A workprint is a rough version of a

motion picture A film, also known as a movie or motion picture, is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, emotions, or atmosphere through the use of moving images that are generally, since ...

or television program, used by the

film editor Film editing is both a creative and a technical part of the post-production process of filmmaking. The term is derived from the traditional process of working with film stock, film which increasingly involves the use Digital cinema, of digital ...

s during the editing process. Such copies generally contain original recorded sound that will later be re-dubbed,

stock footage Stock footage, and similarly, archive footage, library pictures, and file footage is film or video footage that can be used again in other films. Stock footage is beneficial to filmmakers as it saves shooting new material. A single piece of stock ...

as placeholders for missing shots or

special effects Special effects (often abbreviated as F/X or simply FX) are illusions or visual tricks used in the theatre, film, television, video game, amusement park and simulator industries to simulate the fictional events in a story or virtual world. ...

, and

animation Animation is a filmmaking technique whereby still images are manipulated to create moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited on film. Animati ...

tests for in-production animated shots or sequences. Lists recent video releases in the

warez scene The Warez scene, often referred to as The Scene, is an underground network of piracy groups specialized in obtaining and illegally releasing digital media before their official release date. The Scene distributes all forms of digital media, incl ...

. For most of the first century of filmmaking, workprints were done using second-generation prints from the

original camera negative The original camera negative (OCN) is the film in a traditional film-based movie camera which captures the original image. This is the film from which all other copies will be made. It is known as raw stock prior to exposure. The size of a roll v ...

s. After the editor and director approved of the final edit of the workprint, the same edits were made to the negative. With the conversion to digital editing, workprints are now generally created on a

non-linear editing system Non-linear editing (NLE) is a form of offline editing for audio, video, and image editing. In offline editing, the original content is not modified in the course of editing. In non-linear editing, edits are specified and modified by speciali ...

using

telecine Telecine ( or ), or TK, is the process of transferring film into video and is performed in a color suite. The term is also used to refer to the equipment used in this post-production process. Telecine enables a motion picture, captured origi ...

d footage from the original film or video sources (in contrast to a pirate "

", which is made with a much higher-generation film print). Occasionally, early digital workprints of films have been bootlegged and made available on the

Internet The Internet (or internet) is the Global network, global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a internetworking, network of networks ...

. They sometimes appear months in advance of an official release. There are also director's cut versions of films that are only available on bootleg, such as the workprint version of Richard Williams' '' The Thief and the Cobbler''. Although movie studios generally do not make full-length workprints readily available to the public, there are exceptions. Examples include the "Work-In-Progress" version of ''

Beauty and the Beast "Beauty and the Beast" is a fairy tale written by the French novelist Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve and published in 1740 in (''The Young American and Marine Tales''). Villeneuve's lengthy version was abridged, rewritten, and publish ...

'' (albeit it is unfinished footage intertwined with the DVD release on top with the finalized sound mix), and the Denver/Dallas pre-release version of ''

Blade Runner ''Blade Runner'' is a 1982 science fiction film directed by Ridley Scott from a screenplay by Hampton Fancher and David Peoples. Starring Harrison Ford, Rutger Hauer, Sean Young, and Edward James Olmos, it is an adaptation of Philip K. Di ...

''. Deleted scenes or bonus footage included on DVD releases are sometimes left in workprint format as well, e.g. the '' Scrubs'' DVD extras. A workprint as source for a leaked television show is rather unusual, but it happened with the third season's first episode of ''

Homeland A homeland is a place where a national or ethnic identity has formed. The definition can also mean simply one's country of birth. When used as a proper noun, the Homeland, as well as its equivalents in other languages, often has ethnic natio ...

'' a month before it aired.

Notable examples

*''

Rocky V ''Rocky V'' is a 1990 American sports drama film directed by John G. Avildsen and written by and starring Sylvester Stallone. It is the sequel to '' Rocky IV'' (1985) and the fifth installment in the ''Rocky'' franchise. It also stars Talia S ...

'' – A low quality workprint of the film encoded through DivX Video was released on the internet in 2002. * ''

Hulk The Hulk is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirby, the character first appeared in the debut issue of ''The Incredible Hulk (comic book), The Incredible Hulk ...

'' – Appeared on the internet two weeks before the film opening. * '' Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith'' – Appeared on the web within hours of the release. * '' X-Men Origins: Wolverine'' – Available on the internet before the premiere. * ''

Apocalypse Now ''Apocalypse Now'' is a 1979 American psychological epic war film produced and directed by Francis Ford Coppola. The screenplay, co-written by Coppola, John Milius, and Michael Herr, is loosely inspired by the 1899 novella '' Heart of Darkn ...

'' – A 289-minute-long workprint circulates amongst collectors on the internet. * '' This Is Spinal Tap'' – A 270-minute-long workprint exists on the internet (three times the final film's length). * '' Vampires Suck'' – Appeared on the internet around a month prior to the film's theatrical release. * ''

'' – "Tin Man Is Down", the first episode of the third season leaked a month before airing. It being an unfinished version is rather unusual for a TV show. * ''

Doctor Who ''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series, created by Sydney Newman, C. E. Webber and Donald Wilson (writer and producer), Donald Wilson, depicts the adventures of an extraterre ...

'' – Workprints of the first five episodes of series 8 were leaked online months in advance of their premieres. These versions were in black and white, were watermarked, and lacked the computer-generated effects seen in the final releases. Producer

Steven Moffat Steven William Moffat (; born 18 November 1961) is a Scottish television writer, television producer and screenwriter. He is best known for his work as the second showrunner and head writer of the 2005 revival of the BBC sci-fi television ser ...

publicly condemned the leaks, and urged fans to avoid watching the leaked episodes until they properly aired on TV. * '' American Pie'' - a workprint containing more raunchy content leaked before the film's official release, giving way to an unrated edition for home release; this would become commonplace among films similar to ''American Pie'', including its sequels. * ''A Minecraft Movie'' - a workprint containing unfinished, unrendered CGI leaked shortly before the film's official release. *

Overwatch 2 ''Overwatch 2'' is a 2023 first-person shooter video game by Blizzard Entertainment. As a sequel and replacement to the 2016 hero shooter ''Overwatch'', the game included new gamemodes and a reduction in team size from six to five. The game is ...

– a workprint of “Kiriko” animated short containing unfinished, unrendered CGI leaked a month before the official premiere. * '' The Swan Princess'' - Storyboard 90-minutes-long *'' The King and I (1999 film)'' - Storyboard 89-minutes-long *''

The Prince of Egypt ''The Prince of Egypt'' is a 1998 American animated musical drama film directed by Brenda Chapman, Steve Hickner, and Simon Wells, and written by Philip LaZebnik, from a story by Kelly Asbury and Lorna Cook. Produced by DreamWorks Pictur ...

'' - Storyboard 99-minutes-long *'' The Day the Clown Cried'' - An unfinished and unreleased film; in 2025 it was revealed that had stolen and made a copy of a workprint () of the Swedish segment of this film while working at Europafilm in 1980.

Notable examples

References

Further reading