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Post Production · Stage 1

Post-production Runner

First in, last out: get into a post house and learn every room from the corridor.

The post-production runner is the rite of passage for every editor, sound designer and colourist. What a post house does from ingest to deliverables, a runner's shift, the software to learn first, where Stage 1 experience comes from, and a CV that gets you on file, with a finished scene to show.

2 hours · 6 modules · 18 lessons

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What you’ll learn

  • Be able to describe the post pipeline (ingest, offline, lock, VFX, online, grade, sound, QC and delivery) and say which software and which people belong to each stage.
  • Know what a runner's early and late shifts contain, what good looks like on day one, and which technical jobs to volunteer for to move into the machine room.
  • Have a six-week plan to learn Resolve, Pro Tools, Media Composer and Premiere on one scene, and an honest scored skills audit.
  • Know where post experience comes from, the UK rules on pay, unpaid placements and hours, and how to stay safe on runs and at lock-up.
  • Have drafted a one-page Stage 1 CV against MFJF's example, written a cover letter structure, and know how to approach a facility without annoying it.
  • Know the map of UK post (Soho, the regions, the bodies), the runner-to-assistant ladders, and be able to certify honestly against MFJF's five Stage 1 exit statements.

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.

Finish the course and you can build your personal plan: MFJF's three-stage planner for this role, ticked from Your Profile and your CV, with dated next steps and the CV line each one becomes.

Module 1

The post house and the runner's place in it

20 min

What a facility actually does between wrap and delivery, and what the runner does all day to keep it working.

  1. readWhat a post house actually does: from rushes to deliverables8 min
  2. readA runner's day in a facility8 min
  3. checkCheck: the pipeline and the job4 min
Module 2

Before day one: software, media and the words

20 min

The four applications to learn now and how to learn them free, the machine room and the media rules, the jargon, and an honest audit of where you are.

  1. readThe software to learn now: Avid, Premiere, Resolve and Pro Tools7 min
  2. readThe machine room, the media, the jargon and the ten tips6 min
  3. taskTask: your skills self-audit7 min
Module 3

Getting experience at Stage 1

20 min

Where post experience really comes from, the rules on pay, unpaid work, hours and safety, and three routes you can act on this month.

  1. readWhere post experience really comes from7 min
  2. readThe rules: pay, unpaid work, hours, the union and staying safe6 min
  3. taskTask: find three routes this month7 min
Module 4

Your CV, cover letter and first approaches

20 min

What a Stage 1 post runner CV contains, what to leave out, the cover letter, and how to get into a facility's CV file without annoying anyone.

  1. readThe Stage 1 CV, the cover letter and the approach8 min
  2. taskTask: draft your Stage 1 CV outline8 min
  3. checkCheck: the CV and the approach4 min
Module 5

The industry around the role

20 min

Soho and the regional facilities, the companies post touches, the ladders from runner to editor, mixer, colourist or post producer, the bodies, and the library for this course.

  1. readSoho, the regions, the ladder and the people who climbed it8 min
  2. resourcesThe library: do these in order8 min
  3. checkCheck: the map and the ladder4 min
Module 6

Your plan: Stage 1 to Stage 2

20 min

Turn everything into one saved plan, then certify yourself honestly against the five Stage 1 exit statements and know what to do next on MFJF.

  1. plannerPlanner: your route into post10 min
  2. readHow you know you are ready for Stage 26 min
  3. checkCheck: ready for Stage 2?4 min

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Where next

Your recommended next steps

Picked for Post Production. Signed in, they follow your stage and the roles your answers point to.

  1. The career plan: Post ProductionWhat to do, learn and be able to do, from no experience to paid work.
  2. MFJF Academy workshopsLive sessions with people who do the job, and the monthly career clinic.
  3. Speak to an MFJF mentorAsk someone who does the job what they wish they had known.
  4. Build your CV with the CV BuilderThe industry's format, built from your profile and your current CV.
  5. The careers guide: Post ProductionThe job, the day, the way in and the pay, in one guide.
  6. See what entry-level jobs ask forThe job board, updated daily: read the ads before you apply.

Matching Post Production right now

Live from the job board, the Academy, the mentor programme, the film-course directory and the reading list.

Jobs on the board

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MFJF Academy workshops

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Reading and links

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