Pre-Production
Spencer Fox
Pre-production
• What are you making? (explain what you have been asked to do)
• I am creating three products all centred around an action thriller film. The
first product is the trailer for the film itself, the second is the poster for the
film and the third and final product is an interview with one of the
cast/crew that includes some behind-the-scenes content.
• Why? (What is the purpose of making your film trailer)
• The purpose for making the film trailer is to entertain the audience.
• Who is it for? (Audience)
• The audience mainly consists of 16-24 year olds of both genders. I believe
that males would be more likely to watch the trailer, which goes against
what my survey results say, however I feel this is because they survey does
not go into huge detail over the violence and action that I have planned for
the trailer.
• Where will it appear/on what? (How will audience see it)
• It will all appear on YouTube and social media (like Instagram) for the poster.
Reflection:
Pre-production: Poster Layout Plans
[Release Date]
1 2
These two layout plans for
the film poster are similar,
with only a few minor
changes, although if I were
to fully create both these
layouts with the actual
photos I plan on taking
they would look very
different, possibly even
featuring different images
that complemented the
layouts and contrasting
fonts. I personally prefer
the simpler layout,
number 2.
I prefer the second layout because it keeps all the cast and crew together and does not distract
from the title and the main image, splitting the story from reality and not compromising the
audience’s immersion into the story. I also prefer having the accompanying words (‘Fortune
Favours’) being at the top of the poster, as to not confuse the viewer into thinking that they are
part of the title. I also prefer the release date being on the smaller side, with the title remaining
large. Having more headroom for the image is also preferred, particularly if I merge screenshots
from the trailer with photos taken in the studio. (The colour scheme will be the same as the trailer)
Pre-production: Style Sheets These analogous colour schemes
and fonts are similar to what I would
like to employ when creating my
movie poster. I will use the same
website that I used to get the first
two colour schemes
(https://color.adobe.com/create) in
order to achieve the same colour
scheme throughout my own movie
poster so that it all fits together. I’m
also going to try and use a broader
version of the same colour scheme
for the trailer itself. That will be
more difficult, although I have some
degree of control over it thanks to
colouring in post.
My favourite font at the moment,
that I will use for both the trailer and
the poster, is TT Directors Thin. This
is because it fits the tone of my story
and also looks very sleek and fits
well on the poster.
(Not a shooting script,
just a screenplay)
Trailer Screenplay
Trailer Screenplay
Trailer Screenplay
To create this screenplay, I used the professional software, “Final Draft”, which is used by a vast
number of screenwriters within the industry. It allowed me to format the whole script in the
best way possible, each page being one minute of screen time. It also leaves room for me to
turn it into a shooting script, just by adding the shots into the document where needed, that I
can then keep on my iPad during the shoot itself.
This is only an early draft of the script, and is strangely laid out due to it being for a trailer, rather
than a full short film. Normally, when making a trailer, you’d have a full film already produced
and able to take clips from and certain sections from the screenplay.
Storyboard:
Shots 1-12
Storyboard:
Shots 13-24
Storyboard:
Shots 25-30
These storyboards are pretty good, despite my lack of talent making some of the shots’
perspectives being different to what I plan on actually shooting. They detail each and every
shot that I had in mind while writing the script, adding a visual element to the screenplay
itself. I will now make a shot list that will put all these shots into a list to get during
production.
Trailer/Interview Resources
Equipment/ Props/
Costume needed
Locations needed
Canon 1300D DSLR Camera Alleyways
Tascam DR-05 Audio Recorder Studio
Neewer LED Light Empty warehouse-like building
Tripod Front hall of house
Studio Lighting Armoury
Weaponry – handguns, rifles etc. Dark forest
Hoodies City streets
Suit, Shirt and Tie Garage
Mobile Phone Car
B camera
Lavalier Microphones (Lav/Lapel Mics)
Fake Blood
Briefcase
Shot List:
Using my screenplay and
storyboards, I developed
this shot list to assist the
shooting process during
the production stage. I
decided to organise it
primarily by location and
then by shot number. I
also added a description
of what the actors will be
doing in the shot.
From here onwards, all
locations are needed in
daylight.
Shot List:
Equipment Budget:
Resource required Price
Canon 1300D DSLR £299.99
Tascam DR-05 Sound Recorder £75.00
Neewer LED Photography Light £41.99
128GB SanDisk SD Card £23.41
Andoer Tripod Ball Head £29.99
Neewer Camera Slider £41.99
Neewer Lens Kit (UV, CPL, FLD and ND) £15.99
Ravelli Fluid Head Tripod £99.96
Neewer Handheld Stabiliser £54.49
RODE VideoMic GO Microphone £49.00
Studio Lighting £60.00
Lavalier Microphones £19.99
Total £811.80
Interview Questions:
1. What can we expect to see from your character in this film?
2. What was your favourite scene to shoot?
3. What was it like meeting your co-stars for the first time?
4. How would you describe the director?
5. Will this story turn into a franchise if successful enough?
Behind the Scenes clip/s
Location Recces:
These photos are for both the trailer, and the photoshoots for the promotional poster.
Urban Alleyways (1&2)
1.
2.
Open Courtyard
High Street
Location Recces:
These photos are for both the trailer, and the photoshoots for the promotional poster.
Train Station Train Interior
Garage Residential Street
(It’s going to be cleared out)
Call Sheets:
These encapsulate the 3 shooting days, including the on-set photoshoots.
Audio/Sound Effects/Soundtrack List:
SFX Required
Police sirens
Gun sounds: gunfire, hammer cocking back, magazine insertion
Punches landing
Footsteps running, walking
Trains
Train station ambience
City street ambience
Wild sound
Royalty free music (e.g. EpidemicSound.com or BenSound.com)
Visual/Special Effects List:
VFX Required
Muzzle Flash variants
Barrel smoke
Explosions
Dolly zoom (in-camera trick)
Editing Cut List:
Transport
Cuts Needed
Match cut
Flashback
Whip pans
Dissolves/fades to black
Smash Cut
Hard cuts
L&J Cuts
Cutting on action
As one of the first scenes in the trailer is shot in a train, the protagonist and I will get to
the first shooting location, the train station, via the train itself. From there, walking is a
viable option of getting to the different shooting locations.
As for the rest of the cast, they will need to get a bus into York’s town centre. From then
on, they will be able to meet up with the protagonist and I, before then walking to the
various shooting locations.
Release Form: I created this release form, for the
actors to complete, using Microsoft
Word and receiving influence from a
template I found online.
Poster Resources
Equipment/ Props/
Costume needed
Locations needed
Canon 1300D DSLR Camera Alleyways
Light Reflector Studio
Neewer LED Light Empty warehouse-like building
Tripod Front hall of house
Studio Lighting Armoury
Weaponry – handguns, rifles etc. Dark forest
Hoodies City streets
Shirt and Tie Garage
Cell Phone Car
Fake Blood
Poster Contingency Planning
Potential Issue Solution
Lost images Back up files/upload to the cloud
Damaged equipment Spare camera, tripod, lighting etc.
Insufficient lighting Bring own light source, i.e my dimmable
LED light.
Photoshop Failure Tutorials on the internet/college IT technicians
on hand to help
Model failing to appear Separate bookings for alternate days
Trailer/Interview Contingency Planning
Potential Issue Solution
Lost footage Backup save files
Studio booking failure Alternate studio booking
Broken equipment Spare cameras, sound recorders, tripods
etc.
Equipment batteries dying Spare batteries
Police being called during fight scenes Alerting 101 to our filming schedule
Location unavailability Multiple locations/shooting times available
for the same scenes with the ability for the
appropriate blocking out of the scene
Health and Safety/Risk Assessment
Potential Issue How will the issue be
avoided?
Injuries due to fight scenes Training in stage combat, martial arts and
camera trickery
Citizens/crowds getting in the way All dangerous fight scenes to be conducted
away from densely populated areas/streets.
Police will be informed of filming
Eye strain due to studio lighting/equipment
displays
Frequent breaks
Heat stroke Water breaks from action scenes etc.
Risk of being hit by train Staying far from the trains when they are
stopping and moving.
Falling onto train tracks Staying behind the yellow line indicated on
the platforms of the train station.
Production Schedule
Day/Lesson Tasks
Day 1 – second, third and fourth periods. Shooting day 1, shots 12-20 & 24-27.
Day 2 – third and fourth periods. Shooting day 2, shots 8-11 and photoshoot 1.
Day 3 – first and second periods. Shooting day 3, shots 1-7 & 21-23 and
photoshoot 2.
Day 4 – first and second periods. Footage organisation & sequence creation.
Day 5 – second, third and fourth periods. Edit session 1.
Day 6 – third and fourth periods. Edit session 2 – VFX creation.
Day 6 – First and second periods. Edit session 3 – colouring and exporting file.

4. pre production 2

  • 1.
  • 2.
    Pre-production • What areyou making? (explain what you have been asked to do) • I am creating three products all centred around an action thriller film. The first product is the trailer for the film itself, the second is the poster for the film and the third and final product is an interview with one of the cast/crew that includes some behind-the-scenes content. • Why? (What is the purpose of making your film trailer) • The purpose for making the film trailer is to entertain the audience. • Who is it for? (Audience) • The audience mainly consists of 16-24 year olds of both genders. I believe that males would be more likely to watch the trailer, which goes against what my survey results say, however I feel this is because they survey does not go into huge detail over the violence and action that I have planned for the trailer. • Where will it appear/on what? (How will audience see it) • It will all appear on YouTube and social media (like Instagram) for the poster. Reflection:
  • 3.
    Pre-production: Poster LayoutPlans [Release Date] 1 2 These two layout plans for the film poster are similar, with only a few minor changes, although if I were to fully create both these layouts with the actual photos I plan on taking they would look very different, possibly even featuring different images that complemented the layouts and contrasting fonts. I personally prefer the simpler layout, number 2. I prefer the second layout because it keeps all the cast and crew together and does not distract from the title and the main image, splitting the story from reality and not compromising the audience’s immersion into the story. I also prefer having the accompanying words (‘Fortune Favours’) being at the top of the poster, as to not confuse the viewer into thinking that they are part of the title. I also prefer the release date being on the smaller side, with the title remaining large. Having more headroom for the image is also preferred, particularly if I merge screenshots from the trailer with photos taken in the studio. (The colour scheme will be the same as the trailer)
  • 4.
    Pre-production: Style SheetsThese analogous colour schemes and fonts are similar to what I would like to employ when creating my movie poster. I will use the same website that I used to get the first two colour schemes (https://color.adobe.com/create) in order to achieve the same colour scheme throughout my own movie poster so that it all fits together. I’m also going to try and use a broader version of the same colour scheme for the trailer itself. That will be more difficult, although I have some degree of control over it thanks to colouring in post. My favourite font at the moment, that I will use for both the trailer and the poster, is TT Directors Thin. This is because it fits the tone of my story and also looks very sleek and fits well on the poster.
  • 5.
    (Not a shootingscript, just a screenplay) Trailer Screenplay
  • 6.
  • 7.
    Trailer Screenplay To createthis screenplay, I used the professional software, “Final Draft”, which is used by a vast number of screenwriters within the industry. It allowed me to format the whole script in the best way possible, each page being one minute of screen time. It also leaves room for me to turn it into a shooting script, just by adding the shots into the document where needed, that I can then keep on my iPad during the shoot itself. This is only an early draft of the script, and is strangely laid out due to it being for a trailer, rather than a full short film. Normally, when making a trailer, you’d have a full film already produced and able to take clips from and certain sections from the screenplay.
  • 8.
  • 9.
  • 10.
    Storyboard: Shots 25-30 These storyboardsare pretty good, despite my lack of talent making some of the shots’ perspectives being different to what I plan on actually shooting. They detail each and every shot that I had in mind while writing the script, adding a visual element to the screenplay itself. I will now make a shot list that will put all these shots into a list to get during production.
  • 11.
    Trailer/Interview Resources Equipment/ Props/ Costumeneeded Locations needed Canon 1300D DSLR Camera Alleyways Tascam DR-05 Audio Recorder Studio Neewer LED Light Empty warehouse-like building Tripod Front hall of house Studio Lighting Armoury Weaponry – handguns, rifles etc. Dark forest Hoodies City streets Suit, Shirt and Tie Garage Mobile Phone Car B camera Lavalier Microphones (Lav/Lapel Mics) Fake Blood Briefcase
  • 12.
    Shot List: Using myscreenplay and storyboards, I developed this shot list to assist the shooting process during the production stage. I decided to organise it primarily by location and then by shot number. I also added a description of what the actors will be doing in the shot. From here onwards, all locations are needed in daylight.
  • 13.
  • 14.
    Equipment Budget: Resource requiredPrice Canon 1300D DSLR £299.99 Tascam DR-05 Sound Recorder £75.00 Neewer LED Photography Light £41.99 128GB SanDisk SD Card £23.41 Andoer Tripod Ball Head £29.99 Neewer Camera Slider £41.99 Neewer Lens Kit (UV, CPL, FLD and ND) £15.99 Ravelli Fluid Head Tripod £99.96 Neewer Handheld Stabiliser £54.49 RODE VideoMic GO Microphone £49.00 Studio Lighting £60.00 Lavalier Microphones £19.99 Total £811.80
  • 15.
    Interview Questions: 1. Whatcan we expect to see from your character in this film? 2. What was your favourite scene to shoot? 3. What was it like meeting your co-stars for the first time? 4. How would you describe the director? 5. Will this story turn into a franchise if successful enough? Behind the Scenes clip/s
  • 16.
    Location Recces: These photosare for both the trailer, and the photoshoots for the promotional poster. Urban Alleyways (1&2) 1. 2. Open Courtyard High Street
  • 17.
    Location Recces: These photosare for both the trailer, and the photoshoots for the promotional poster. Train Station Train Interior Garage Residential Street (It’s going to be cleared out)
  • 18.
    Call Sheets: These encapsulatethe 3 shooting days, including the on-set photoshoots.
  • 19.
    Audio/Sound Effects/Soundtrack List: SFXRequired Police sirens Gun sounds: gunfire, hammer cocking back, magazine insertion Punches landing Footsteps running, walking Trains Train station ambience City street ambience Wild sound Royalty free music (e.g. EpidemicSound.com or BenSound.com) Visual/Special Effects List: VFX Required Muzzle Flash variants Barrel smoke Explosions Dolly zoom (in-camera trick)
  • 20.
    Editing Cut List: Transport CutsNeeded Match cut Flashback Whip pans Dissolves/fades to black Smash Cut Hard cuts L&J Cuts Cutting on action As one of the first scenes in the trailer is shot in a train, the protagonist and I will get to the first shooting location, the train station, via the train itself. From there, walking is a viable option of getting to the different shooting locations. As for the rest of the cast, they will need to get a bus into York’s town centre. From then on, they will be able to meet up with the protagonist and I, before then walking to the various shooting locations.
  • 21.
    Release Form: Icreated this release form, for the actors to complete, using Microsoft Word and receiving influence from a template I found online.
  • 22.
    Poster Resources Equipment/ Props/ Costumeneeded Locations needed Canon 1300D DSLR Camera Alleyways Light Reflector Studio Neewer LED Light Empty warehouse-like building Tripod Front hall of house Studio Lighting Armoury Weaponry – handguns, rifles etc. Dark forest Hoodies City streets Shirt and Tie Garage Cell Phone Car Fake Blood
  • 23.
    Poster Contingency Planning PotentialIssue Solution Lost images Back up files/upload to the cloud Damaged equipment Spare camera, tripod, lighting etc. Insufficient lighting Bring own light source, i.e my dimmable LED light. Photoshop Failure Tutorials on the internet/college IT technicians on hand to help Model failing to appear Separate bookings for alternate days
  • 24.
    Trailer/Interview Contingency Planning PotentialIssue Solution Lost footage Backup save files Studio booking failure Alternate studio booking Broken equipment Spare cameras, sound recorders, tripods etc. Equipment batteries dying Spare batteries Police being called during fight scenes Alerting 101 to our filming schedule Location unavailability Multiple locations/shooting times available for the same scenes with the ability for the appropriate blocking out of the scene
  • 25.
    Health and Safety/RiskAssessment Potential Issue How will the issue be avoided? Injuries due to fight scenes Training in stage combat, martial arts and camera trickery Citizens/crowds getting in the way All dangerous fight scenes to be conducted away from densely populated areas/streets. Police will be informed of filming Eye strain due to studio lighting/equipment displays Frequent breaks Heat stroke Water breaks from action scenes etc. Risk of being hit by train Staying far from the trains when they are stopping and moving. Falling onto train tracks Staying behind the yellow line indicated on the platforms of the train station.
  • 26.
    Production Schedule Day/Lesson Tasks Day1 – second, third and fourth periods. Shooting day 1, shots 12-20 & 24-27. Day 2 – third and fourth periods. Shooting day 2, shots 8-11 and photoshoot 1. Day 3 – first and second periods. Shooting day 3, shots 1-7 & 21-23 and photoshoot 2. Day 4 – first and second periods. Footage organisation & sequence creation. Day 5 – second, third and fourth periods. Edit session 1. Day 6 – third and fourth periods. Edit session 2 – VFX creation. Day 6 – First and second periods. Edit session 3 – colouring and exporting file.

Editor's Notes

  • #4 Use this space to document whatever pre-production work you did for your project. It will vary from person to person and project to project.
  • #5 Use this space to document whatever pre-production work you did for your project. It will vary from person to person and project to project.
  • #6 Use this space to document whatever pre-production work you did for your project. It will vary from person to person and project to project.
  • #7 Use this space to document whatever pre-production work you did for your project. It will vary from person to person and project to project.
  • #8 Use this space to document whatever pre-production work you did for your project. It will vary from person to person and project to project.
  • #9 Use this space to document whatever pre-production work you did for your project. It will vary from person to person and project to project.
  • #10 Use this space to document whatever pre-production work you did for your project. It will vary from person to person and project to project.
  • #11 Use this space to document whatever pre-production work you did for your project. It will vary from person to person and project to project.
  • #13 Use this space to document whatever pre-production work you did for your project. It will vary from person to person and project to project.
  • #14 Use this space to document whatever pre-production work you did for your project. It will vary from person to person and project to project.
  • #15 Use this space to document whatever pre-production work you did for your project. It will vary from person to person and project to project.
  • #16 Use this space to document whatever pre-production work you did for your project. It will vary from person to person and project to project.
  • #17 Use this space to document whatever pre-production work you did for your project. It will vary from person to person and project to project.
  • #18 Use this space to document whatever pre-production work you did for your project. It will vary from person to person and project to project.
  • #19 Use this space to document whatever pre-production work you did for your project. It will vary from person to person and project to project.