Dailies
The unedited footage from each day's shoot, reviewed by the director and key crew to assess the previous day's work.
Dailies
noun | Post-Production
The raw, unedited footage shot during a single day of production, transferred and prepared for review by the director, producer, cinematographer, and other key department heads, typically viewed the following morning before that day's shoot begins. The word "dailies" reflects the daily rhythm of this review process. Viewing dailies allows the creative team to assess the technical and creative quality of what has been captured, identify problems while the production can still correct them, and confirm that the required coverage has been obtained.
Quick Reference
| Also Known As | Rushes (British usage), dailies (American usage) |
| Domain | Post-Production |
| Viewed By | Director, DP, producer, editor, department heads |
| Timing | Reviewed the day after filming, typically before the new shoot day begins |
| Related Terms | Footage, Assembly, Rough Cut, Director's Cut, Continuity |
| See Also (Tools) | Production Schedule Calculator |
| Difficulty | Foundational |
The Explanation: How & Why
Dailies serve as the production's quality control loop. A day's footage is shot, transferred to the DIT (Digital Imaging Technician), colour-managed to a viewing LUT (Look-Up Table), and delivered to the dailies viewing session. The creative team watches each take from each setup of the previous day.
The dailies review serves multiple functions:
Technical verification: The DP confirms that the footage has the intended exposure, focus, and optical quality. Any technical problem -- a focus miss, an unexpected camera shake, a lens aberration -- is identified before production moves on and the opportunity to reshoot is lost. It is far better to identify a focus problem in dailies on day two than to discover it in the edit on week six.
Performance evaluation: The director reviews performances across all takes, confirming that the required range of options exists in the coverage. A take that felt strong on set may read differently on screen; a take that seemed ordinary may reveal unexpected depth. Dailies give the director a second look at each performance with the emotional pressure of the set removed.
Coverage assessment: The editor (if present) or the director confirms that all required coverage has been captured. If a particular angle or reaction is missing, it can be scheduled for the following day while the location and cast are still available.
Creative alignment: Dailies keep all key department heads aligned on the film's evolving visual language. The costume designer, production designer, and DP can all watch the same footage and ensure their departments are reading consistently on screen.
In the digital era, dailies are typically delivered as H.264 or ProRes proxy files distributed via secure streaming platforms (Pix, Sohonet, Frame.io) to all stakeholders, including producers, financiers, and studio executives who may not be on location. This remote access to dailies is a standard element of modern production oversight.
Historical Context & Origin
The term "dailies" derives from the daily print -- in the photochemical era, the exposed negative from each day's shoot was sent overnight to the laboratory, where it was processed and printed onto a positive print (the "daily print" or "rush print") for the next morning's screening. The screening was held in a darkened projection room, often before the day's first setup began. Actors and crew were sometimes permitted to attend but were often excluded at the director's discretion -- many directors feel that performers watching themselves on screen too frequently creates self-consciousness that undermines subsequent performances. The term "rushes" (British usage) reflects the overnight rush of the laboratory work. Both terms remain in use, with "rushes" more common in the UK and "dailies" more common in the US, though the underlying process is now entirely digital.
How It's Used in Practice
Scenario 1 -- Technical Problem Identified (DP): In dailies, the DP notices that three close-ups from yesterday's interior scene have soft focus in the left eye. The takes were otherwise excellent performances. The DP flags the issue to the director: the shots are technically compromised but may still be usable depending on the cutting. The director decides two of the three need to be reshot; one is marginal but usable. The 1st AD adds a reshoot block to today's schedule.
Scenario 2 -- Remote Dailies (Producer): The executive producer is based in Los Angeles while production is in Budapest. The dailies are delivered each evening as password-protected H.264 files via a secure production platform. The executive producer reviews them overnight and sends notes to the director before the Budapest shoot day begins. The director reviews the notes before the first setup.
Scenario 3 -- Performance Discovery (Director): In dailies, the director watches a take they dismissed on set because the actor went off-script. Viewed on screen, the spontaneous deviation is better than the written line. The director flags it to the editor with a note: "Use the off-script take at 14:32. Circle it." The editor incorporates the note into the edit.
Usage Examples in Sentences
"Dailies at 7am before the first setup -- I want the DP to see the focus issues from yesterday before we roll again."
"The rushes look beautiful -- the new lens package is working exactly as planned."
"Never skip dailies. The set is still available; the location is still standing. If there is a problem in the footage, dailies is when you fix it."
"The producer watched the dailies remotely and sent three pages of notes by 6am. We'll address them in the production meeting."
Common Confusions & Misuse
Dailies vs. Footage: Footage is the complete body of all recorded material from the production. Dailies are the footage from a specific day, prepared and presented for review in a specific workflow context. All dailies become part of the total footage; not all footage is reviewed as dailies (archival or library footage used in the film, for example, was never part of a dailies review process).
Dailies vs. Assembly: Dailies are unedited raw material, viewed in chronological shooting order as a quality control exercise. The assembly is the first edited version of the film, in which all selected footage is cut together in script order. Dailies are a production tool; the assembly is the first post-production artifact. The editor builds the assembly from the dailies.
Related Terms
- Footage -- The complete body of recorded material; dailies are the daily subset of this material prepared for review
- Assembly -- The first edited version of the film; built from the material reviewed in dailies
- Rough Cut -- The first shaped edit; produced from the assembly after the dailies review phase
- Director's Cut -- A later edit phase; preceded by the assembly and rough cut built from dailies material
- Continuity -- Continuity problems are identified in dailies before they become fixed in the edit
See Also / Tools
The Production Schedule Calculator includes the post-production timeline within which dailies review is a daily production workflow element -- factoring dailies review time into the overall production day ensures the creative team stays current with the footage.
