What we measure, and what we refuse to invent

A finished film can look fine at a glance and still contain a detail that makes it feel unfinished. Nine checks the things that can be checked: whether the picture is complete, whether the layout holds together, whether the words are readable and whether the result follows the agreed direction.

Checks are there to support judgement

A check can catch a spacing problem, an unreadable title, a missing element or a version that has drifted from the approved direction. It cannot decide whether the film says the right thing for your audience. That still needs a person.

The useful rule is simple: a result should be based on something visible in the finished film. If a check cannot tell, it says that it cannot tell. A quiet answer is better than a confident number with nothing behind it.

Why nothing free carries a score

Nothing free carries a score, because the free part of Nine makes no film of your own: it plays Nine's own films in your colours, so you can see a direction. There is no reason to decorate a first look with a number that would suggest a decision has already been made.

A film of your own on a plan is different. When Nine writes it, eight judges each look at it for one thing, and then the Boss gives the whole film one score against a bar of nine. Under nine it goes back once to be made again, and if it still falls short you see its score with it. The important part is not the number. It is that you can see what the decision is based on.

What we refuse to invent

• We do not call a film finished because it played without an error.
• We do not turn a visual preference into a fake measurement.
• We do not hide an unanswered question behind a smooth score.
• We do not present Nine's own films in your colours as your film.

That is the whole discipline. Measure what can be measured, explain what still needs a person and leave the rest honest. If you want to see the direction first, look at your colours on Nine's films. If you want the whole process, read how it works.