief glimpse of the archive of world knowledge was actually footage from inside the Universal Studios film vault.
The fire on the back lot a few years ago came very close to the film vault and there was fear it was damaged, but it was untouched to my understanding. It was located by the original King Kong attraction on the back lot tour, but I believe they have since moved it to a better location.
The shame of these vaults is that they are often not tended to as they should be. This is why most of the Laurel and Hardy films are lost forever; they were allowed to literally turn to dust inside their film cans.
The fire on the back lot a few years ago came very close to the film vault and there was fear it was damaged, but it was untouched to my understanding. It was located by the original King Kong attraction on the back lot tour, but I believe they have since moved it to a better location.
The shame of these vaults is that they are often not tended to as they should be. This is why most of the Laurel and Hardy films are lost forever; they were allowed to literally turn to dust inside their film cans.
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That kind of footage would probably not be saved. It'd be very messy, at any rate.
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