Pre-production involves planning all elements of a film before shooting begins. It can take weeks or years and includes creating budgets, schedules, scripts, storyboards, securing locations and financing, and ensuring all legal and safety requirements are met. Thorough pre-production documentation is crucial to stay organized, manage risks, and ensure the film can be completed on time and on budget.

1. Pre-production
Pre production is the process of all the elements involved
before the performance of the film.

2. Purpose of pre production
• The purpose of pre production is to organise everything so
that you are ready to shoot your film
• There are many stages to pre production and it can take from
a number of weeks to a number of years.There are so many
stages you have to go through to be prepared to start
filming.
• Pre production is such a crucial stage because it ensures the
whole crew is organised and aware of the plan
• There are many other aspects aside from planning the film
that are also vital to keep track on, such as failures, injuries,
risks, technology issues and money.
• For example, the film ‘Frozen’ took 4 years to go through the
pre production phase

3. Requirements for a short film
• There are many requirements you have to undertake in order to succeed in the
pre production phase of a short film.
• For example: shot lists, location recce are very important, these ensure that your
timings all add up.A budget is also important as this ensures you are financially
on track.
• To ensure you are on track during the pre-production phase, using the narrative
genre conventions would be helpful, this will help with narrowing down your film
to particular lighting, sound affects, camera movement, characters, settings,
dialogue and etc that the audience would like to see within your certain genre.
For example, if you are planning to do a horror, it would be efficient to base your
setting in an abandoned house as that is the traditional style for that genre.
• In evaluation, I believe this is a very important and helpful step as it guarantees
that the audience will be pleased and that the crew are on track too.

4. Sources of finance
• Private finance:There are different types of private finance, for example crowd funding
which is raising small amount of money from large amount of people, this is usually done
over the internet, an example of this is Kick starter. This is very accessible and efficient.
https://www.kickstarter.com/ .
• Public finance:This is done through institutions, for example the BFI, this is a charitable
organisation, they work with lottery funds.This is very efficient as it helps and supports
films that are unlikely to be fully financed by the market.
• Joint financing:This is two sourcing coming together to finance a film, this is positive as it
benefits both investors.
• Studios: if you have presented your idea in an effective manner to a studio, they may help
with funding your film.This is extremely beneficial as they will advertise your film, most
likely creating more money, for you and them.
• Self financing: self financing is directly from the producers.This is an easy way of
financing if they can afford it, but it is also very risky as they have no insurance if the film
does not go to plan.

5. Requirements of finance
• When financing a film, the most important part is considering the budget. It is
often underestimated as there are so much equipment which is required, for
example: cameras, lighting, sound effects, hiring actors, microphones, sound
system, technology and a lot more.The crew will also need to be looked after as
some films may even take years to create or even just for the pre-production
phase, they may even need to accommodate as parts of the crew may be from
other parts of the world.
• Budgets are so important because each department and everybody involved
within the film will stay on track.
• Some feature films cost from $100 - $150 million. For example the film
‘Annabelle’ costed $6.5 million to create.
• In evaluation, the budget has such a large impact on the film as it keeps
everything organised and ensures that you will be able to afford everything, the
larger the budget the better the quality of the film too as you can invest in higher
quality equipment, for example, microphones and camera. However, not every
company will have the facilities to have a large budget.

6. Logistics - time
Time management within the pre-production stage is
crucial.This involves deadlines, availability of equipment,
availability of personnel, time scales and dead lines.
Schedules are extremely important as it will help you
shoot your scenes in accordance to the location. It will
help promise a date and quantities, it helps to calculate
the production times so that everything can be done
efficiently. Some problems may occur when the company
does not meet the dead lines as they will fall behind with
everything, this is why scheduling is so important to stay
organised. Examples of what to include in the schedule
would be a shot list, it makes the process a lot smoother.

7. Facilities: In pre-production you need lots of different types of
equipment. For example, camera and lighting, sound, laboratories,
sound stages and lo there is equipment you need but also a place to
keep everything .The cost of all of these aspects will need to be added
to the budget.This will impact the pre production process as it means
less money can be spent on aspects within the film, there are lots of
other hidden costs which will mean having a larger budget.This
requires a lot of planning because there are so many features that you
would not usually think about that need to be payed for and equipped
for.
Locations: A location recce is vital within the pre production phase.
This involves making sure the locations needed are accessible at
certain times and the logistics of using them within your filming
schedule and thinking about any risks and precautions necessary. This
is very important within this phase so that you can make sure the
locations are suitable to film and assessing any risks so that they don’t
appear on the filming day, this will save a lot of time and it is very
efficient.

8. Personnel: I believe this is one of the most important part of pre production;
the casting and the crew. If the crew and cast aren’t compatible with each
other it will make the whole process difficult as there will be a poor sense of
team work which is crucial when making a film. Everyone has different roles
within making a film and their roles are important to stick to so everything is
done efficiently.
Materials: there are many different materials essential in the production of a
film. For example, photo libraries, sound libraries, internet, asset5s, audio,
scripts, music sources, costs and many more. For each aspect you need to think
about how you will get it. For example, if you need a certain prop, will you buy
one or will your team have to make one. If you need a certain sound effect,
how will you create the right noise.All of these necessities need to be thought
about.You also need to take copy right into consideration and get permission
off the original company who created the certain product; copy right is very
strict. For example if somebody has used a certain tattoo design off a celebrity,
they will have to ask the tattoo designer if they will allow the film to use the
same one, you will receive a clearance agreement this lowers the risk of getting
sued.There are many precautions you have to take when considering the
materials used within a film.

9. Adherence to codes of practice and regulation
Clearance: clearances are so important with copyright as it takes away the risk of getting
sued. An example of a clearance between two companies is Star wars and Galactica, they
agreed they would not use certain effects including laser streaks from their guns, but they still
did mean9ing that their company was sued.This is taken very seriously within film.This is so
important as it can take a massive effect on your budget if you get sued and may not be able
to afford certain aspects in your film. Copy right is illegal.
BBFC: this is an organisation who pout rating on films to censor them, when creating a film it
is essential top research the regulations for each age category. If you have a certain target
market for your film you must do the research first. For example, if a film is classed as 18
rated, you must evaluate the amount of sexual or graphic scenes, violence and swear words. A
lot of films have had to cut things out their films to fit the certain age range .
Trade unions: Producer's Alliance for Cinema and television and the BECTU are trade unions.
These organisations assure the rights of the crew are intact.To avoid these unions slating your
production team and mistreating your film, you should research the regulations first to assure
you are treating your team with the correct regulations and rights.

10. Presentation
Introduction: Screen plays are so important because it is the
blue print for the whole film.This will organise the process
as everything is included: dialogue, setting, locations,
characters, actions etc, these will all be in one place in
chronological order.This helps the filmmakers capture the
character’s style and actions in the correct way. Screen plays
are also the best cost predictors.
Layout and format: the standard your screen play must be in
to be accepted within the industry, the structure, layout and
even down to the measurements are so important.There
are correct measurements for the margins, there must be
around 55 lines per page and 1 page should be around 1
minutes worth of film (approximately).The characters all
must be in capital letters.The pages must all be numbered.
There are many other rules which should be researched into
before handing in a screen play to the film company, they
will just turn it down if they see it is in the wrong format
before even reading it.
I believe this is an essential part of pre production as it
makes your film come together. It is important to be in the
correct format as it sets a good example of your crew to the
film companies and they will take you more seriously if it is
up to their standards.

11. Scenes: A part of the film where the act is based, the specific time and location. If either
of these change, it is classed as a new scene.
Slug lines: Headings to each scene.They will state whether the location is inside or
outside and whether it is day or night and the specific location of the scene.
Scenes description: Any language used to describe the scene, this is written with a text
editor.
Character cues:These are before any dialogue stating who is speaking.They are always
written in capital letters.
Dialogue: Speech from any of the characters, this is written in the center column.
Partentheses:This is a mini scene description within the dialogue, this will describe the
characters intentions, emotion and tone, the way the characters deliver their actions
and dialogue.

12. Story boards
Story boards are helpful along with the screen play
as it helps to visually organise and plan your film,
including different camera shots and facial
expressions etc.These are no way near as strict as
the industry is with screen plays, the filmmakers
can make story boards to fit them so they can
follow them efficiently. I believe storyboards are
useful, but not vital ,it depends on the filmmaker’s
preferences, they are not as accurate as screen
plays, they just give them a better idea of how the
film will come together. For example, Christopher
Nolan does not use story boards within his films.

13. Functions
Revising and discounting ideas: Ideas are bound to change from the original ideas as creators,
producers and directors are constantly tweaking their work and trying to improve things.There
will be many different script drafts as sometimes when you put a film into practice, it works
better with different aspects. For example you could later on find out that low-key lighting fits
the mood better than high-key lighting and you would have to edit the plan.This could change
your budget as there could be aspects that need changing that will cost more or less money
than before.This is why rehearsals are so important as the directors and the rest of the crew
can decide what fits best in each part of the film.
Visualising content: Illustrators will join your crew and help to make story boards and put your
film visually together.This will have to be added to the budget as you would have to pay them
but I personally think this is worth it as it prevents a lot of risk when shooting certain shots and
scenes as they are specialised n the visual area.
Establishing feasibility: you may later on find out that some parts of your plan are unrealistic
when put into practice. For example, some camera shots may not physically fit or a character
may not be able to perform certain actions.You will need to seek advice from somebody
specified in this topic.

14. Purpose of pre production documentation
Documenting pre production is crucial as it regulates the whole process of the film, the
filmmakers will have content to follow throughout and it will eliminate any risk and help
them stick to the budget.This is so important as films can get very complicated. It makes
it easier to meet any standards and requirements set by the industries. Changes are
constantly being made and this allows the crew to keep up to date and make efficient
changes.There will always be a record kept of any injuries, failures, sickness technology
issues and financial issues.This will all be documented for future references. The pre
production documentation is also legal proof of how the film was created and how the
income was made to prevent them believing your company are committing fraud.