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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: sources and requirements of finance, logistics of
time, facilities, locations, personnel, materials, clearance, BBFC, trade unions, presentation,
screen play, story boards and functions.All these processes come together to make the pre
production phase. It can take from a number of weeks to a number of years.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. Anime
films always take a lot longer to create rather than films with actors. However, this film took
especially long because of the pre production phase and how many assessments, trials,
redrafts, story boards etc they had to create.
• Pre production is important to the success of production because it allows you to adjust a
clear budget before you start to film and helps to eliminate future financial and time and
reality problems throughout. It gives a much higher likelihood of success. It like the
foundation of a building.The film ‘Avatar’ for example, was in the pre production phase for
many years which is one of the main reasons as to how it became such a successful
blockbuster.
• To evaluate, pre production is such a crucial stage because it ensures the whole crew are
organised and aware of the plan, the film would not flow without each stage of pre
production. Some of the consequences are that you could go over your budget if you do not
plan efficiently. For example, if the equipment breaks and you have not planned a back up, if
any of the cast call in sick, if the locations are not available and there are many more
consequences which I will speak about in more detail. Pre production will ensure that any
consequences have back ups or different resolutions. Benjamin Franklin stated that “if you
fail to plan, you are planning to fail”, which summarises the importance of each step of pre
production.

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 are crucial because is gives guidance whilst filming and will help to create you filming schedule. It also
gives a guide on what shots are needed and helps with other stages of production, like location recces because
some shots may not be efficient in certain locations.
• Location recce’s are also very important because this allows you to gain permission from the location owner
whether it be on private property or asking the land lord for example. Location recces can get very complicated as
you have to ensure you have permission, enough space, if the weather will be suitable at that certain time, etc.
these are all precautions you need to take to avoid things going wrong in the production process. For example, if it
is raining on the day of filing where it will not fit with your film, you will already know where to go and what to do to
resolve this as you will have back up locations provided.
• Budgets are also a crucial requirement in the pre production phase as every step costs money and when you have
the budget adjusted and planned out with excess if things go wrong, it will be a lot easier when you come across
financial obstacles during the production phase. I will be speaking more about the budget later on in more detail.
• 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/ .This is a platform for creative projects, it allows the
company to set a funding goal, if they stick to this, kick starter will bring it to life. Successful films that have used kick
starter are: Kung Fury,The Babadook and White Reindeer.
• 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.To
access funding from the BFI, your film must have a bold vision and creative excellence, these are usually smaller films
which are less likely to be financed by the market place.They state that to use their funding, you must demonstrate
commitment, inclusion and meet their criteria. Not everybody can access BFI funding, they only invest in 15-20 projects
per year. If the film you are requesting to be funded has an excess of £2m, they will not review it as they are on a
budget. They say that there must be at least a writer, a director and a producer. If you cannot get BFI finance there are
alternative public financing companies such as creative Europe desk UK, Film London, iFeatures and etc.
• 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.This is the source I will use to fund my
production for my assignment.This is the easiest way to provide income for a film when the production is on a small
sale and you can afford it, the only thing I need to pay for will be my SD card, costumes and a few props, the camera
and lighting and locations are payed for by the college, this will need to be thought about if not as the equipment is
extremely expensive if it is not provided by your institution.
• The importance of finance is very high as most parts of production and pre production cost money therefore without
organising a budget and where it will be spent, the film may not work and will be extremely unorganised. In evaluation,
I believe this is the most important step of pre production as it is like the glue, nothing will work without these sources
of finance. So many aspects of production will affect your finances, such as: schedules (you will have to calculate the
travelling from different location, hiring places to film, different equipment at certain times, etc), crew illness (if
somebody in your crew or cast is sick you must opt for a substitute, there are any complications with this but with the
planning of pre production and external sources of finance this will be resolved, usually this will be private funding).

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.
• If you cannot keep to the budget you may have to use different sources of finances to the ones you
have planned, you may have to resort to private funding in the worse case scenario.There are so many
consequences that could happen that you need to budget on.To put it in a scenario, if a piece of
equipment fails or breaks, your budget will cover this as you will have planned to have some excess in
case things go wrong.This is why planning a budget is vital, because if you hadn’t in this scenario, you
would have had to take money from elsewhere, which could have put you at risk in another area. For
example you may have to take the money which you would have spent on costumes and you would
not be able to afford the costumes anymore. A budget however, organises all the funds and ensures
there is enough for what you need, and room for any mistakes.

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.
To evaluate, time management is considered in every part of pre production, there is often a time
limit on each stage and managing the time properly will allow the pre production and eventually the
production phase to run a lot smoother.
In scenario, if the main character is ill and a substitute is not an option because you have already
filmed half of your film, time management will allow you to reschedule without getting too behind
because you will have planned for any mistakes and you will have another time to film and something
to fill the space. Aspects of pre production that would help in this area would be risk assessments,
they prevent risks from occurring during production, shot lists, they give you a guide to follow to save
time during production, location recces, they allow you to gain permission and see whether each
location is suitable to avoid disappointment on the day. All areas of pre production help with time
management in their own different ways.
Here is an image of a production schedule which is vital during pre production to ensure time
management is on track.

7. Facilities:
In pre-production you need lots of different types of equipment.
For example, camera and lighting (you need to do lighting tests and checks and record them to
set the mood of your film , you can have warm or cool tones or different colours to sit with the
mis en scene) , sound (you also need to do sound checks in pre production so you know what
environment to be in during production , whether it matters about background noise etc) ,
laboratories (it is a legal requirement to have labourites which are accessible for the cast and
crew during production, this may seem like a small aspect but it needs to be considered during
pre-production in case your are filming in a deserted location you will need to purchase porta
toilets which will affect you budget), sound stages and 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.
To evaluate, facilities within the pre production process are physically crucial because they
allow the film to physically come together.The facilities are clearly important because without
these physical objects the film will not come together.There are consequences however, if you
cannot access all of the equipment, you will need to plan this in your budget a the equipment is
very expensive but also very important and the production phase would not work without it.
With my production project, I am lucky enough to have these provided by my college. For
example, they have cameras we can use, lighting and studios are also provided. If you are a
small company, this is going to be more difficult as you will have to purchase al of the
equipment from scratch, however different sources of finance can help you out if you apply to
them, for example the BFI.The key recommended equipment recommended is a tripod, lenses,
colour chart, key light, accent light, c-stand, shotgun mic, audio recorder and a camera. These
are just the basic equipment which are necessary.

8. 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. Within a
location recce, permission is gained, you asses how the weather will
affect you location, any background noises in the location, whether
it is in a public place and if we need to be careful of who and what
gets in the shot, test shots need to take place so they you can
evaluate which shots will be the most efficient in the particular
location, lighting, a back up location, safety issues and which time
of day would be the most efficient to film in.
• 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. For example, in the film ‘Waterworld’, due to the
cost of transporting extras from land to shooting locations in the
middle of the sea, a large number of watercrafts breaking down,
and an expensive set floating away, a lot went wrong with their pre
production.This is why a location recce is so important so you can
prevent risks like these from happening.They should have maybe
filmed in a lake rather than a sea for example which they would
have discovered using a location recce.

9. Personnel: I believe this is one of the most important part of pre production; the casting
(selecting the specific actor, dancer, singer or extra to fir the role in the best way possible)
and the crew (producers, production managers, directors, assistants, etc). 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. This could affect other
aspects of pre production such as casting, the shot list and many more because if they cannot
agree and work together using teamwork and co-operative skills it will be difficult to plan
effectively. In evaluation I believe everyone has different roles within making a film and their
roles are important to stick to so everything is done efficiently. Different members of the
crew and the cast will complete different parts of pre production. For example, the creator
will create the story board as they have the visual idea of the film.The camera operator will
help with the shot assessments, everybody has allocated roles which helps with time
management as each step of pre production will be completed efficiently by somebody who
focusses in that specific field.
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. For example, in the film the
hangover part 2, MikeTyson’s tattoo artist sued the film makers because they copied his
tattoo without permission. I believe that there are many precautions you have to take when
considering the materials used within a film therefore to evaluate this is vital.This impacts
the rest of production because if something as large as this cuts into your budget you will not
be able to afford other necessities during production.You should include this in your risk
assessment and be very cautious.

10. 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.
Necessary clearances include sets, actors, extras, music, art, posters, books, computer programs, photos and many more.
BBFC: this is an organisation who put ratings on films to censor them, when creating a film it is essential to 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 .This is vital as it allows everybody to choose age appropriate films. If the BBFC cuts this
could cause a lot of disappointment especially towards the audience especially of those with young children. If a violent or graphic film
is not classified under an 18 plus category and a parent allows their child to watch it, it could mentally harm the child and give the film
and company a bad reputation.
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.These rights include bargaining better pay and
conditions for workers, improving the quality of public services, political campaigning and industrial action. If your company infringes
these rights, they have the right to “contract out” of a paying contribution.
These aspects are vital to consider as there are many legal requirements within the production of a film if these are jeopardised, there
will be a bad reputation on your company’s name, you may be fined and this will cut into your budget.This is why it is so important to
consider these thouroughly so you can prevent anything like copy right or being sued.

11. 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.
To assess this stage, 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.

12. 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.
The screen play allows the first stage of the film coming together to occur, it puts all the ideas
into chronological order and is one of the first steps of pre production to provide a basic idea. In
evaluation I believe this is a crucial step; as it is used from the very start to the very end of
creating a film.

13. 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.
Storyboards are not the most important you can create
a film without one. However ,to evaluate, it helps bring
the film to life visually and may help the producer but in
my opinion it depends on the producer’s working style,
they may not need a story board but it will help along
the way.

14. 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. In evaluation,
this is why rehearsals, revising and discounting ideas 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 in the visual area.To asses, it will make the process a lot more efficient and a lot
easier if the producers can visualise the content as it brings the film to life and they may realise what
works better or worse together as aspects can look very different in their thoughts or in written form.
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. In
evaluation, this will help a lot as it will help you encounter problems earlier on when they are easier
to change, rather than on the day of filming when it will be a lot more difficult.

15. Purpose of pre production documentation
To asses the importance of documenting pre production, I believe it 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.
For example, in a scenario where you have to film on water, it would be more efficient to film it on a lake rather than the sea to
prevent being affected by a storm, this will affect the budget as you will have to pay for any damage and it will also affect a lot of
other aspects like time logistics and you will have to complete a more detailed risk assessment and location recce. Another
example of something that could go wrong would be if a crucial actor became seriously ill half way through filming. Pre
production would come in to place here as you need to think of back ups before hand which will prevent damage from this
happening in the future.
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.