PODCAST EPISODE TRANSCRIPT
Michael Hall: From ShoHawk Media this is Filmmaking Footnote with your host Michael Hall. You’re listening to episode 13.
This is the show where we give you the best filmmaking and production information so you can make the best project possible without having to spend a bunch of time or money at film school. Let’s do it.
What’s up guys? Welcome to episode 13 of Filmmaking Footnote. I am your host, Michael Hall, and today is going to be a pretty short episode. We are talking about answer print, so really quick I’m going to read the definition of answer print, and then I’ll give a little context around what that means, and how I have … my experience with it and how you can use it, or that knowledge, into your project.
So here’s the definition. Answer print refers to the first version of a motion picture that is printed to film after color correction. It’s also the first version of a movie printed to film with the sound properly synced to the picture.
Essentially, answer print is when … it’s the very first print of the film after color correction, but it’s not necessarily the final version of the film. A lot of the time answer print traditionally has been used for, to show the director the film, the first cut with the color and the sound all ready to go. This is a time for the director to really review the film in its entirety.
Additionally, answer print is used when showing the film to a test audience. This is the first time that an audience has seen the film, and I’ve explained in the past, a test audience is really like a focus group that’s put together to review a film, and then at the end of that focus group, the audience fills out a survey to say whether they liked the film, what they think needs to be changed.
The answer print is really the first time that it’s shared widely with a test audience, the movie studio heads, and the director. It’s the first time that everybody is watching the film as a film itself, not the first edit, not the second edit, but as a film itself. But, but it still gives the chance to go back and change things. This is the very first draft, if you will, of the film, so this gives everybody the chance to get on the same page, watch it as a film, and then go back and change things if needed.
So, that’s it. That’s exactly what an answer print is. Pretty straight forward. Answer print, I think it was a much more formal process before digital photography and film came along. I think that they had specific steps and they would … they had formalized names for everything. Now, it’s just like, at least in my experience, I work mainly with digital film and video, and I don’t really hear anyone call it answer print. It’s really like the first draft of whatever you’re working on, but I think back in the day, there was a much more formal process to how everything was presented and displayed, so that’s why it has such a formal name.
Alright guys, if you have any questions about answer print, or just want to hit me up and talk about this specifically, go to filmmakingfootnote.com/13, and we will hook up over there, and I will see you back here tomorrow when we dive into aperture. Have a great day and I will see you back here tomorrow.
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