Pre production
Financing:
All films start with a moment of inspiration. Good ideas and story concepts are the foundation of any solid film project. Screenwriters usually have the initial idea or story but producers, who are in charge of raising money for a film project, frequently come up with ideas as well.Financing is crucial in films, it costs a lot of money to make a movie/ program. The cast and the crew need to be paid, the facilities need to be hired, equipment needs to be hired and props/ costumes must be put into consideration and clearances may need to be budgeted for soundtracks. You need to be careful to make sure you don’t over spend and to try and get deals on things. This refers to funding that is provided by a publically funded agency, from monies allocated via tax relief, the national lottery, or funded via grants provided to support the arts from the department of culture. The principal sources of public funding were the film tax relief (64%), the National Lottery (14%) and grant-in-aid (5%) from the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS). This refers to funding from investors- therefore the film production often has to be seen financially attractive. Examples include equity financing- having investors contribute money to the production in exchange for a percentage of ownership. A more phenomenon is crowdfunding which collects multiple small investments via private donations. Once the financing is in place, the production company hires the full cast and crew and detailed preparation for the shoot begins.
A distinction is made between above-the-line personnel (such as the director, the screenwriter and the producers) who began their involvement during the film project’s development stage, and the below-the-line “technical” crew involved only with the production stage.
Timescales:
The effective management of time is essential to a pre-production, Realistic schedules for production and post production must be accurately thought through. TV drama can be expensive to make and the timing of the different aspects needs to be carefully controlled. The American TV series Lost was a highprofile production that had over 250 people working on it, with each episode having a tight three-week production schedule. Tasks take time to complete. It could be a few minutes, hours, days and so on. For the sake of organization, tasks that only take a few hours still need a day. The principle reason being how the payment terms are defined in our industry. If you hire someone for a task, you pay a day-rate and ensure you get the best out of them. Even if you’re hiring a freelancer for a contractual period, it is highly unlikely the period will last for less than a day.Cast and crew will often have other commitments in their schedules – therefore planning must carefully consider when all the required components are available at any given time
Facilities:
A key element of pre-production is the consideration of what materials and equipment will be required in order to successfully produce the film.A space to small can create an undesirable working environment while a space to big will be a waste of money. In other industries, facilities can vary. Radio stations will need things like recording studios and mixers while television studios will need cameras and lighting equipment. Will all this, you will have to take into account the cost of all the facilities you need and incorporate it into your financial plan.
Materials:
In regards to materials, a plan needs to be created that outlines what materials you need and how you are going to get them. This includes who you will use to supply items which is important as it can affect the overall cost, so carefully choosing who you are going to use as a supplier is essential as you may be able to find better deals at other companies. You will also have to take into account the type of project you are developing so that you are able to identify the specific materials needed for your production. Researching your materials is an effective way to find some good deals and places where you can save money. The best example of this would be Sound Libraries where you can source free music and sounds. This will save money and time as you wont have to spend money on Foley artists creating sound or have to wait for them to actually make the sound. You would need to take many aspects into consideration like, Library and archive materials, Photo-library materials, Sound Library materials, Scripts, graphics, Interviews, sources.
Locations:
Location scouting is a vital process in the pre-production stage of filmmaking and commercial photography. Once a consensus on locations with the most potential is reached, arrangements are normally made for some of the heads of the other Production Departments to tour those location to confirm suitability. This tour is commonly called a "tech scout", "recce" or "go-see". During this time the Locations Department (most likely the Location Manager in situations requiring the most responsibility) will have contacted and begun negotiation with internal and external parties that may affect ability to film at the location. This is known as "clearing the location": investigating and confirming availability and fees to be paid to a location owner or agent, obtaining a certificate of insurance, obtaining any needed film permits. Also, there might be distribution of "resident letters" or "filming notifications". All health and safety concerns considered, the producers would have to make sure that the set is covered incase of any damage and also insurance incase any actors get injured.
Personnel:
The main responsibility of the Director is to come up with the overall vision for the documentary. This should largely be decided at the pre-production stage. It then requires the director to translate this vision into actual shot material. Casting directors have many meetings with the director and the producers to understand there requirements for the perfect actor.
Runner:
A runner is an entry-level position, the most junior role in the production department of a broadcast, film or video company.As a runner, you'll act as a general assistant, working under the direction of the producer and other production staff. This role offers the opportunity to gain vital experience and knowledge of the production process.
Codes of practice:
All filming projects must make sure they adhere closely to accepted codes of practice and follow any regulatory requirements. No filming* activity should take place until permissions have been granted by all the relevant parties. The production company must ensure that all those affected by filming have been consulted and informed of arrangements. Film-makers should ensure that location owners and adjacent property owners are kept fully informed of the intentions of the production company whether they are used for filming or not. given a reasonable site rental fee in accordance with the budget of the film. issued with an approved location contract which clearly states the terms agreed between themselves and the production company
Formats of pre production process:
When completing pre-production it is vital to follow industry accepted formats. Proposals are used as a basis with which to formulate ideas over a project, and then ultimately to ‘pitch’ the concept to prospective investors. Once this is complete a scriptcan be written.Prospective studios will not even read scripts that are not produced in this format.
Master scene script:
It offers a mix of description and dialogue to allow the reader to easily follow the story – the story is the most important thing, and as such technical information is very limited within MSS format. It is designed to offer a straightforward and accessible format for producers to show to investors. The first element is the scene heading - often called the slug line. All screenplays written in the master scene format are broken into individual scenes not cuts. Each scene heading is written in all caps and begins with INT or EXT for Interior or exterior. This is followed by the name of the location and a designation of day or night. The final element is the scene transition. This is a holdover from the continuity script days. These go on the far right of the script and explain the transition between scenes. Again, the purpose of this format is Readability so only include transitional elements when they are absolutely important to the story you’re trying to tell. The writing should be lean and visual, focusing on action that moves the story forward. Though concise, it should have enough flair to engage readers. Timingis a customary assumption in the movie industry that 1 page of screenplay equals 1 minute of time on screen.
Shooting scripts:
in broad terms, the main difference between the screenplay and the shooting script is that the screenplay is a selling tool, whereas the shooting script is a production tool. Techniques are included to help the crew shoot on set – these can include camera composition/movement, and editing. By the end of pre-production, the screenplay is usually finalized and satisfactory to all the financiers and other stakeholders. During pre-production, the script is broken down into individual scenes storyboards and all the locations, props, cast members, costumes, special effects and visual effects are identified.
Storyboarding:
Similar to a plot map used by archaeologists, a storyboard is the best way to illustrate staging positions and camera angles for talent and crew. The well-planned and -executed storyboard provides a visual reference for the director, cast and crew to use when planning each shot. The storyboard should include visual representations of each scene and even break the scene down into the important dramatic elements. It should also include floor and location diagrams that map out the actor and camera movements. These movements are called blocking.
Shooting schedule:
Your production shooting schedule is a living document. Developed by the 1st Assistant Director and producer during pre-production, the shooting schedule must accommodate changes in the shooting script, talent, locations, gear, as soon as they pop up.
The functions of pre production:
Scripts for example can go through multiple drafts and redrafts. It allows for collaboration and the weighing up of pros and cons to each idea. Pre-production. Pre-production is the process of fixing some of the elements involved in a film, play, or other performance. There are three parts in a production: pre-production, production, and post-production. Pre-production ends when the planning ends and the content starts being produced.
The purpose of pre-production:
preproduction cannot be summed up as simply answering the “how to” question. Instead, the primary purpose is to answer the more important questions of “what” and “why.” Proper preproduction communicates the purpose of the project to everyone involved and ensures they are all operating from the same playbook. Working on projects without preproduction would mean there is no navigation on who is doing what. It’s slow going and often painful. Without it, projects will lack a purpose and direction, ultimately ending in an incomplete video without a clear message. Preproduction is necessary for a project to come in on time and in budget. More importantly, this centralized focus on the key questions is crucial to creating a standard of excellence in your work and producing clear videos that communicate exactly what the client wants. A compliance audit is a comprehensive review of an organization's adherence to regulatory guidelines. Independent consultants evaluate the strength and thoroughness of compliance preparations. All decisions are based on public consultation and our Guidelines, which form a contract between the public, the film industry and the BBFC. They are updated every four years following a major public consultation. Effective pre-production and thorough and organized records allow sharing of information across relevant parties effectively, to ensure all involved are working together efficiently. Yet many people skip preproduction in order to save time and money. However, this almost always has the opposite effect with projects snowballing with troubles.In short, preproduction is so important because it provides the ideas you need to create a coherent final product of which everyone can be proud.
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