Forty Liters, fine cut
Fine cut v4 runs four minutes and twelve seconds, and there is one decision: whether this picture is locked. We would like your answer by Friday, September 17.
Runtime
4:12
Reply by
September 17, 2027, 5 p.m.
From
Lucia Cordero, Cordero Haines Films, Tucson
Picture lock, and what it unlocks
Signing this document locks the order and length of every shot in v4, which is what allows the grade, the mix and the cut-downs to begin.
A locked picture is the point at which an edit stops being a conversation and becomes a set of instructions, and everything downstream is built on the assumption that it will not move. Sound is laid to the frame. Color is matched shot by shot.
If you sign by September 17, the film is delivered on October 12, a week ahead of your investor summit on the 19th. If notes run past the 21st, that week is gone, and we would rather tell you so now than in October.
00:00 to 00:48, the drive out
We now begin on the forty-minute road to the pilot site rather than with the founders, so that distance is understood before anyone explains it. Nobody speaks for the first twenty-two seconds.
00:48 to 02:10, the night shift
The array pulls water from dry air after dark, and the film now does what the site does, which is very little, slowly. Rafael's interview runs over the wide, not over a diagram.
02:10 to 03:26, the first liters
The tap scene that opened v2 sits here, and it finally earns its place. The drone shot from v3 is gone, because at this point the audience wants to be close to the glass.
03:26 to 04:12, first light
The tank reading comes up once, on a single card, at forty liters. Then the sun, and the road back. The end line is still yours to approve, and it is marked in the review link.
What changed since v3
You sent eleven notes in round one. We took nine as written and pushed back on two, and we say why below.
The opening moved
Your note at 00:04 asked where the site was. The road now answers it, and the founder intro moved to 00:48.
Temp score replaced
Ines Vega's first pass replaces the library cue. It stays sparse until 02:10, and the music license is cleared for the term you bought.
Forty-one seconds out
From 4:53 to 4:12. Most of it is the engineering explainer, which now lives in its own 60-second cut-down for your investor page.
Two notes we declined
We kept the silence at 00:12, and we did not add the efficiency chart. Both are yours to overrule, and both are flagged in the link.
How to review it
A film is judged badly in pieces, so please begin by not stopping it.
Watch it once, whole
On a real screen, with sound on, before you write anything. The pacing is the argument of this cut, and it disappears if you pause.
Leave notes on the frame
Comments in the cloud review link attach to the exact frame. A note with a timecode gets a precise answer, while a note in an email gets a call from us.
Send one voice back
Naledi gathers your team's comments and settles any that disagree. If two notes conflict, we will ask her which stands rather than guess.
We answer by Monday
Every note gets a reply by September 20: done, or not done and why. Then either the picture locks or we book the third round.
What is fixed, and what can still move
Locking is not the same as finishing. Here is where the line falls.
What is fixed after you sign
The order and length of every shot, the interviews and the runtime. Changing any of these after lock means reopening the conform, the grade and the mix, and the cost depends on how much has already been built. We would quote that before touching anything.
What can still move
On-screen text, including the end line. The sound balance. Color, within the look you approved in the grade test. Subtitles, in English and Spanish, are also reviewed after lock. A spelling correction is never a change order.
What a third round costs
Two rounds are in your contract, and this is the second. A third round is US$3,640, which covers two editor days and a new upload, and it moves delivery by four working days. That would land on October 18, one day before your summit, which we think is too close.
If legal or your investors have notes
Please route them to Naledi before September 17. The water figures on screen were checked against the pilot data you sent on August 30, and the 40-liter card cites that data. A claim changed after lock is a text change, unless the shot has to change with it.
Deliverables and usage
One 4:12 master in 16:9, one 60-second explainer, three 30-second cut-downs, and six 9:16 social cuts, plus 1:1 versions. Licensed worldwide for digital and events for 24 months from first publication. Rushes stay with us for 12 months and can be supplied for a fee.
From lock to delivery
Three weeks and a day, assuming picture locks on September 20. Your only review is the final check on October 4.
Picture lock
Online conform and shot cleanup
Color grade in DaVinci Resolve
Sound design, score and final mix
Your final check of text and subtitles
Cut-downs and platform exports
Delivery, a week before the summit
Sign by Friday, September 17
If you would rather spend the third round, tell us instead. It is a reasonable choice, and it costs US$3,640 and four working days.
Prepared by
Lucia Cordero Director, Cordero Haines Films
417 North Sixth Avenue Tucson, AZ 85705 lucia@corderohaines.com
For approval by
Naledi Brandt VP Communications, Dewline Water
Ben Haines has held Thursday, September 16 at 2 p.m. if you would like to watch it with him.
Lock the picture
By signing, you lock fine cut v4 of Forty Liters at 4:12 and approve the start of conform, grade and mix on September 21, 2027, for delivery on October 12. On-screen text and subtitles stay open until your final check on October 4.