1. Step 1

   A note arrives

   Someone files a screening note within 48 hours of the show, or sends a pitch through the contact page. We log the venue, the format and the date before anything else.

2. Step 2

   Format and facts get checked

   Was it a DCP or a 35mm print? Which aspect ratio? If the piece mentions a sound-mixing session, we confirm the room and the projector noise it had to fight.

3. Step 3

   Transcripts are trimmed

   Interview recordings are cut for length and clarity, but the speaker's cadence stays intact. We do not smooth a director or colourist into someone they are not.

4. Step 4

   Breakdowns are matched to the edit

   Any cinematography or editing breakdown is rewatched against the actual cut. If a claim about a lens or a transition does not hold up, it comes out or gets rewritten.

5. Step 5

   Credits and logistics are logged

   Every contributor is credited before publication. Queue bottlenecks at Rosebank and Maboneng venues go into the log so the next midnight marathon can plan around them.

6. Step 6

   It goes out weekly

   The piece publishes on schedule. Snack-bar economics are reported as observed, not guessed at, and corrections run in the following issue when something was wrong.

Curious how a specific piece came together? Read the booth diary in What 35mm Actually Sounds Like in a Braamfontein Booth, or send your own screening note through the contact page.

How a Weekly Issue Gets Made

The journal runs on a fixed production rhythm. Screening notes are filed within two days, transcripts are trimmed without losing the speaker's cadence, and every breakdown is checked against the actual edit before it goes out.

1. Week 1

   Format check

   Before a repertory season opens, the crew confirms the DCP's aspect ratio, walks the 35mm print for splices and warped reels, and decides whether it can survive one more midnight marathon. Anything that fails gets logged, not quietly dropped.

2. Week 2

   Screening notes filed

   Notes from Braamfontein, Rosebank and Maboneng screenings come in within 48 hours, while the room is still fresh. Queue bottlenecks, door counts and snack-bar observations are recorded as they happened, not reconstructed later.

3. Week 3

   Transcripts and grading

   Interview tapes with directors and colourists are cut down for clarity, keeping the speaker's rhythm intact. Sound-mixing sessions are timed so dialogue stays intelligible over projector noise, and cinematography breakdowns are fact-checked frame by frame.

4. Week 4

   Credits and publication

   Every contributor is verified and named before an issue goes live. Snack-bar economics are reported as observed, never speculated on. Then the piece publishes, and the next screening note starts the cycle again.