What is Post-Production?

Post-production is an essential phase in the video production process that involves everything that takes place after filming or shooting the video. It's where the bulk of the magic happens and the raw footage is transformed into a polished, captivating video. Post-production is my favorite part of the production process, I love taking all the raw elements of a video and bringing them together to tell a story and connect with the viewer. Post-production includes a lot or steps, so let’s break it down:

Video Editing

This is where the raw footage is cut and assembled into a cohesive narrative. A lot of the storytelling actually comes together in the editing process. Finding the best takes, arranging them in order, and cutting out any unnecessary parts or mistakes is what makes a video flow smoothly, have appropriate pacing, and convey the right message.

Sound Editing and Mixing:

Sound is a vital aspect of any video. During this stage, all the different audio elements like dialogue, sound effects, and music are edited and mixed. The goal here is to ensure that the audio supports the visuals and enhances the overall video experience. Finding the right music and sound effects for a video is key to creating the appropriate tone and pacing for a video. You wouldn’t want a slow and methodical background track for a video that is meant to grab someones attention and get them excited about a new product or service. And you wouldn’t want a fast-paced and energetic beat that would distract from an educational or more serious video.

Color Grading

Color grading is the process of adjusting the colors and tones in your video to create a specific mood or style. It enhances the visual aesthetics of the video and ensures consistency throughout the scenes. Most people think that color grading is simply adding a preset filter over your video footage, but it is so much more complicated and time-consuming. If you have footage filmed with different cameras or different locations, color grading is essential for making all the footage match and feel like it belongs together in one video.

Visual Effects (VFX)

If your video requires special effects, this is when they're added. VFX can range from simple things like removing a green screen background, to more complex effects like creating CGI characters or environments. The most common use of VFX you see in most social media and marketing videos is animated text, lower thirds, logos, and dynamic transitions between video clips.

Rendering+ Uploading

The final step in post-production is rendering. This is when all your edits and effects are processed to create the final video file. Depending on the complexity of your video, this can take anywhere from a few minutes to several hours. There are numerous settings that have to be checked before rendering a video, depending on how the video will be used. Once a video has been rendered, it then gets uploaded online for the client to review.

Review + Revise

The last stage in the post-production process is the review period. This gives the client the opportunity to review the video and provide feedback for any changes they would like to see made to the video. From here, the post-production process starts all over, as the editor works to make changes to visuals and audio and then renders and uploads the video again.

The post-production phase is where your video truly comes to life. It's a creative and technical process that requires patience, attention to detail, and a deep understanding of storytelling. It's what turns your raw footage into a compelling visual story ready to captivate your audience.