budget

1. Unit 4 – Pre-Production Lauren Whyte
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Learning Aim A – Understand the requirements of pre-production of a digital media product
Costs of Production – Budget Plan
When making a production, a filmmaker / producer must consider their budget and therefore
make a budgeting plan. A budgeting plan is made to calculate the deductions that will occur
throughout the pre-production, production and post-production. By creating a budgeting
plan this will help them to organise and secure their finances. As a result of this, no time is
wasted during the actual production, as everything has been thought through in advance.
When a budgeting plan is created, it is split into four sections. These sections include: above
the line, below the line, post-production and other expenses.
Above the Line
Above the line includes the costs of things such as crew, talent, producers and directors. All
of these things require a large amount of profit as a result of the complexity of their work,
alongside their working conditions and their hours. However, the pay that is given to the
creative talent may vary depending on who created the idea to make the movie production
and how big the producer / film maker wants the production to be. For example, if they’re a
professional filmmaker/director, then they can produce their own movies. As a result, they
will gain their own profit. On the other hand, if there is a writer or a filmmaker that is trying
to work on a big production, but the director is not capable of producing high quality work,
there may need to be a professional and high profiled director hired instead. This can cost
around $20 000 (£15,140) per week. If the production is taking approximately 6 months to
make, then this would take away £480,000 of the production’s earnings. On the other hand,
a lot of high profiled directors will tend to charge even more. For example, during the
production of Spider-Man 2, the budget for the movie was $200 million, therefore indicating
that it is a big scale movie. As a result, the fees for the creative crew are going to be higher,
in order for revenue to be higher than deductions. The earning for the producers of Spider-
Man 2 were around $15 million, and for the director around $10 million. When considering
the payday of the cast, the figure is generally around $30 million. The cast included the likes
of Tobey Maguire who earned around $17 million for the sequel. Kirsten Dunst earned
considerably less ataround $5-6 million. Then, Alfred Molina earned around $3 million, as did
the rest of the cast. Furthermore, the cast earn the highest amount of money out of all
creative talent because they are the ones who generate the money for the movie. Therefore,
in order to maintain a good reputation for the movie, it pays for the characters to be well-
known in Hollywood, so that it not only attracts the people that are interested in the movie
but also the people that are fans of the particular actors. As a result, this therefore adds extra
earnings for the film.
Bellow the Line
Bellow the line includes crew wages, production design, live sets, studio costs, costumes,
catering, accommodation, transportation, travel, hotel stay, etc. Most of the time the cost of
the production depends on the size,the type of movie and the amount of castinvolved. When
considering the below the line costs of Spider-Man 2, the production cost were around $45
million due to the locations being detailed and the inclusion of dangerous action, requiring
there to be green screens involved. As a result, this meant they had to purchase extra

2. Unit 4 – Pre-Production Lauren Whyte
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equipment for the camera as well as equipment that could safely allow actors to perform any
of their dangerous movements.
Post-Production
Post-production involves editing, visual effects and music. When considering post-
production, this means all of the production happens when the cameras stop rolling. Even
though post-production might seem to be the cheapest part of production, as it doesn’t
require any additional equipment and locations, the visual effects and editing takes up the
most time and effort. This is because it is what brings the movie together and turn empty
gaps into action. Out of all of these elements that post-production involves, visual effects are
by far the most expensive due to the gear and technology that is required, the number of
crew members and the detail and length of the work. For example, most of the things that
can be seen in Spider-Man 2 are made with either special effects or green screen, which
ended up costing around $65 million, due to the production being a visually packed movie.
However, the downside to visual effects would be time consuming they are, as each time a
film company requires a visual effect that has never been used before, it takes careful
research and testing on how to produce it effectively. In terms of music, also depending on
the genre and the purpose of the movie, the cost can vary between $300 000 and $5 million.
For example, during Spider-Man 2, due to the heroic nature of the movie, the audience tend
to hear a lot of exaggerated orchestra instrumentals to emphasise and exaggerate the mood
or actions of the characters. As a result of this, the production team spent $5 million in order
to allow the use of copyright music.
Pre-production and Post-production Fees
Besides all of the pre-production, production and post-production costs, there are other
elements that need to be taken into consideration when creating a production. Examples of
this can include the likes of insurance, story rights or screenplay. Furthermore, it is important
to understand whether your cast of actors are part of a union or not. Cast members that are
not part of a union may be easier to work with and speed up the process of filming. Members
who are part of a union can slow down the production if they do not feel they are being
treated correctly, for example, if they feel they are being underpaid or their health and safety
is not being considered enough. Additionally, depending on the type of movie that is being
produced, it may have previously been created or inspired by a boo. As this was the case for
Spider-Man 2, this would require a lot of time and paperwork, whilst also costing a lot of
money to purchase the copyright to the story, which is approximately $10 million. Spider-
Man 2 was based on a book, so the company had to pay around $20 million for the story right
whilst also paying another $10 million for the screenplay.