Post-Production: What To Expect In the Coming Months

As of Saturday, Ender's Game has officially finished filming and has now entered the long stage of post-production. While we hear that term thrown around a lot, do we all know exactly what it means? Here's a simplified overview of some of the movie-making processes which take place after filming has wrapped:

- splicing of footage to create fluid scenes and a lucid storyline
- visual effects such as CGI (Computer-Generated Imagery)
- sound effects (including incidental sound effects such as doors slamming, footsteps)
- movie soundtrack/score written, recorded and edited
- looping: re-recording of dialogue not picked up in the filming process

© Digital Domain

As the Ender's Game visual effects company Digital Domain is based in Los Angeles, it seems safe to assume that the majority of post-production work will be done on the west coast. And, according to his twitter, that's exactly where Asa Butterfield (Ender) is headed sometime today.

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So what does all of this mean for the fans? What can we look forward to in the coming year and a half?

Official Stills and Posters: While we're already seeing a lot of cool photos from the producers over on the official production blog, we expect Summit will do their best to keep our palettes wet over the next 508 days. While we may wait a bit longer for a trailer, it's probably safe to expect to see some sort of official poster before the end of the year... and stills perhaps even sooner!

Merchandise: Later, when the marketing and promotional push starts to happen, it's possible we'll see the shelves of book and department stores packed with Ender's Game merchandise. A re-release of the novel with the movie cover goes without saying, but we also expect to see the insignia of the International Fleet and possibly even the individual Battle School armies on a variety of products, from t-shirts to key chains, school folders to coffee mugs. Maybe we'll even see some Bugger plushies or Halloween costumes for October 2013. ;)

Comic-Con 2013: This seems like a no-brainer, and one of the reasons the push of the release date to November is most excellent. Held annually, San Diego Comic-Con International (SDCC) is a 4-day comic book convention in southern California. Fantasy, sci-fi and superhero films gain a lot of publicity by setting up presentations in the exclusive Hall H, usually premiering footage, trailers, and holding interviews and panels with cast and crew members. This will be a huge opportunity for Lionsgate to show up and promote Ender's Game to its target audience.

Trailers: While they may be a while off, looking back at Lionsgate's latest blockbuster hit The Hunger Games, may give us some insight as to when we may see the first Ender's Game trailer. 

The Hunger Games Dates
Start of Filming: May 23, 2011
End of Filming: September 15, 2011
U.S. Release Date: March 23, 2012
Teaser Trailer: August 28, 2011 at the MTV Music Awards
1st Full-Length Trailer: November 14, 2011 on Good Morning America
2nd Full-Length Trailer: February 3, 2012

When it comes to guesswork, the problem is that the period of time between the end of filming and the release of The Hunger Games (post-production) was much, much shorter than for Ender's Game. As you can see above, the first teaser trailer was released before filming was even complete. However, maybe the time-period gives us some clues:

Teaser Trailer: 7 months before release (April for Ender's Game)
1st Full-Length: 3 months before release (August for Ender's Game)

Of course, this is pure speculation. I'm not sure anyone on the planet could say right now when we'll be seeing a teaser trailer for Ender's Game. But with this formula we can at least make an educated guess. Is it possible we may see the teasing-est of all teaser trailers before the end of the year?

One thing's for sure: whenever the trailers are released, you'll be able to find them here on Ender News!

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What is everyone looking forward to the most in the upcoming year and a half? Will you be doing your part to promote Ender's Game to friends and family?