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Getting started · Stage 1

Post Production Jargon

The words you need to know before your first day as a Post Production Runner

The language of the edit, the grade, the mix and the delivery, in the order the work happens.

Post has more jargon than any other part of the industry, and most of it is said fast by people who are booked by the hour. This quick course follows the footage from the camera card to delivery, and explains what each stage is called, who does it, and what a runner is expected to know.

25 minutes · 3 modules · 9 lessons

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What you’ll learn

  • Be able to follow the path from a camera card to a finished master and name every stage.
  • Know what offline, online and conform mean and why picture lock matters.
  • Know who a colourist, a dubbing mixer and an online editor are, and what each needs from you.
  • Know how to behave in a building where clients are paying by the hour.

Where this leads

By the end you will have written your own Stage 1 plan, checked yourself against MFJF's five Stage 1 statements, and know exactly what to do next: a mentor clinic, an Academy workshop, and Stage 2, the HotList.

Module 1

From the set to the edit

8 min

Post begins the moment the camera stops. Follow the footage and the first half of the jargon explains itself.

  1. readWhat arrives from set, and what it is called3 min
  2. readOffline, online, conform and picture lock3 min
  3. checkCheck: the path from set to the cut2 min
Module 2

Grade, sound and delivery

8 min

Finishing is three crafts and a deadline. These are the words each of them uses.

  1. readThe grade and the mix3 min
  2. readMasters, deliverables and QC3 min
  3. checkCheck: finishing and delivery2 min
Module 3

The post house, and your part in it

9 min

A facility is a building full of booked rooms and paying clients. Knowing how it runs is most of the job.

  1. readThe building, the bookings and a runner's day3 min
  2. taskTask: your day-one word list3 min
  3. checkCheck: the facility and the runner3 min
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Sources and references

Where this course comes from. Open any of them yourself.

Check it yourself

This course is written from our own experience of the industry. These are the authorities that set the rules, so you can check anything here for yourself.

Every link checked 19 September 2026.

You are not doing this alone

You have your own personal career mentor

That is us, the MFJF team. Book an MFJF Mentor Session with us every month: we guide you through this journey and answer all your questions, from which job is yours to your CV and your next application.

Book my MFJF Mentor Session

Where next

Your recommended next steps

Picked for Getting started. Signed in, they follow your stage and the roles your answers point to. See your whole MFJF journey, step by step →

  1. My MFJF JourneyOne page for everything MFJF has built, in the order you need it.
  2. My Reading ListThe books, blogs and bodies you have saved, in one place.
  3. Start the Stage 1 course: Getting startedTwo hours on what the job is, how people get in and what to do first.
  4. Get on the HotListPut yourself in front of productions looking for crew.
  5. Join MFJF DayPlayersDay work on productions for crew with the credits and the skills.
  6. Find your role in the career plannersEvery entry-level job by department, with a three-stage planner for each.
  7. Read the career guidesWhat each job is, the day, the way in and the pay: one guide for every role.
  8. See how it all fits on the career maps17 maps of how films get made: the people, the process and the departments.
  9. Who works whereEvery department on a shoot and every kind of film company: who is in each and what they do.
  10. Industry EssentialsThe books, industry bodies, websites and blogs worth knowing, department by department.
  11. Read the MFJF Survival GuidesStraight answers to what everyone starting out asks: how long it takes, what you get paid, and what to do every day.
  12. MFJF Academy workshopsLive sessions with people who do the job, and the monthly career clinic.
  13. Build your CV with the CV BuilderThe industry's format, built from your profile and your current CV.

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