Flikipedia A branching dictionary of the moving image

post-production

noun

The stage of filmmaking that follows shooting, in which recorded picture and sound are assembled and finished — through picture editing, visual effects, color grading, sound editing and mixing, and final mastering and delivery.

Origin A compound of the prefix post- “after” and production, the shooting phase; the term names the work that occurs once principal photography is complete.

  1. Filmmaking The phase of production, after principal photography, during which a film is edited, treated, and prepared for release.

  2. Industry The department or facilities that carry out this work, including editorial, visual effects, and audio post houses.

Branches

Overview

Post-production is a broad phase of filmmaking that follows the shooting phase known as principal photography. It gathers the recorded material — picture and sound — and shapes it into a finished work. Where production captures raw footage, post-production selects, arranges, refines, and combines that material, then prepares a master from which release copies are made.

The phase is organized around several distinct crafts, each historically a separate department and often a separate facility.

Picture

The first task is film editing: the selection and arrangement of shots into scenes and sequences to build the film’s structure and pace. Once the edit is locked, images may be altered or generated through visual effects, which combine photographed elements with computer-generated or composited imagery. The picture is then brought to its final appearance through color grading, the adjustment of tone, contrast, and hue across every shot for consistency and expressive effect.

Sound

Sound is largely built in post-production. Recorded location dialogue is edited and, where needed, re-recorded; sound effects and ambience are added; and music is composed or licensed. These elements are then combined in the final mix, which balances their relative levels and places them within the intended playback format. The result is synchronized to the finished picture. See sound for the treatment of the medium’s audio dimension.

Mastering and delivery

When picture and sound are complete, they are conformed into a master. This final version encodes the graded picture at the intended resolution and frame rate and carries the mixed audio. From the master, distributors generate the copies and formats required for theatrical, broadcast, physical, and streaming release.

See also

  • film editing— The selection, arrangement, and joining of individual shots into a continuous finished film; also the profession and craft of the editor who performs this work.
  • visual effects— Imagery that is created or manipulated beyond what a camera captured live and then integrated into a film so as to appear part of the recorded scene; commonly abbreviated VFX.
  • color grading— The post-production process of adjusting the color and tonal values of a film's images for consistency across shots and for expressive or narrative effect.
  • sound— The recorded audio element of a motion picture, comprising dialogue, sound effects, and music, and the crafts of recording, editing, and mixing them.

Sources

  1. Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE)
  2. American Cinema Editors (ACE)

Last revised: September 18, 2026