Before any film or TV show can start a single day of shooting, the dailies workflow must be solidified across multiple production and post departments. The workflow design and implementation are the responsibilities of post. As soon as the footage leaves the camera, the workflow takes over and post becomes the keeper of the media. It’s their responsibility all the way through delivery.
This article is your map to that process. Below lists every department involved in the dailies process and the role each one plays. Each section links to a full department breakdown where we dive deep into the people, media, the paperwork, the gear, and the real-world protocols that keep a show’s footage safe at the end of each shoot day.
With so many parties involved and the clock ticking, the pipeline can be described as one thing: a relay race. While the crew sleeps, yesterday’s footage is verified, synced, colored, and converted, so that by the time editorial sits down with their coffee, the previous day’s work is waiting in the cutting room. Every department below is a runner in that relay.
1. The Camera Department
Where everything originates. Takes are shot onto camera cards (think very fast, very large SD cards) and once a card is full, it’s handed off for backup and transfer to the dailies facility for processing.
Yes, digital film still needs “processing.” And if the show is shooting true film, those rolls are boxed, logged, and sent to a film lab.
IN DEPTH · The Camera Department
2. The DIT & Loader
Technically part of the camera department, they run the on-set half of the dailies operation. The DIT brings color science and look-dev, working with the DP on the dailies look that travels with the footage. The Loader backs up every card and verifies copies, holding custody of the media until post confirms it’s safe for camera cards to go back into rotation.
IN DEPTH · The DIT & Loader, Software, and Data Management
3. Production Sound
Sound is recorded completely separately from picture. The Production Sound Mixer captures every mic onto a dedicated recorder using its own cards, own rolls, and outputting its own reports. That media then rides the same relay as the camera cards. Picture and sound don’t meet until the facility marries them overnight.
IN DEPTH · COMING SOON — Production Sound & On-set Audio Recording
4. Transportation
The unsung leg of the relay: Transpo physically moves the media and drives from set to the DIT / Loader, and then Loader to facility, typically twice a day, and returns yesterday’s drives to set for re-use. Transpo is key, as efficient and communicative transportation saves time and money.
Transpo’s involvement can be found throughout the other In Depth articles.
5. The Script Supervisor
While everyone else handles the footage, the Script Supervisor creates the paper trail that makes it usable: which takes cover which lines, which cameras rolled, which takes the director circled, and the continuity notes for the Editor. Script Supervisor paperwork is the roadmap for editorial to navigate all the footage and audio to build the edit.
IN DEPTH · COMING SOON — The Script Supervisor
6. The Production Office
The central hub of the entire production. They ensure everyone on the production side of dailies is where they need to be and when. Reports and logs flow through the office to everyone who needs them, and requests between set, producers, and post usually route through the production staff. A good relationship between post and production is paramount.
IN DEPTH · COMING SOON — The Production Office’s Role in Post
7. The Dailies Facility
Overnight, the facility verifies the media, syncs sound to picture, applies the dailies color, and converts the massive camera masters into proxy files for editorial, and viewing files for the creatives, studio, and network. Both physical and remote processing options are now offered at many facilities.
IN DEPTH · COMING SOON — Inside Dailies Processing — Facility & Remote Models
8. Editorial & Post
The handoff. Once dailies are processed and paperwork distributed, the proxy files land with editorial so the Editors can start cutting, and the post team releases viewing dailies through a secure platform to everyone who needs them. The relay’s finish line, which is also the starting line of the edit and post-production pipeline.
IN DEPTH · COMING SOON — The Editorial Handoff & Viewing Platforms
9. The Archive
After the footage and sound has been processed and proxies delivered, the camera and sound masters are put to sleep. They are backed up to archival tape, duplicated, and stored in separate locations so that no single disaster can take a show’s footage with it. Archival and redundancy isn’t exciting, but it’ll save the show should anything ever go wrong.
IN DEPTH · COMING SOON — The LTO Archive
As you can see, there are many moving parts at every step of the dailies process, and it takes a significant amount of preparation and coordination to ensure all departments are working together efficiently every single day. Start with whichever department you’re interested in, or read them in order and follow the footage from the camera card to the vault.