requirements for production

 

Pre-Production Process

 

Type of moving Image Production

Me and my group worked together and made a 90 second short film for the DepicT! Film competition. The production was a 4-week process to finish the whole thing. 2 weeks were spent on filming and another 2 weeks for editing the final product.

There are multiple different forms of moving image media products out there besides what me and my group made. Some of these are listed below:

·         Animation - a method by which still figures are manipulated to appear as moving images.

·         Television Shows - any content produced for viewing on a television set

·         Featured Films - a narrative film with a running time long enough to be considered the principal or sole presentation in a commercial entertainment Shows

·         Series - a set or sequence of related television or radio Shows.

There are multiple ways to distribute moving images, some are listed as follows:

·         Cinema - a theatre where films are shown for the public.

·         Television - a system for converting visual images (with sound) into electrical signals, transmitting them by radio or other means, and displaying them electronically on a screen. Some UK television channels examples include British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), ITV, Channel 4, and many more.

·         Streaming Services - an on demand online entertainment source for TV shows, movies and other streaming media such as Netflix and Disney plus.

Case Study of a media product

Ready Player One is a featured length film and first premier in cinemas on March 11, 2018, in Austin Texas at the Paramount Theatre. It was later released on Blu-ray, and DVD on July 24, 2018.

Case study of a film that got crowd funding

The Babadook is about Sam, a young boy, who is convinced of a monster's presence in his home, due to certain disturbing visions. His erratic behaviour concerns his single mother, Amelia, who spirals into a state of paranoia. The film raised a little over $30,000 through crowdfunding to add in and polish the special effects before release.

 

 

 Finance and sources of Funding

When making a moving image production funds are needed. There are different ways to gain this money. Some being:

·         Grants - a sum of money given by a government or other organization for a particular purpose. Examples include BFI Film Fund, Screen Scotland, Northern Ireland Screen Fund, and morew

·         British Film Institute - a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves filmmaking and television in the United Kingdom

·         Producer - a person responsible for the financial and managerial aspects of the making of a film or broadcast or for staging a play, opera, etc. Examples of UK film producers are Tim Bevan, Tony Scott, and Emma Thomas.

·         Private Investors - a person or company that invests their own money into a company, with the goal of helping that company succeed and getting a return on their investment.

·         Advertisement - a notice or announcement in a public medium promoting a product, service, or event or publicizing a job vacancy.

·         Sponsors - a person or organization that pays for or contributes to the costs involved in staging a sporting or artistic event in return for advertising.

·         Crowd Funding - fund (a project or venture) by raising money from many people who each contribute a relatively small amount, typically via the internet. Examples such as Kickstarter, GoFundMe, LendingClub, Indiegogo

Requirements

The money made must be spent on something, and there is an extensive list of those different things. That list is as follows:

·         Cast – the production may need actors

·         Crew – there is so many behind the scenes jobs and those people need to be paid to work

·         Location – if it is a rented space or a business then money will need to be spent in order to use that space.

·         Transport – getting cast, crew, and equipment might be difficult depending on where the filming location is so transport is necessary

·         Catering – if people are busy working and acting, they need to keep up substances to work efficiently

·         Props – anything that is needed in the actual filming shots

·         Equipment – such as cameras, lights, microphones, etc.

·         Special effects – in editing some special effects might be needed to enhance the viewing experience.

·         Make up – actors could need make up to look better on camera or for the roles they are playing

·         Stunt doubles – we wouldn’t want actors to get injured in the middle of filming and this could put the whole project behind schedule, therefore a stunt double will be needed for any dangerous shots in the moving image production.

For my groups project the only requirements we needed for the project were cast which consisted of George Kidd, Ellie Buchan, and Dave Higgins. Before they could all be in the film, they needed to sign a talent release which is a simple legal document that is designed to prevent you from getting sued for the unauthorized use of someone's image or voice. We also needed crew which was me and another classmate. We needed equipment which we borrowed from our college. We also needed a location to film, and we used our college building and had our teacher sign a location release. A signed location release shows that you're allowed to be where you are, and that the location can be featured in a finished video.

 

Personnel

Different levels of films will need different levels of personnel, this including the ‘talent’, crew, and anyone else who works on the project.

·         Low budget films have less staff because they do not have room in the budget for more. So low budget films would have only the essential staff such as cast, director, producer, editor, cinematographer. Multiple examples of these roles can be taken on by one person which can potentially save money on budget.

·         Television Shows may have a bigger budget but could also require more shots than a film, depending on how long the show runs for. The essential staff for a production like this include

-          Casting director/ Director

-          Costume designer

-          Writer

-          Producer

-          Cast

-          Editor

-          Set designer

·         Hollywood feature films typically have a budget of between $50 million and $100 million so they have a good lean way with the budget so they can afford any staff they need but the typical staff amount is 500 people to work on one film.

There were a few roles needed to create my groups film and we allocated them quite fairly. Lucie was the cinematographer because she wanted to take up this role and she has some experience with a camera because she is a photography student. George was the composer for our project because he has experience in that area. He also played the lead of the film as he was most suitable for that role. I was the editor as I have almost 7 years of video editing experience and it is a huge passion of mine. I also took up the role of director as it seemed like the group needed guidance and I just happen to take up the role. We also had Dave Higgins and Ellie Buchan play the judges because they appeared the most suitable.

I have listed a few different roles in media production but there’s still more roles in front of and behind the camera. Some are listed below but there are many more.

-          Extras

-          Presenters

-          Witness

-          Specialists

-          Health and safety advisors

-          Location manager

-          Make-up artists

-          Stunt coordinator

 

Time

Media productions are always given a timeframe for when to have the project finished by, and my groups was no exception to this rule. My group was given 6 weeks for this project, and we worked well with this limited time. We were given 2 weeks to plan the project which was helpful as many people in the group had different ideas, so we used the time to discuss ideas, pick ideas, plan how to accomplish the ideas, and many other things to discuss in the planning stage. We were given 2 weeks for filming, but we only needed 4 hours to get all the shots we needed but we did this over 2 weeks.  We also had 2 weeks for all the editing which was exactly as much time as we needed. I edited all the clips together exactly as we originally planned but then other members of the group had new ideas as I was editing such as visual effects, so having this much time gave us enough room to get the original ideas made as well as any extra ideas thought of along the way.

Even though my group and I met the timeline this doesn’t always happen in bigger productions, and this never goes unnoticed. If a project falls behind this means it can throw the whole schedule out of place. If it’s because of one person a production falls behind that person is typically fired and it can potentially hugely affect their reputation. An example of a film production falling behind schedule is Jaws (1975). It began as a 55-day shoot overran to a worrying 159 days. The crew was worried that a young Steven Spielberg was out of his depth, and they kept asking him when the production was finished. Although Jaws’ planned budget swelled from $4 million to $9 million, Universal quickly forgave Spielberg after it made most of its money back on the first weekend, nut this isn’t always the case and going over budget is very risky in media productions.

 

Equipment/Facilities

Different media productions can need different equipment. There is a list below of potential required equipment.

-          Video Camera

-          Tripod

-          Camera light

-          Three-Point lighting kit

-          Shotgun microphone

-          Boom pole

-          Shock mount

-          Audio (XLR) cables

-          Wireless microphone

-          Portable digital audio recorder

-          Headphones

-          Light reflector

-          Camera lenses

-          3-4 extra batteries

-          Memory cards

-          External hard drive

-          Bag to carry the equipment

-          Shoulder mount rig

In professional moving image productions, the equipment is typically gained from facility houses which can have a range of costs depending on how much equipment you get and how high the quality is.

 For my groups project we used a video camera, a tripod, camera light, and a go pro camera. We gained the equipment from our college’s collection of film equipment located in Skills.

 

Location

For my groups project we filmed in our college’s cinema room. We obtained this by gaining permission from our teacher. We had our teacher sign a location release, so we had a legal document proving permission to use the facilities of the cinema room.

We chose the cinema room because it was the most like an auditorium which is exactly what we imaged as our setting.

We a discussed what issues we may face when using the cinema room and after said discussion we created a risk assessment.

Risk assessment - https://eastnorfolk.sharepoint.com/:w:/s/Section_13914-Audition/EQSihUPwq0NIhlUN821SjrgBZKnCloTYQHIpqXzBYXr3fQ?e=H9WB9e

 

Materials

Equipment isn’t the only thing needed to make a moving image. For example, research is very important. If you are making a documentary, you may need witness reports or sources from when or where the story is based. Alternatively, if you are making a science fiction film but you want it to be scientifically accurate then you may consult a specialist.

Another type of material used could be songs, however if you use one that has a copyright then that could bring legal matters into it.

Financially if you use a song with copyright, you need permission from whoever owns the song, if you don’t then you may be sued.

 

Legal issues

If you use certain copyright materials in media productions, then you must get permission to use so and if you do not it could potentially result in a lawsuit.

 Copy right is the exclusive and assignable legal right, given to the originator for a fixed number of years, to print, publish, perform, film, or record literary, artistic, or musical material.

Copyright didn’t affect my groups project. We did use music in the film, but we had it composed by another member of our group.

Clearance – Full permission from the producer after other permissions are gained

Public Liability Insurance - if an accident happens during production public liability insurance pays for any of the legal expenses

Completion guarantee - A completion guarantee is a guarantee to the financiers of a film that the film will be completed in accordance with the approved screenplay and budget and delivered by a certain date

 

Regulation

Regulatory body - A Regulatory Body is an ORGANISATION. A Regulatory Body is appointed by the Government to establish national standards for qualifications and to ensure consistent compliance with them.

OFCOM - The Office of Communications, commonly known as Ofcom, is the government-approved regulatory and competition authority for the broadcasting, telecommunications and postal industries of the United Kingdom.

The Royal Charter is the constitutional basis for the BBC. It sets out the public purposes of the BBC, guarantees its independence, and outlines the duties of the Trust and the Executive Board. This is different to OFCOM as the royal charter sets out what the BBC purpose is, but OFCOM regulates what's suitable for them to do.

Trade Unions and Trade Associations

A trade union is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", such as attaining better wages and benefits, improving working conditions, improving safety standards, establishing complaint procedures, developing rules governing status of employees and protecting the integrity of their trade through the increased bargaining power wielded by solidarity among workers.

PACT/BECTU - Scripted TV Agreement covering all key working terms and conditions for crew engaged on independent UK drama and comedy production and a guide drawn up in collaboration with our reps.

A trade association, also known as an industry trade group, business association, sector association or industry body, is an organization founded and funded by businesses that operate in a specific industry.