As a filmmaker, the daily footage or dailies are extremely crucial to the process of filmmaking. From capturing moments to making critical decisions, dailies help in various aspects of filmmaking such as casting, screenwriting, directing, cinematography, and film marketing.
Dailies refer to rough cuts or raw footage that are shot during the day and sent for processing at night. Within 24 hours of shooting, the processed footage is available for viewing by directors and other production personnel who use it to keep a check on continuity and make necessary changes in subsequent scenes.
Dailies play an essential role in the success of a film. They allow a director to ensure that each scene is shot correctly before moving on. Raw footage helps in analyzing camera angles, lighting and setting details. It enables filmmakers to spot missing elements like dialogues or action sequences that need further work.
Dailies are crucial for identifying character development during casting sessions. Auditions might have missed picking up particular nuances that can become evident when watching raw footage on dailies.
Yes, dailies have an immense impact on the screenwriting process as well. Raw footage allows you to fine-tune dialogue delivery, cutting unnecessary scenes or adding ones that might work better while giving you a new perspective on how scenes could be viewed with more clarity.
Directors can make decisions based on dailies as it provides an insight into what works well and what needs further attention. By studying raw footage at different angles and lighting conditions provides better creative options for selections of coverage shots.
Yes definitely! It offers cinematographers valuable insights into how their work gets conveyed onto the big screen. Noticing what works well on dailies helps them double down on techniques while quickly spotting issues such as unnecessary lighting or camera movement.
“The Filmmaker’s Handbook” by Steven Ascher
"The Reel Truth" by Reed Martin
“The Bare Bones Camera Course For Film And Video” by Tom Schroeppel
"Master Shots" series by Christopher Kenworthy
"Cinematography Theory and Practice" by Blain Brown