Dailies review is the structured screening of each production day's raw footage - traditionally the evening after the camera wraps - so the director, cinematographer, editor, and producers can confirm the day's coverage and flag problems while reshooting is still cheap. The name comes from the literal daily prints film productions received; the practice survived the death of film, the prints became files.
Where the term comes from
On film productions, the camera negative from each day went to a lab overnight and came back as a one-light print the next morning - the "dailies" (also called "rushes" in British usage). Watching them daily was the only way to know whether a take was usable while the set, cast, and location were still available to fix it. Digital pipelines kept both the name and the discipline: the medium changed, the end-of-day checkpoint didn't.
Who reviews dailies, and what each person looks for
- The director checks coverage and performance - did we get the moment we scripted, and do the options cut together?
- The cinematographer checks exposure, focus, and lighting consistency across the day's setups.
- The script supervisor and continuity flag wardrobe, prop, and eyeline mismatches while they can still be reshot.
- The editor begins selects and assembly - dailies review is where the edit quietly starts.
- Producers confirm the day is in the can and the budget is turning into usable footage.
The traditional dailies pipeline
The classic path runs through a dedicated role: camera media goes to the DIT (digital imaging technician), who offloads and backs it up, then a transcode produces edit-friendly proxies; audio gets synced; a light color pass makes the footage watchable; and the result screens on set or ships to a secure viewing site. Speed and security are the whole game - everyone needs to see the day's work before tomorrow's schedule locks, and unreleased footage needs controlled access.
How cloud review links changed dailies
The pipeline still exists, but the screening room stopped being a room. Modern crews publish each day's synced proxies behind protected links so a director can review from a hotel room and a producer can check in from another country. The controls that matter for dailies are exactly the ones that matter for any unreleased footage: a watermark that identifies leaks, an expiry that matches the production window, a password for sensitive projects, and downloads off by default. A review link gives every stakeholder the same source of truth instead of a chain of forwarded files.
| Aspect | Traditional dailies | Cloud-linked dailies |
|---|---|---|
| Where it happens | Screening room or camp projector | Anywhere with a connection |
| Who attends | Whoever is physically near set | Director, editor, producers - wherever they are |
| Notes | Spoken, then transcribed | Timecoded comments on the footage itself |
| Leak control | Physical custody of prints/drives | Watermark, password, expiry, download off |
Dailies review vs client review
The two share tooling but not intent. Dailies review is internal QA under time pressure - find problems while reshooting costs nothing extra. Client review is external iteration on a cut - gather stakeholder notes toward approval. A production that runs both needs the same mechanics (frame-accurate notes, controlled access, versions) pointed at different audiences. For the second half of that loop, see our guide to running review rounds that don't stall.
A note on scope
Frooty is built for the review-and-delivery side - controlled links, frame-accurate comments, version stacks - not for on-set transcode-and-sync. Productions typically run a dedicated dailies tool for the set-to-proxy pipeline and a review platform for everything after sync. If your workflow is commercials, branded content, or documentary review with clients and stakeholders, Frooty covers that loop end to end.
FAQ
Are "dailies" and "rushes" the same thing?
Yes. "Rushes" is the common British term for the same material; "dailies" dominates in American usage. Both refer to the unedited footage from a production day, reviewed before the next day's shoot.
Why review footage the same day it's shot?
Because problems are only cheap while the set still exists. A focus issue, a continuity break, or a missing insert discovered at dailies costs one reshoot; discovered in the edit weeks later, it costs a remount - or the scene.
Do small productions still need a dailies process?
A lighter version of it, yes. Even a two-person crew benefits from an end-of-day pass: sync audio, skim every setup, and note anything to grab tomorrow while the location is booked. The formality scales down; the habit doesn't.
What security do dailies need?
Treat unreleased footage as the asset it is: watermarked streams, expiring links, passwords on sensitive projects, and downloads disabled until distribution is intentional. Leak tracing starts with the watermark that identifies which copy escaped.