What are Film Reshoots?

Film reshoots are a common outcome when producing a movie. They can happen for a variety of reasons. And as much as they are something that filmmakers try and want to avoid as much as possible, they seem to come up almost no matter what. But, what are film reshoots? And how are they handled in the film industry? 

What is a Film Reshoot?

A reshoot is just like it sounds, it’s the need to shoot a scene or series of scenes, again, after they’ve already been completed previously.

Film reshoots can happen for a variety of reasons. Despite the Director’s best desire to avoid them, they are almost guaranteed to come up at least at some point in the production of a film.

Are film reshoots a sign that the cast or crew did something wrong? Not necessarily and not always. Sometimes, film reshoots are the result of simply wanting to capture a scene in a better manner, or to do better. However, sometimes reshoots occur for other reasons. 

Why Do Film Reshoots Occur?

As editing moves along in piecing a movie together, there are often times where things are just out of place. A mistake in the footage may be noticed by the editor.

Or a need for some additional footage to provide background. Or additional dialogue for the film is required. All of these can lead to reshoots.

Film reshoots can occur for a whole bunch of different reasons.

Some of the following are the most common, but there are endless reasons for a reshoot to occur:

• Editor finds errors in existing footage.
• Editor requests additional footage to share the story.
• Actor makes a mistake in footage. 
• Sound is horrible in footage.
• Continuity is off in footage.
• Scene didn’t play out correctly.
• Something is missing from the scene.
• Something could have been done better in a scene.

An Investment

Reshoots, in a lot of ways, are at the discrepancies of the editor. And the Director and have a lot to do with budget. Films that have the budget to try harder will invest the money into rounding up the cast and crew to handle reshoots.

Filming for simple things like making small changes. Or adding something additional to a scene that may have been overlooked in the first shoot. Films that are on limited budgets may avoid reshoots. Unless they are absolutely necessary for the film to proceed forward. 

Time is Money

The bottom line is, film reshoots are a fact of life and they’re commonplace in the film industry, but they’re also costly. Time is money on the set and rounding up famous actors.

And coordinating schedules to handle reshoots can be a logistical nightmare. As such most film reshoots are avoided as much as possible, but they still somehow always seem to come up.