Pre Production
What is pre production:
work done on a product, especially a film or broadcast programme, before full-scale production begins. Eg planning and deciding how the final product will look and what is required/necessary to get it to that point/standard.
Financing:
Financing is essential to film making as it keeps an overall plan of what can be put into where, it is usually likely the higher budget of the film the better quality film will be produced, the budget is likely one of the most important aspects of film making, because with out money, that prevents you affording the essentials to making a film, and If the financing isn’t done correctly it could really make parts of the film terrible, for example if a specific job is very minimally financed for example lighting, it would have a bad effect on the film.
How do films get financed:
Directors will often meet people who are likely to be interested in backing the project by producing a pitch or something similar to hopefully interest the possible donator to invest money and hopefully to persuade them that the input of money is an investment and there prophet will be increased due to sales and popularity of the film, as every investor gets a percentage.
commonly filmmakers or directors get loans or grants from the government. Being a uk film maker the British Film Institute is the company you would likely go with in processing a loan or a grant. Not only do the fund films, they have the worlds largest film archive, they provide many film festivals with money and they have their own academy in which allows people to make there own ideas into reality with there own film ideas. Unfortunately for new film makers its a very large risk, as money isn’t guaranteed to come back from the film, and the film in general may be a flop, and without a comfortable budget it could potentially ruin some ones life if they where to make there first film with loans and investments for it to be a failure, because not only will the film maker not earn money but the money would have to be owed to the investors leaving them in debt, although if the film is successful the prophet of a successful film is usually well over the original films budget, sort of a high risk high reward situation.
Another way in which films can get financed is through sponsorships, this could often benefit the company sponsoring if the film is successful, for example during screen Time a sponsors product would be used and particularly in a good way making the product look good, making people subconsciously want to buy said product, so a sponsorship is essentially good business and an advert almost, however this is all based on the film being good, otherwise its just glorifying a product in a bad film which makes the product sponsorship seemingly useless.
Auditions:
An audition is to hopefully cast someone right for a role, actors/actresses come into an audition and usually are given a segment of the script to read, and act it out as best as they can, this process is often done after pre production as you need an overall outline on what your character will be/look like, in an audition, they don’t just look for best actor/actress they also try to match characteristic they feel would suit the character best, for example appearance, height, hair and ethnicity are often the key factors in people getting a certain role however, how well they act also comes into the equation, often directors will put out a brief of what the actor must look like to fit the role, then it narrows down the process of finding some one, and then in that instance it would be there preferred actor/actress.
Location Scouting:
A location scout is very essential when planning a film, many things are required when scouting out a location, and if research and looking at locations isn’t done it could essentially cause either legal problems or an overall risk of danger, when scouting a location you must gather information as well as looking for a suitable place, is the area safe to film, are there many people, can every one arrive to said location, time of day etc, a really big issue is getting permissions to film in specific locations sometimes its required to seek permission from the land owner, however in a public place you a required to ask anyone in any scenes permission that there face is in the film, if not the scene would have to be re shot or the person edited out, which would cost the production of the film time and Money, so with location scouting this can be prevented by gathering data for when the area is busiest and possibly looking into closing a particular area off to prevent people from entering the scenes, however this can be very expensive to achieve
Recce:
A recce focuses on showing the hazards a location has, a recce is also used not to just displaying possible issues, but solving them too. Used to underline any problems that may occur whilst on set or in a set location for example, if a room is filled with electrical equipment it would be advised not to bring any beverages near the set or in the particular place the recce notifies you about.
A shooting schedule is used to save and use time efficiently, a plan to easily remain organised and have a plan if anything is going to occur, basically something agreed upon by the entire film crew and they have to stick to the schedule this would prevent re visiting the same place to shoot different scenes when in reality you can do all scenes in one visitation, so a schedule is really a good idea if you want to maximise your time on the film and making sure its the best possible, because more time means, you can make the film better overall. Back to the point of why its so important, it is very helpful to have a schedule so people are available for the set day, along with that
Shot list:
Shot lists are ideal at portraying exactly how the shot will look, and who or what will be in the shot, it goes very in depth as it has many names of shots which all present in a different way and are classic film techniques at making something look a certain way, for example the high angle could be used to make someone seem bigger/smaller depending on who is infant of the camera and who is behind, this can be used as a first person technique to make the character appear bigger, or have a higher importance, shot lists are needed as it is clear instruction for the film crew and they know exactly what the director is looking for in the scene, this would also reduce the amount of takes required as its more of a step by step process.
Storyboard:
Storyboarding is the best way to visualise how a scene will look, it analysis each scene step by step with crude images depicting a basic version which shot-lists camera angles and the overall direction the scene will take, the sounds and other minor details even up to clothing and specific characters in the scene, as stated, these are usually drawn rough sketches but there is cases where people create the images in photo shop or other editing softwares, which in a sense would make the visual representation better and easier to visualise The producer could also use storyboards to identify the scenes which will need effects/ certain lighting eg: sepia for a flashback scene, it can also help show how many extras you'll need for a scene for filling up a room or town Etc. Storyboards can also be used as a taster for people who might want to sponsor or invest in the film project.
Script:
The script is the base foundation of any pre production, it is the rope that ties all other aspects of pre production together, if you don’t have a script you almost can’t plan, you need to have a script for the shot-list, the storyboard, location scouting Etc. Regardless of the importance of the script it is also key to realise a bad script is likely going to create a bad film, writing takes time and isn’t easy, also if the writing is bad, its less likely that actors will perform as well, nor would they be as inclined to take up a role, which could make sponsors and donors also not want to provide money if they know the film is likely to be a failure.
No comments:
Post a Comment