Answer print refers to the first version of a given motion picture that is printed to film after color correction on an interpositive. It is also the first version of the movie printed to film with the sound properly synced to the picture.
Answer prints are created during the post-production process after editing, dubbing and other related audio work and special effects sequences have been finished or completed to a degree satisfactory for pre-release viewing. They are used by the filmmaker and studio to ensure that the work going in to the film during the post-production process is cohesive with the final goals for the project. In effect, it is a post-edit editing where the filmmaker can observe and direct the course of the film's final look and feel as it pertains to color correction, sound and special effects elements and overall pacing/editing. Pre-release screenings for test audiences are often run from late answer print copies of the film, as more often than not the filmmaker is using the screening as a way to help direct the final choices he/she will make regarding the finished project.
When the last answer print is approved and finalized, it is used to make an internegative from which the release prints are struck.
Famous quotes containing the words answer and/or print:
“Who wants to become a writer? And why? Because it’s the answer to everything. To “Why am I here?” To uselessness. It’s the streaming reason for living. To note, to pin down, to build up, to create, to be astonished at nothing, to cherish the oddities, to let nothing go down the drain, to make something, to make a great flower out of life, even if it’s a cactus.”
—Enid Bagnold (1889–1981)
“It is speckled with grime as if
Small print overspread it,
The news of a day I’ve forgotten
If I ever read it.”
—Robert Frost (1874–1963)