The Jitters and Joy of the Rough Cut
The most terrifying moment in the post-production process for me is pressing Play on my rough cut assembly of the film. As my trembling finger hovers over that button I think back on all the work everyone has done on the film - writing the script, pulling the production together, acting, editing, music scoring... all of that comes down to this, my first viewing of the film as a whole, start to finish. Being the pragmatist that I am, my thoughts tend to drift towards disaster and heartache and I suddenly start dreaming up excuses to postpone the inevitable.: "Maybe I should work on that special effects section a bit more... maybe I can clean up that music cue a bit..." etc. But instead I suck it up like a good soldier and bravely press the damn button.
It's never a disaster. In fact, more often that not, it's surprisingly okay. Sometimes even great. Sure there's a few niggling things here and there to be ironed out, but I have yet to ever face a hopeless problem with no clear resolution. And problem-solving is always a fun challenge once the heavy-lifting is already done.
What I enjoy most about diving into the Rough Cut is rediscovering all the things I forgot I even did in the first place. On a film like the one I am working on now where I am the entire post-production team, it's hardly surprising that after months of switching between being editor, visual and sound designer and finally composer that there are countless moments in the film I have almost no recollection of actually working on. There is just so much to do in such a short amount of time that once I complete something, I'm moving on like gangbusters. There's simply no time to kick back, reflect and congratulate yourself on what you're doing. So the Rough Cut is, as much as anything, a fun trip down memory lane.
The music is where I tend to surprise myself the most with these "wow, I don't remember writing that at all" moments. A lot of that tends to be underscore - simpler music that is meant to stay out of the way and quietly add to the scene. Heavy dialogue scenes are a good example. The bigger set-piece moments in a film usually require more attention and detail and thus more work that remains ingrained in my memory for much longer. But even in those cases, I'll listen to a mix I did a month previous and (hopefully) be pleasantly surprised that it holds up and sounds as good as it did when I was beating myself to death creating it.
Oddly enough, the one that really surprised me during this film was one that shouldn't have - the scene that I Blogged about previously. Man, that thing was a bugger the first time and I left it I a state of "to be determined". Of course, I'd forgotten all about that when it came to watch the Rough Cut so when I got there I was like "oh crap - more work to do." But the good news was that my rough sketch of a musical idea was solid - in fact it sounded quite good to me and I was excited to finish it. That's a far cry from how I felt about it my first slog through writing music for it. Back to the keyboard I went with renewed faith and determination until I had a finished cue I was still really happy with.
So many little moments like that encapsulate what it's like to be nearing the finish line on a project like this. You've put in so much work on so many different things that the whole becomes just a jumble of scattered memories, victories and compromises. Deep in the forest, going from tree to tree as you slowly make your way out. There's no drone-view of what it all means until you're out and standing on that hill high above, looking down and appreciating the work you've done. It ain't all great, but it's a helluva lot better than you first imagined when you were about to press Play.
