Production Logistics
The solo workflow has to be boring on purpose. Boring is where the episode survives.
- Make folders before inspiration arrives.
- Separate source, work, export, and social assets.
- Shoot for the edit, not the ego.
- Ship a clean version before polishing the ghost.
Job To Do
Reduce The Number Of Heroic Decisions
A one-person investigative channel fails when every task becomes a fresh act of invention. Production logistics exist to move decisions out of panic time.
The Blindspot Binder already gives the right bias: packaging-first planning, source-safe folders, and anti-perfectionism. Iain Anderson's Final Cut workflow adds the post side: organize first, then assemble, trim, sweeten, title, export, and archive.
The result is not bureaucracy. It is a small set of defaults that let Gary stay journalist, filmmaker, editor, and adult with a calendar.
The episode is not "in production" until its folder, source ledger, working edit, thumbnail draft, and export target exist. Otherwise the project is still a pile with a dramatic name.
Minimum Episode Kit
An episode needs a source trail, a proof plan, and a timeline path before it needs a prettier font.
Folder Model
Use One Shape Every Time
The Binder's folder logic should be the default for every episode: sources, work files, exports, social cuts, and archive. Keep the names boring enough that a collaborator can find a court filing without reading Gary's mood that week.
Use one local source ledger: _Sources.md. It should carry links, provenance, rights notes, fact status, and visual proof notes. A source living only inside a browser tab is not a source. It is a future apology.
| Folder | What Goes There | Exit Test |
|---|---|---|
01_sources | PDFs, clips, interview audio, screen captures, rights notes. | Every load-bearing asset has provenance. |
02_work | Project files, scripts, graphics, audio sessions, edit files. | Current version is obvious. |
03_exports | Masters, review files, captions, upload files. | Public, review, and archive files are separated. |
04_social | Thumbnails, shorts, clips, titles, pinned-comment drafts. | Packaging is not an afterthought. |
_archive | Old versions, killed sequences, superseded research. | Nothing important is deleted under stress. |
Name files as blindspot_YYYYMMDD_episode_slug_v01.ext. Version numbers are not glamorous. Neither is rebuilding a lost lower third at midnight.
Production Loop
Build A Week That Can Survive The Week
Use a repeatable loop: shape, source, write, cut, finish, package, publish, learn. The time blocks will move. The order should not.
The Binder's 70% rule is a local operating heuristic, not an empirical law. Use it this way: once the episode is source-safe, coherent, audible, and visually legible, ship the best clean version instead of waiting for a mythical perfect version to walk through the door holding a lav mic.
Choose the controlling question, line, and packaging promise.
Build the ledger, dissent stack, and visual proof list.
Draft aloud, mark breath, receipts, names, and risk.
Build spine cut, evidence cut, pace cut, finish cut.
Upload, caption, package, log first read of analytics, archive.
The workflow should make the next action obvious even when the episode is ugly.
Editors in documentary threads keep describing the same pain: unclear story goals, missing assets, and late structure decisions. Treat the pattern as a handoff warning. The solo producer has to be kind to the future editor, even when the future editor is also Gary.
Marked addition: editor-forum production friction, not a formal workflow source.
Solo Capture
Shoot Yourself Like You Are Already Editing
Small-team production cannot afford coverage fantasies. If Gary is on camera, capture a clean anchor take, tight hands, desk details, monitor/source inserts, empty room plate, and room tone. Mascelli's coverage logic still applies when the crew is one person and a tripod judging silently from the corner.
Sound comes first. Glen Weldon's NPR guide is useful because it treats audio as credibility: monitor with headphones, control the room, and collect sound deliberately. Bad picture can sometimes become style. Bad audio mostly becomes distrust.
Light for consistency before drama. A repeatable closet, desk, or wall setup beats a heroic cinematic look that cannot be rebuilt next Tuesday.
The sequence is pure archival or graphics. Still create the equivalent coverage list: orientation, proof, bridge, consequence, and breathing room.
Handoff
Make Review Boring Too
Every review export should answer three questions. What changed since the last cut? What kind of feedback is needed? What is locked?
Do not ask for "thoughts" when you need a fact check, pace read, title preference, or legal-risk scan. Vague feedback invites aesthetic wandering. Specific feedback protects the schedule.
After publish, archive the master, upload file, captions, thumbnail, title notes, source ledger, and one short postmortem. The next episode should inherit lessons, not folklore.
"A clean folder is not admin. It is future evidence."
The Blindspot Almanac working rulePrint View
Just The Checklist
Production Logistics Checklist
- Create the episode folder before drafting.
- Add
01_sources,02_work,03_exports,04_social, and_archive. - Create
_Sources.mdwith provenance, rights, risk, and visual proof notes. - Use date, slug, and version number in every production file.
- Draft title and thumbnail promise during shaping, not after export.
- Capture anchor, detail, insert, empty plate, and room tone for self-shot scenes.
- Monitor audio with headphones before real takes.
- Label exports by use: review, master, upload, social, caption.
- Ask reviewers for one specific kind of feedback.
- Archive the master, upload, SRT, thumbnail, source ledger, and postmortem after publish.