2. Financing
When it comes to films, financing plays a huge part in the making of the movie. This is because films need quite a lot of funding for example
a Hollywood movie costs around 90 – 200 million to make. Low budget movies can also cost anywhere from 2 thousand to 100 thousand
these movies can be funded in two different way these being private funding and public funding. You will also need to keep in mind that you
need to pay the cast and crew members this will take up a fair bit of the budget. The cost of the crew will also vary depending on how
important the roles were. You also need to hire out facilities to shoot the video which will cost quite a lot depending on how big the facility
is. Other costs which which will need to be took into consideration will be the equipment which would need to be purchased or hired this
would be things such as cameras microphones etc. You would also need to purchase props for your movie these would all vary depending
on what type of movie is getting made. You also need to consider how you will transport all of your actors, props and equipment to the next
locations. This will all take up a lot of the budget. You may also have to purchase soundtracks which will be used in the movie if they are
copyrighted.
Private financing: The movie ”No Country For Old Men” and “True Grit” which were directed by the Oscar winning directors
The Coen Brothers Their first film “Blood Simple” had struggled to raise $750,000 this film had been invested in by 65
private investors this included entrepreneurs, doctors and smaller business owners with the majority of them investing
around $5,000 - $10,000. This film then went on to make just under $4,000,000 when it was released into the box office
3. Timescale
Time management is a huge factor in pre production as you need to make sure that everything has a set time to be finished by for
example you need to make sure that locations are scouted before you start filming so that you know where about’s you are going
on the day of filming. You also need to keep in mind that the actors who are starring in your movie may have other commitments
which you will have to work around for example jobs this means that your will have to find days when all of the cast are free. You
also need to make sure that equipment which are needed to shoot the movie are available for the days which you need this
means that you must book you equipment ahead of time for the days which you need. You also must make sure that you create
realistic schedules for the production as going past the deadline can affect the budget as you would have to pay the cast and crew
extra and you would also need to pay extra for the traveling to possibly extra locations or previous locations and equipment you
would have to hire them for longer which would affect your budget. Another reason to why you must have realistic shooting
schedules would be because the editors would have to create more time to edit the movie. Realistic schedules also must be put in
place so that you don’t have you cast and crew working too much.
For example in Jaws The movie was mostly set out at sea this had caused delays in the movie production schedule due to
members of the cast and crew becoming sick there had also been delays due to the cameras as they were getting too et because
of the sea and their would start to malfunction and certain shots could not be retook for hours. The director of the Jaws
(Spielberg) he also went on to estimate that an average of 4 hours were spent shooting the movie on a 12 hour work day. The
movie had been originally scheduled to take 55 days to film but the director didn’t take into consideration that with it being shot
at sea that people would start to get ill and also that weather could be poor meaning that they couldn’t film. The film was
eventually shot after 159 days this meant that it went 104 days over schedule which meant that it went extremely over budget.
This could have also ended Spielberg's career before it had even started however it went on to gross over 400 million worldwide
the budget had been estimated at around 7 million.
4. Facilities
One of the key elements of the movie pre production would be considering what equipment and materials will
be needed in order to produce your movie successfully. You will also need to consider where you will get your
equipment from for example will you buy it or will you hire it you also need to think about what days you will
need this equipment for and they may need to be booked for that certain day this is also why a shooting
schedule is required so that you know what days you will be filming. This equipment also may need to be
booked for example certain cameras, lenses or even microphones. You also need to consider what props are
needed for certain scenes and where they need to be ass well as this you need to consider what costumes will
be needed at that given time. You also need to think about what equipment is needed for post production for
example editing software's such as Sony Vegas and premier pro and also access to Foley tracks and the use of
specialist effects software
5. Locations
Locutions play a huge part in the production of a movie this means that a successful pre production require all
locations to be fully scouted, researched and considered prior to the production this includes identification and
recce forms this is actual location scouting and is important to meet potential contributors and assess locations. You
also must consider the limitations to the site for example distance as you don’t want to be travelling huge distances
to each location and you also need to think about you cast and crew members and how they will get to the locations
getting access to the locations also need to be took into consideration as depending on the location it could be shut
and you also may need to email the owners to discuss getting access to the site after hours. You also need to
consider how much it would cost to hire out the venue as well as this. When it comes to locations for pre production
you usually have a location scout who will find appropriate locations where you can shoot the movie. Health and
safety may also be an issue when it comes to locations as especially outdoor locations their may be things which
could possibly harm you or others
6. Personnel
When it comes to what type of movie is being made you may need different types of crew for example if you are filming
a action movie you may need stunt crews for example if you are going to include dangerous stunts you will need a stun
crew to complete them stunts as they are experienced where as regular cast members may not have that experience
meaning that they could end up severely injured. A medical crew may also need to be at the shooting location in case
one of the stunts go wrong and one of the crew members get injured when doing stunts etc. You may also need a
double body for the main actors in case there is a a stunt or a scene which that actor is unable to star in this means that
the audience will believe that it is just the regular actor. You may also need a costume/dressing crew which will gather
the costumes and makeup etc that will be needed to create the characters outfits and do makeup for the characters.
7. Additional Materials
There is quite a lot of additional materials which must be considered during the pre production of a movie for example a
draft of the script must be provided for the producers and also the cast so that the producer and the actors know what
the film is going to be about a script also must be provided so that the actors know what their parts are and so that
when it comes to shooting the movie the cast know what they need to you also need to provide a storyboard so that
your cast have a brief idea of how the shots are going to be setup before you actually go to the locations to shoot .
Another thing that needs to be considered is what the scenes are going to look like for example will their be any props
and if so where will they be placed this also means that you must have the props before the time of filming. Another
thing which may need to be considered depending on the genre of the movie would be special effects for example in a
sci fi movie you usually see special effects meaning that you need to consider using them if needed. You also need to
make sure that you go to important loctations when you have all of you cast with you this will prevent going to the same
spots multiple times.
8. Codes of practice and regulations
Making sure that you follow health and safety procedures is important in the production of a movie for example you
need to make sure that all of the locations where you will be filming are safe and there are nothing that could
seriously injure one of your cast members. It is also important the company's who produce the movie have insurance
this is in case a cast member gets seriously injured or even in some severe cases die. In a severe case during the
production of the 2013 GI Joe movie a cast member named Michael Huber was crushed to death and was
pronounced dead on scene which meant that the producers had to pay the family of the deceased the insurance
money to pay for funeral expenses etc. Another important feature of pre production would be making sure that you
have the rights for any copyrighted material which will be used during the movie this is to avaid any legal
complications with the original company as their would be a big possibility that you would get sued which would
overall cost more money than getting the rights to the song. You also would need medical staff and support staff to
help out in case something was to go wrong on set
9. 2 The formats of pre production process
The proposal
A proposal is a visual representation of your vision on what it will look like as a end product this would include the plot
of the story and the characters who will be in the movie. The proposal will outline an estimate on how long the movie
production would take and would also give an estimate on how much the movie would cost. The proposal would also
be shown to possible investors which will help them decide if they believe it is worth investing in meaning that a good
proposal is needed to entice investors and convince them that the movie would turn a profit. You could also take your
proposal to a director who could help with the investment of the movie if they see potential
10. Scripting master scene script
A master scene script is standard for a film production. This is a an industry standard script because it is rather
straight forward and is easily accessible. This is used to show investors. This makes it easier for you to visualise it and
also could be read much like a story and makes it easier for people to understand what is going to happen however
along with master scene scripts come some conventions which means that the font of the text must be courier and
also must be size 12 which makes the text neater and easier to read you also must include footers at the bottom of
the page. If a master scene script is written clearly and shows what the story of the movie is about then you may
have a higher chance of investors investing into the movie
11. Shooting script
A shooting script would include things such as what camera angle each shot will have which
would save time if you know what you are doing straight away the shooting script would also tell
you what characters are going to be in that shot and where the characters are going to be
positioned this makes the production of the movie a lot easier and quicker. These scripts can
often have more detail than a master script but can be difficult to understand especially if you
don’t fully understand the purpose of the movie meaning that they are noty shown to investors
12. Storyboard
A storyboard is a very useful aspect of pre production this is because you can use the images which you drew
down and make it into a scene in the movie it will also help out a lot with filming the scenes because you will
already have a brief idea on how you are going to shoot that scene for example you will know what camera angle
you will use and you will also know how you are going to set up the shot props and where the characters will be it
also helps for you to visualise the scene before you actually film it. Storyboards also help you pick up on potential
problems before they actually occur which will overall save time
13. Shooting schedule
A shooting schedule is made to plan out the scenes before hand which therefore makes it easier to shoot when in
production it also makes creates a more organised environment when it comes to production because you already
know what is going to be done. A shooting schedule needs to include where you are going to film meaning that all
location scouting must be done before hand it also needs to include what times you are going to be on set and on
what day the also means that you must arrange when certain facilities are free especially if you are filming on
somebody else's property. You also must include what actors and what members are going to be there on that day
to help produce the movie. Shooting schedules are used to help the director undersand what scenes need to be
shot first as certain actors may only be available for a certain period of time meaning that you need to prioritise
scenes with them actors involved. A shooting schedule is also used for locations as during the period of time you
are shooting at that location you will need to film each scene which need to be shot in that set period of time to
avoid having to return to that location weeks after which could cause problems especially if shooting on private
property because you may not be aloud access back to that location which could cause a lot of disruptions in the
production.
14. Other paperwork
Other paperwork is required such as a location release which verifies your ability to go onto private property and shoot
your movie this is used to avoid any possible misunderstandings with owners of the property or possibly security. Locations
scouting forms also need paperwork to show that the scout has collected all relevant information about locations before
you start production this is to shot that the scout has made the producers aware of potential health and safety hazards
before you start production. You also need to make sure that you fill out risk assessment forms which must be done to
make everyone aware of all the potential risks which may occur at the locations this is done to make sure everybody is safe
when producing the movie. Another form which must be completed would be the the copyright papers this is to verify that
you have the ability to use copyrighted tracks throughout the movie this must be done to prove that the owner of that
track has aloowed you to use them these must be filled to avaid any possible lawsuits which may follow the use of them
tracks
15. The functions of pre production
The functions of the pre production is very important because you will receive script feedback from the director
which will give you some time to work on the feedback and improve the script for example you will have time to add
extra scenes In which could help with the storyline you could also remove certain scenes from the sscript if they do
not meet the directors requirements aswell as this you can also take time to add to existing scenes to make them suit
the storyline more. Aswell as this storyboards will help for you to visualise the scenes before you actually shoot them
this will give you a better idea of what you actually want the scenes to look like during production. Another function
which is needed during pre production would be location scouting forms these are importand because you need to
make sure that you find the right location which will fit along with the storyline you also need to make sure that you
verify the ability to access the site and also that you have considered all possible health and risk hazards. Shooing
schedules are also important to pre production because you will more than likely have a deadline for when the
production needs to conclude this helps to make sure that you are organised and that you all know what needs to be
done it also helps if you have limited time on private property because you will be on a tighter schedule meaning
that you need to make sure that everything what needs to be shot at that location is shot. It is also important so that
you don’t go over you time limit which would cost more money.
16. The purpose of pre production
As well as playing a rather huge part in the success of a product pre production has a practical purpose which relates to
legal and ethical responsibility. One of the main reasons why pre production is used is to make sure that the right codes
of practice are used within the movie and to make sure that everything is legal and that it follows each law and regulation
which control the movie industry. Health and safety is something which requires legal consideration for example you
need to make sure that each and every cast member is working in a rather safe environment and that they have
extremely low chance of being severely injured as well as this movies have insurances just to make sure that if anybody
does get injured on set then they will be covered for the treatment etc. You also need to make sure that you are not using
copyrighted materials as this too has a legal interface because if you do not get the rights to use the music etc. from the
creator/owner then their would be a rather huge chanc that you would get sued by there production company which
eveidentely a lawsuit would more than likely cost a lot more money in a legal battle than It would to get the permissions
to use that track. You may also need to acquire filming permissions which would be dealt with by your legal teams if you
wanted to film in a specific area which would usually be crowded for example a town centre which means that they
would need to get the permissions to use that location from the owners of that property. This also means that you would
need to make sure that you are orgarganised as they may get a very limited time to actually shoot as the property would
have to be closed meaning that you would need all of your cast and crew ready to start shooting as soon as possible to fit
into the given timeframe. As well as this you would have to make sure that you avoid getting pedestrians in the
background of your shots as you would have to get that persons consent to use them in the footage. There is also legal
actions which happen when a actor signs a contract to star in the film meaning that they can not leak any information
about the movie to anybody unless they are given the authority to do so. The BBFC is a regulator for UK film and videos
which provide age ratings to film material. The BBFC have the legal powers to provide age ratings to movie and can also
cut and reject work if they believe that it isn’t suitable. Each decision that they make are based on public consultation
and have the target audience in mind.
