Organizing Footage

1. Organising My Raw Material

Before even opening DaVinci Resolve, I prioritised organising my raw files. I created a master folder titled after the film opening, within which I added separate subfolders for each shoot day and then separate folders for camera and audio. For example, Day 1 had a folder for A7III footage and one for Zoom H6 audio. Day 2’s folder was significantly heavier, totaling around 100 GB with over 250 shots, compared to Day 1’s 40 GB.

My past experiences with chaotic file dumps taught me the importance of structure. That’s why everything was meticulously sorted even within Windows Explorer. Once inside DaVinci, I mirrored that order using bins: one for each act, and extras for sound effects, visual assets and BTS. Initially, I didn’t color code anything, but after constructing a rough timeline, I assigned each clip a color according to which act they were a part of; green = act 1, orange = act 2 and light blue = act 3 - for easy navigation.

the green pill shape in the bottom left is the where color assigned to each clip is shown

2. Shortlisting and Rejecting Footage

After setting up the bins, I watched every clip using headphones in DaVinci Resolve. Usable clips were further tagged orange. Even then, I kept revisiting older clips later in the process, occasionally changing my mind and adding underappreciated shots that had more potential than I first thought.

Footage was rejected for several reasons. Even when a shot was visually stronger, it got axed if it didn’t fit within the continuity of a scene, as different hand placements and object positions would ruin believability and the verisimilitude. Continuity came first. For one specific shot, I had to choose between a clip that was underexposed and another that was slightly blurry. No matter how much I tweaked the grade, the darker one didn’t match the surrounding visuals. I chose the blurry one for clarity and cohesion, even if it wasn’t ideal.

manual focus pulling is hard :( dont blame me

this shot being darker wouldnt match the other clips even after color correcting it - plus idk why hes smiling

3. Acting, Direction and Regret

Some shots were rejected purely because of performance issues. Earlier takes were often stiff, so I ended up choosing later ones after coaching the actors through the scene according to how I had envisioned it. Still, acting didn’t always go as planned. One major part later on in the film was derailed when the actor deviated from the script. Instead of portraying a repressed breakdown, he erupted in anger, which completely shifted the character arc. This wasn’t in the script. It disrupted Saif’s narrative; a man haunted by trauma but reluctant to confront it. Instead of quietly crumbling, he lashed out. The original nuance was lost, and with it, a key piece of the film’s emotional spine. That scene may get reshot for personal release, but not for this version of the film.

I also had to make cuts due to timing. Some acts were removed entirely to bring the runtime from around eight to three minutes. It hurt to lose them, but the structure demanded it.

4. Technical Reflection and Workflow Tools

All of this was handled in DaVinci Resolve at full resolution, thanks to my laptop’s spec-heavy 32 GB RAM and 96 GB memory. Footage ran smoothly in playback, which made scrubbing and reviewing easy. I worked without a backup, a gamble I don’t recommend, but one I lived with out of necessity. If my laptop were to be stolen before I posted the film, I would've been COOOKED.

For future shoots, I realised the need for a larger display on set. Relying only on the camera screen isn’t enough for exposure and focus accuracy in moving shots, especially without autofocus. I also learned I need to be stricter as a director. Exhaustion got the better of me around scene 5. I stopped pushing back when actors went off-script, and it changed the final product, majorly.