Workprint

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A workprint copy of American Pie. Note the index timer below the video frame.

A workprint is a rough version of a motion picture, used by the film editor(s) during the editing process. Such copies generally contain original recorded sound that will later be re-dubbed, stock footage as placeholders for missing shots or special effects, and animation tests for in-production animated shots or sequences.

For most of the first century of filmmaking, workprints were done using second-generation prints from the original negatives. After the editor and director approved of the final edit of the workprint, the same edits were made to the negative. Modern-day workprints are often created on a Non-linear editing system using digitized footage from the original film or video sources; these early versions of films have sometimes been bootlegged and made available on the Internet.

There are also Director's Cut versions of films that are only available on bootleg; for example, the workprint version of Richard Williams' The Thief and the Cobbler. Although movie studios generally do not make full-length workprints readily available to the public, there are exceptions; for example, the "Work-In-Progress" version of Beauty and the Beast.

An initial release of Star Wars Episode 3: Revenge of the Sith (2005) was taken from a very late workprint. The release actually made it onto the internet before the movie hit theaters. Speculation was that someone inside Lucasfilm had leaked the film.