The Pre-production process

So what is pre-production?

Pre-production is the process of planning prior to any sort of production effort towards the proposed media product.We were given an assignment based on the DepicT 90 second short film competition which anyone can enter. we were placed in small groups of three and had to decide among our group who would tackle each element of the pre-production process. The finished product was distributed on YouTube and we have the opportunity to submit it also to the DepicT competition next year. The competition itself allows literally anyone to upload (almost) anything that they produce so long as it fits within the boundaries of 90 seconds.

What types of motion picture media products are there?

Animation - A synthesized motion picture, created by multiple static frames relaying one over the other, usual frame rates are: 24, 25, 30 and 60. Formats of animation include GIF's, flip books and digital video. Animation is commonly used in advertising, children's film/ T.V and also in sci-fi. Examples include: Peppa pig, Transformers, Ice Age.
Feature length film- A film that is over 40 minutes in length is considered by: the academy of motion picture arts and sciences, American film institute and also the British film institute to be a Feature length film, however the Screen Actors Guild state that a feature length film is 80 minutes and over. A feature film tends to be based on a single subject. Examples include: Reservoir dogs, District 9, Pathfinder. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feature_film)
Short film- A piece of film that is 40 minutes or less in length, again tending to be based on a single subject. Examples include: Kiwi, Piano, 10 Minutes. (all available on YouTube)
Factual- Based on true information and footage usually in the form of a documentary with a presenter, used to inform its audience of history as well as current events through film and dialogue. Examples include: Life (David Attenborough), BBC News, World at War.
Fictional- Made up information and situations used to entertain their audience through film and dialogue, used in T.V and film and subsequently cinema, animation. Examples include: Spider man, Eastenders, Resident evil.
T.V- T.V is an output for nearly every type of motion picture media, through advertisement, fiction, DVD, films, documentaries. Most households own at least one T.V so it is a readily available platform therefore is extremely successful.
Advertisement- A company use of media in order to promote and sell products, most commonly through T.V and the internet. Examples include: compare the market/meerkat, McDonald's, Toyota.
Trailers- Trailers are essentially adverts but are restricted in the product. The two types of trailers are for feature films and also for video games. Trailers are advertised on within the media product itself, for example a film trailer in the cinema. Examples include: any film released to cinema.
Festivals- A cult gathering of film fans, the type of films promoted at these events vary from small company productions to big Hollywood epics, the genre is also varied. Examples include: Norwich film festival, Cambridge film festival, Aesthetica short film competition (York)
Cinema- A pay per view screening of the latest blockbuster films, usually with a screen large in size and accompanied by loud surround sound, typical price of a ticket is £7.50 although you can pay up to £10 for an advanced IMAX 3D ticket. Examples include ODEON, Cineworld, Hollywood.
DVD/Blu ray- 6-9 months after a film is released at the cinema it is removed from the box office and put on sale in the format of DVD (Digital Versatile Disk) pricing is around £12-£15 depending on how big the film was. Straight to DVD is when either the film isn't deemed good enough for cinemas or if it is a low budget film. documentaries and T.V series can also be purchased via DVD and are usually released after the documentary/series has finished airing on T.V. Blu ray disks are just a higher quality format of picture and sound and require a Blu Ray player and a HDTV to be viewed, both Blu ray players and disks are substantially more expensive than DVD. Examples include: Futurism, Kill Bill, Frozen Planet.
Streams- Through the use of services such as Netflix it is possible to watch certain series and films directly from the internet without the need for a player or payment (minus the subscription fees of course) and is quickly growing in popularity. Examples include: Love Film, Netflix, Blink Box
Pirating- As with anything, films can be downloaded through illegal means known as pirating, not with a peg leg, eye-patch and swashbuckling but instead through certain websites that allow you to download anything free of charge, this hurts developers and producers financially and at one point only 1% of all music in Asia was payed for and owned legitimately. Examples include: Bad websites that you shouldn't use.



(There is the potential for the types to merge into one, for example the family film Ice Age is both an animation and a feature length film, it was also at one point shown in cinemas and is now available on DVD.)

Finance

Sources of finance

Crowd funding: through the use of websites such as kickstarter.com film producers can put forward a project which if anyone particularly likes the sound/look of it they can decide to pledge a custom amount of money towards it in order to fund the production.

Self funded: production either completely or partially funded by the producer and possibly other cast+crew, usually a production completed by a group of unpaid individuals looking to make something from virtually nothing.

Bank: Studios can look to banks for investment via loans and sometimes producers will go as far as getting another mortgage if they have complete faith in the production. Good for large amounts of money relatively quickly (if approved)

British Film Industry: A select few proposed film ideas may be eligible for funding by the British Film Industry or their associates, should the product appear as successful and hold a viable return of the money invested.

Lotto: If you could consider your film to be a 'good cause' then you can simply apply to the national lottery funding scheme which allows you to be funded up to an amount of £500,000 and in special cases even more, the production needs to be seen as an educational and beneficial piece of media.

Expenditure.

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Equipment: Cameras, Lighting, Lenses, Tracks, Cranes, Power, Microphones

Cast & Crew: Talent, Cameramen, Technicians, Editors, Caterers

Costume: Designers, Manufacturers, Fitters, Make-up

Props: Vehicles, Weapons, Armour, Wallets, Watches

Outsourcing: Composer, Stunt Performers, Editors

Software: Editing Software, Photoshop, Adobe

Locations: Public, Private, Protected, Studios

Permissions: Cast, Police, Owner, Extras

Transport: Flights, Trains, Taxis



For our project we needed a couple of props, camera, SD card, permissions/releases, software (adobe), iMac. which isn't a huge amount of equipment and we chose these as it was only a simple project and the equipment was readily available to students such as ourselves.

Teams

A low budget sort usually consists of: A low budget team would consist of minimal cast and crew to keep costs at a low, the cast and crew tend to be completely unpaid (other than any revenue generated by the production) and are usually in a group of friends before the opportunity to film arisen, or they are amateur actors looking for something to put on their portfolios/CV. Also there is use of multiple roles being played at the same time for example in one instance the cameraman may be needed as talent infront of the camera.

A T.V program usually consists of: A large amount of cast in order for multiple plot lines and varied stories to prevent the audience from becoming bored due to stale material. There would be a moderate sized crew as there are multiple roles that need to be fulfilled behind camera and off set.

A Hollywood film usually consists of: A Hollywood film would have a relatively small cast in order for the audience to connect and empathize with them as people in order to make the production seem more believable and emotional. There would however be a large amount of extras to play as villains, civilians, police etc. The crew would be huge because of the highly demanding nature of the production requires many jobs to be taken in order for things to run as smooth as possible as to not overrun on time and budget.


In our group we just decided amongst ourselves who was comfortable doing each thing that we needed done and got on with it, we did each have some basic and some extensive prior experience and knowledge of our roles within our group whether that was acting or editing.

Time

For especially big productions there must be assurance that the deadlines will be met, if these are not met within a substantial timeframe then there will be multiple reprocussions. Examples would be: mass expenditure, absence of talent and ultimatly, your reputation.

Our time frame was a few weeks and we met all required deadlines, if however we were working in a professional media production and didn't manage to meet the deadlines then many problems could occur, for instance say a high profile actor had another job lined up for after his current job and we overran on time production would either need to be put on hold for the current job or postponed on the other job, either way money is the biggest factor.



What is needed and how is it obtained?

Equipment: Every big production needs the best quality in its equipment and studio and not everything is at their disposable, not to say its not close so long as you have the money for it. Camera and facility hire is a very expensive process should you rent the best of the best. If you wanted a 4K resolution camera for hire then you would be looking at a cost of £101.00 daily and that's after you pay for the deposit of £1,250.00 and you can be expecting to be shooting for weeks perhaps even months so that's well over £2000 just for the camera. (http://www.hireacamera.com/camcorders/detail.asp?model=772)


The equipment we had at our disposal was fairly limited we had HD camcorders, tripods, SLR's editing suites, £5 college funding for props etc, iMacs. If we needed any of this equipment we were required to borrow from the media office from Dave, we had to sign our name to them so if damage or loss of the equipment occurred we would be liable for the cost of repair/replacement.

Locations

In order to find the best location for a production it is required that you do a location recce followed by a location release.


A location recce is essentially a scouting mission to find multiple locations that suit the needs of your production, recorded via pictures and a written report.


Location releases are basically the permissions granted by the owner, whether they be the personal owner or say an area council member that allow you to do the things in your proposed project, should you divert from your original plans and damage occurs then you are liable to be charged with the replacement and/or compensation towards the locations owner/s.



For our production we picked the media room and the corridor outside because they suited our needs well as we needed access to computer/desk space, on top of this they were spacious enough for our shot requirements. Our logistical issues and risks were minimal if existent at all, one productive issue though was because of the choice of the media room there was a fair amount of fellow students present in the room so our overall efficiency as a team diminished somewhat, an example of this was me laughing multiple times in one particular scene as I was distracted by the other students looking and listening.

Materials

Materials types that may be required for a production include:

Glass-work: Used mainly in action scenes in order to add depth and realism to destruction, also used to create realistic building sets which can be accompanied by a green screen to simulate a real window. Glass-work is expensive if using real glass and even fake glass has a reasonably high price tag, but it depends on the role and size of the glass-work as a whole. It comes in many forms whether it be car windows, bottles of alcohol or even standard windows. When using real glass there is significant room for hazards such as cuts but in action scenes false glass is used to prevent harm.
Brickwork: Used universally whether in action scenes for demolition or in soap operas to create realistic building façades for streets etc, brick isn't diverse in its forms but is pretty much a staple of any urban based setting, because of this the pricing on brickwork tends to be based on the size of the construction and for a professional job you are looking at a lot of money. Brickwork does come with some risks which include collapsing and also as its a hard surface there is the potential to fall and hit your head hard which could cause bleeding and concussion.
Woodwork: Used for a huge variety of things such as: 2D sets, scenary, weapons. Wood is a very diverse material to work with and so is used extensively throughout media. Mostly cheap to purchase, wood is readily available for a moderate fee, if you want it fashioned into something specific then you will have to pay good money if you wish for the perfect finish. The risks are fairly low but as with any hard object there is room for damage to occur.
Metalwork : Used in relatively high budget productions for nearly any application, metalwork can be used to create swords, amours, shields, guns. Metalwork can also be applied in a much larger scale to create futuristic environments etc. The dangers with metalwork vary on its application but common hazards include, cuts, stabs and general bludgeoning.

Contributors 

Contributors are essentially people that are usually away from the film set and are working on off scene elements of the production. Many of the contributors will be outsourced and not be a permanant member of the company itself. Contributors include the editors, soundtrack composers and also funders/promoters. As every element of a production contributors are just as vital to the success of the product as the actors themselves.

Legal issues

Copyright: The term given to the protection of produced media productions whether they be musical or literary that prevents anyone without proper authorization from plagurising said production. If someone were to copy copyrighted software etc then they will be liable for royalties of infringed product, fines and/or imprisonment should a court case come to fruition.


In our production copyright had no affect upon us as our soundtrack was composed by Louie and all footage and written work was original in nature and so forth no legal issues actually occurred.

Definitions:

Clearance: All parts of the production have been thoroughly checked for any instances of copyright infringement and after the all clear is given, the production gets its very own copyright without any need for a registration as it is a unregistered right that takes effect as soon as the production is made, after a period of 70 years after the publisher passes away the copyright on all original work of theirs is no longer copyrighted.

Public Liability Insurance: While filming in and around public space there is potential for the locals to be subject to harm and so for big productions in public areas it is highly recommended that the producer/director takes a PLI quote, should a member of the public be harmed then the insurance will cover the majority of the costs.

Completion guarantee/insurance: An agreement settled between the finances or the production and the producers. The agreement is a statement from the producer that says should the deadline of the film not be missed significantly then the guarantor has a decision to make. It isn't conducted in the same way as regular insurance, instead if difficulties arise then then the guarantor must make a decision as to either scrap the film and repay the finances or find a solution to complete and deliver the film to its intended audience.

Regulation

What is a regulatory body and what is its function?

A regulative body is responsible for the creation and upholding of rules and laws for the benefit of the public, also known as administrative law. Regularly set up to make sure standards and safety are of an optimal and efficient level, other functions of a regulative body are keeping an eye on commerce and public trade usage. Examples include: OFcom, OFstead, TRAI and also U.S Food and Drug Administration.

Examples of regulatory bodies in media:

OFCOM: OFCOM (Office of Communications) is a type of regulative body that specializes in the authority regarding: Broadcasting, Telecommunications and also Postal industries within the U.K. The role of OFCOM is to keep the standards and interests of citizens and consumers represented in a professional and high quality manor, this is achieved via the removal of tasteless and potentially harmful content from public view.

BBC: The BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation) differs from most forms of media platforms in the U.K because not only is it not managed by OFCOM but instead it is managed by its own internal branch know as the BBC Trust. This means they have dedicated control over themselves allowing them to publish and prevent publishing whatever they wish. There is major controversy surrounding the BBC trust, being labelled as an unnecessary platform which in 2010 cost just over £10.5million. The trust has recently been placed under a substantial amount of pressure coming from both liberal and conservative political parties stating that it has failed and other sources suggest that OFCOM would be able to regulate the BBC in a cheaper and more efficient way.

BBFC: British Board of Film Classification. This is responsible for branding films with their according age ratings - U, PG, 12A, 15, 18 these are seen a the start of a film or are located on a DVD/Blu Ray case.

Regulation of motion picture distribution: 

Since the internet has no real policing of uploading videos people can post and view literally anything, people may report the video and it may temporarily be closed off and blocked but there is literally nothing stopping the exact same video from being posted again within minutes under a different name or domain and so it is almost as if there are no regulations regarding the internet. That being said sometimes footage uploaded directly to YouTube may be scanned by a team dedicated to regulation and if it contains particular graphic imagery being nudity or gore then they will very quickly block access from the public.

Trade Unions

Trade unions are basically a cult of workers that share a common profession, trade unions form a national platform to voice opinions and outrage against employers that do not follow the rules and abuse the system.


PACT: is a particular trade association for producers within the media profession. while they represent the industry as a whole, they also function to promote productions and settle broadcast agreements.

BECTU: relatively involved with similar aspects of PACT however instead of being forward focused and geared towards the promotion aspect, BECTU run training programs and other events and benefits.