Make the Cut: A Guide to Becoming a Successful Assistant Editor in Film and TV Third , you have to determine that the key codes, audio timecode, and names assigned to your tape are cor- rect. Check that each tape has a unique name (e.g., 201R03) that matches the name on the flex file or ALE. There must be no duplicated tape names. Dailies have a visual burn-in with the running key codes and audio codes. Check to make sure that these numbers match the flex or ALE files and your other paperwork. You might want to ask your editor if he prefers not having key code run throughout the take. On FCP, you need to use Cinema Tools to create the database that will track flex file data automatically when the clips are cap- tured. Cinema Tools is integrated into FCP in the tools menu. Fourth , start digitizing your dailies. Discuss with your editor which scenes he prefers to have digitized first. Some editors like to have the largest, hardest scenes in the morning while they are fresh. Some want to warm up to that and are happy with a couple of smaller, less challenging scenes. As long as you have at least one bin fully prepared for your editor to work on when he walks into the cutting room, you are in good shape. Sometimes it cannot be the editor's prerogative because telecine has not sent you the B camera for some of the scenes, or telecine has not finished transferring a complete scene, or there were no complete scenes that made it to telecine from the set. All sorts of factors enter into the decision-making process when you attack the morning's deluge of film. Just remember, you are always aiming to keep your editor cutting, with little or no downtime between scenes. So throw the first tapes in to start the process before you have prioritized the order in which you should digitize. This way, the machine is working while you figure out your paperwork. No time is wasted getting the dailies into the system. If you have begun to import a scene that is incomplete or not the right one, you can stop (it will all be saved) and switch over to the scene your editor prefers to cut first. 4.2 Interpreting Paperwork Fifth , start to organize the paperwork and decide which scene should be first up for your editor. You have to determine that all the film that should have arrived according to the paperwork is indeed in your possession. The film you receive should reflect the circled takes. These selections, as we have said, are determined by the director on the set. The assistant must compare the editor's log to the facing pages of the lined script, the sound reports, and the camera reports. This purpose of this process is to make sure that all of the circled takes were included; then you check the telecine report to make sure that the post facility has transferred all the circled takes. Many assistant editors use colored highlighters to mark their cross-referenced takes while they organize their dailies. For example, when you find 32G-4 on the telecine report and then confirm that you have it on your flex file or ALE, you can highlight the telecine report in one color until all of the takes on the reports match up. When there is one take left that is not highlighted, you will know it has to be researched further and pos- sibly ordered up as B negative. If telecine has missed one of the circled takes, then you must make sure it gets ordered and is telecined for the next day's shipment of dailies. During the editing process, circled takes might have performance or technical issues, so a B negative is ordered by either the editor, director, or producer. Some associate producers like to be consulted before a B negative is ordered. 4.3 Watch the Dailies If you digitize dailies, it is important that you take time to keep a watchful eye on them. You are the second frontier for noticing any flares, scratches, negative damage, or excess dirt, as well as color, focus, and exposure 64