After shooting wrapped at the end of July of 2020, I took August off to recuperate from what was a grueling shoot across the whole of the NYC metropolitan area.
Because I had shot the film without a crew (it was me, my girlfriend, and whatever actors were filming on any given day), the mid-summer production really took a toll on me. I spend the first couple weeks of August swimming off the beaches of Asbury Park, New Jersey, and engaging in some creative writing.
I began processing the footage for editing at the end of August. This would go on through the fall as I slowly began the process of first assembly. Because the film was shot in 6K raw, it took many hours to transcode the footage down to a codec compatible with my laptop.
By December 30, 2020, I had the first pass assembly of the entire movie, incomplete with placeholder cards for material not yet produced and temporary VFX and color concepts.
Over the winter and spring, I'd refine the cut, separating it into 7 reels (or sequences).
The first pass assembly came in with a run time of 3.5 hours, so it was important that I trim it down as much as possible. I deleted many scenes from the film (more than I ever had on any of my films). Additionally, I streamlined much of the dialog for brevity, using basic editing, trick cuts, and some light ADR work.
Picture lock for the movie occurred reel by reel. As each reel was completed and locked, I would re-process the footage, engage in a more in-depth color grade, and aspect ratio change (more on this later). Once completed, I would send each reel to the composer, LYNDOL DESCANT, so that she could begin the work of scoring. (More on this in a future episode.)
The editing of FRACTALS was the slowest I've ever had on a film, and the longest post-production to date. At the time of this episode, the 7th and final reel is still being finalized for scoring.