postproduction
pohst-pruh-DUK-shun
/ˌpəʊstpruhˈdʌkʃn/
The stage of film, television, or audio production taking place after filming or recording wrapped, including editing, color grading, sound mixing, and special effects.
Distinguishes technical refinement and editing work from preproduction (planning) and principal production (filming).
The story behind the word. Formed from Latin prefix 'post-' (after) and 'production' (from Latin producere, to bring forth). The term became prominent in mid-20th-century Hollywood as editing, sound design, and special visual effects evolved into complex separate disciplines.
Word relationships
- editing: Editing is one single task inside postproduction, whereas postproduction encompasses editing, sound design, color grading, and VFX combined.
- preproduction: Preproduction refers to the planning and scriptwriting phase before filming begins.
Commonly confused with
- preproduction: Preproduction happens before camera recording starts; postproduction happens after camera recording finishes.
Word family
- post-produce (verb): To perform postproduction tasks on recorded media.
Collocations
- postproduction process
- enter postproduction
- postproduction workflow
- postproduction supervisor
Idioms & expressions
- fix it in post
Example sentences
- "The action movie spent four months in principal filming and nearly a year in postproduction." Film production
- "Engineers corrected audio levels and added ambient sound effects during postproduction." Audio engineering
Memory hook
POST = AFTER. Postproduction happens AFTER the filming cameras stop rolling. After-filming studio polish.
When not to use
Do not use to describe scriptwriting, casting, or live set filming.
Fun facts
- The film phrase 'We'll fix it in post!' was coined as shorthand for directors deferring mistakes made on set, though doing so usually skyrockets editing budgets.
Explore more words
postoperative, production, postscript, storyboard, edit, stagecraft
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