Introduction
There are a number of key stages to be completed throughout pre production for a film to be finished. Pre-production is the process before filming to plan everything to ensure a smooth running filming over the amount of days that are filming. To ensure everyone is at the right place at the right time everyone in the crew needs a call sheet, on this it has the place of meeting, time of meeting, who is meeting them, what time filming starts ect. Other key areas of pre-production include; logistics, requirement of finance ect.
Short film vs. feature film
Short films tend to be aired on other unpopular streaming sights. Unlike feature films which are aired in cinemas and on popular streaming sites such as netflix. Short films are likely to tell a story or bring certain subjects to light such as depression, anxiety, ptsd, eating disorders, rape. However most feature films are made up stories that follow a story plot pyramid. People starting up in the film industry tend to start making short films as they are low budget and create a good portfolio for higher producers to see and for them to get noticed. Short films are normally made by an independent producers. They are low budget productions made with rented equipment or borrowed equipment from a school for example. They are normally fairly short maximum time being about 40 minutes. Whereas Feature films are normally made by big production companies such as Walt Disney, Pixar etc. They are very high budget films because of the amount needed to produce a high quality film, such as cameras or lights. They are normally anything from 1 hr 40 mins to 2 hrs 30 mins. They are both quite similar in the fact they both carry a storyline and characters it is simply just that a feature film has a lot more detail in.
Requirements of finance:
Furthermore another key part Requirements of finance this includes facility hires, clearances, talent, materials, transport, equipment and crew. Facility hires is where you will be filming your production; considerations need to be given to whether you aloud to film there and if so whether you need a permit or not.Clearances are making sure that everything included in your film for example a piece of music or a sound effect is copyright free. There needs to be permission to use location, music to avoid any lawsuits and court hearings. There also needs to be agreed prices for anything sponsored such as colgate toothpaste. Talent is referring to the actors and actresses in the feature film. The director will need to decide during pre-production, whether you will use semi professional or family and friends to act you film out. Materials this is extras you have had to get hold of or buy for your production such as Costumes, Props, Library materials and Animatics. Transport is how your cast and crew will get to filming location, For example By taxi, Public transport and/or Car. Equipment is everything that you need to have in order to make you film. For example; Camera, Tripod, Lighting, Support rig, Sound recording, Sd card and other storage units. All productions need a crew to make the film. The most common roles are:Director, Assistant Director, Camera, operator, Lighting directors, Sound crew, Set designers Costume and hair & makeup Editors. There is also a skeleton crew which retains the minimal amount of personnel you need to produce a film. Lastly logist which includes; travel, organisation, shooting schedule, timing, transports, facilities, location, personnel and materials.
Logistics time:deadlines
Deadlines are important as they allow timescales to be kept, allowing for projects to be completed in the most efficient way, as well as being able to stick to a budget. If deadlines are not kept, problems can occur especially problems with expenses.
Deadlines of organizing time schedules for picking people up and for the times you have the equipment for. The problem with not sticking to this deadline is you come run over budget by having to borrow equipment for a longer period of time. Deadlines for the equipment used for example rented cameras that can only be rented for a certain amount of time, after this deadline it needs to be returned. If deadlines are not met here it means the production may need to be changed. Deadlines for location is that you may only have a permit to hire a location for a certain amount of time and if a deadline is not met it may mean that you would need to choose another location or cancel a part of the film, which is quite likely to affect other parts of production. Deadlines for personnel are quite important because if the cast are not decided within the deadlines then it pushes the hole production back which in turn costs more money. Deadlines for materials is super important because if you don't have all the materials needed it will set back your production by a lot because you don’t have the right things in order to create.
There are five essential roles in order to create a standard film. These are
Hair and makeup that adds a level of professionalism to the film and helps actors / actresses to get into character and look more of the production. Grafter / Grips are people that work on the lights helping create a certain mood or atmosphere to the scene for example creating a daylight when filming somewhere where daylight is not available. Some directors like to film themselves so they the film fits their own vision Or the “DP” must
work very close with the director for the same reason. Location Audio Sound is over 50% of your film. Good sound is so important to have success within your film. Production assistant must have a good attitude as a result of most “PA’s” wanting to learn this is because most of them are doing it for experience, they also let makeup artists and DP’s stick to their own job.
Moving onto locations and how important it is to pre-production. Location is really important to the pre-production process because it ensures that there are locations there so they can produce the right looks for the film. A recce is a very important part of location, recce is a pre-production process where you visit the location you want to use before you commit to one location. It is so important because it allows you to make sure you really know that the location is going to definitely fit your production, insuring you research the history of the property, you look at keeping within the financial budget and lastly how easy it is to access the location. The people that take care of this are the production manager and the assistant location manager. They help to understand and translate the idea that the director wants to put across by reading the script and looking at the storyboard. They also organise the permission to film at the locations, making sure there is nothing to disrupt the sound recording near the area of filming and lastly working in close relation with the public to ensure no one is inturting the filming. If this role is not fulfilled by someone with enough knowledge and/or someone who does not really know what is going on then the impact is immense; it can majorly set back the time schedule of the production and can even affect the budget.
Locations makes links with health and safety this is due to the health and safety surrounding location. Things surrounding health and safety are; first aid, time pressure, fire exits, conditions of locations, insurance, security, people in charge, the size of the crew and safety signage.
Producers are often the first to get involved, spotting the creative opportunity and commercial viability of a production. They continue as the driving force right through to distribution. If the producer isn’t doing their job properly it means that possibly roles will not be filled and there will be missing parts, it will be dysfunctional messy and it may even go over budget.
Director are the creative leads of the film. They hold the creative vision throughout the whole process, from pre-production through to the final edit. If the director is not there this means the film will still be made although it is not going to be how the director pictured it to be in the first place.
1st assistant director are director’s right hand. First ADs plan the filming schedule, working with the director, director of photography and other heads of department to ensure an efficient shoot. If the assistant director isn't there then there will be no filming schedule which means there's going to be a lot of time wasting with sorting out what needs to be filmed a certain locations how many scenes need to be filmed within the time frame they've been given ect.
A Location Manager is there to find a location in the real world that matches the look of the film, and make sure it's not too expensive and is easily accessible. If we didn’t have a location manager involved then the locations may never be deemed safe or easy to access and there may be room for going over budget with the locations because no one is there to manage going over the budget or not.
Assistant location manager organises technical recces for heads of other departments. During production they are responsible for writing and distributing letters to local residents informing them about the filming and liaising between crew and location owners. If the assistant location manager isn't there or isn’t doing their job properly then the communication between crew and location owners will not run smoothly and the production runs the risk of losing the right to film at the location.
Production designers creates the way a film or TV drama looks. All to do with where the film is set and finding the right setting for it. They work with all visual departments, costume, lighting, visual and special effects, and graphic design. If the production designer doesn’t show or isn’t any good at his job then a film that is meant to have a rustic look may not look how it is meant to.
Property masters transport all of the props and make sure they are ready to use for shooting . They usually start work a few weeks before shooting begins. If a property master isn’t doing their job as needed then, the production runs the risk of only having a static set to use and non movable props to use such as something so simple like a wine glass.
Construction manager look after the building of studios and sets. They make sure that sets look as realistic or too how the director wants it to look. They look at the drawings from production designers, art directors and draughtspersons and sort out how to build/make them. If the construction manager isn’t there then there is no way that the production can even take place, as the sets are not going to be built.
Director of photography read the screenplay and work with the director to discuss the look and feel. They then research how to create the look through lighting, framing and camera movement and what they will need in terms of kit and crew to achieve this. By the DoP not being there this means that the look and the feel of the film may end up completely different feel than what is needed for that film.
Art director make sure that the visuals of the animation is correct. They decide the characters, props and environments are going to look and provide a basis for the rest of the art department to work from. No art director means no feels and no emotion shown through design ect like a character's outfit.
Costume designers, as well as contributing to the look, it helps actors feel emotionally connected to the character they are playing through wearing the character’s clothes. Without the costume designers there would be no way of visually portray their characters.
hair and make-up designers help actors portray their characters by using hair and make-up to create a look. Without them characters are unable to look like they belong in the films or program they are in.
Sound designers make the sounds that would be created by the actors as there are no natural sounds apart from the actor's voices. If there was no sound designer then it would not sound properly because it would only be the characters voices.
Copyright laws in the United Kingdom state that proprietors, the owners, have the right to protect and preserve their intellectual property and control how it is distributed and used. Having the right type of property protection helps you to not let people steal or copy any; names of you products or brands, things you have invented, the design or look of your products, things you might right down, things you make or things you may produce. An example of a copyright lawsuit is gucci and guess; In 2009 Gucci sued Guess for using five Gucci trademarks, including the use of similar logos. This is not surprising after for the last 12 years guess have been constantly receiving copyrighting complaints.
