Pre-production theory
Pre-Production is a complex process involving many stages. These include: A film script, a story-board, a script breakdown, a budget, risk assessment, clearances and an outline of any legal considerations. When all of these stages have been completed the making of the film can then begin.
Film Script
The film script is a document which contains the whole story of the media production. This is the first document required for the making of a film however this usually follows a mind map or brainstorm of ideas from the screen writer. The script is used to tell a story. They are used for Films, TV programmes and even video games. A script basically reads everything that the viewer will see or hear. This means it has sets, dialogue and actions. This is written down because the directors need to know what exactly they are aiming to achieve and how it should all look by the end.
This is one of my own scripts. To start it i have pointed out my setting. This is shown where it says 'INT. STAIRS DAYTIME' . By writing this I am showing that the setting will be interior (INT) and will be based on some stairs at daytime. Beneath that I have introduced the character which will be in the scene. I have mentioned their age and what they look like so that the director will know what kind of person to look for to play the part. Following this i have written what is actually happening in the scene. This is for the directors and the actors. This is because the director will be able to decide how he wants this action completed for it to look its best and the actor can read over this so they know what needs to be done. I have repeated these every time there is a new setting character or action needed.
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| Image from: http://www.dailyscript.com/scripts/pulp_fiction.html |
"With a good script a good director can produce a masterpiece; with the same script a mediocre director can make a passable film. But with a bad script even a good director can't possibly make a good film."-Akira Kurosawa.
Here the film director, Akira Kurosawa, is explaining how important a good script is. If a script is bad then everything about the created film will be bad and no one can change that except the script writer.
Story board
A story board is the second document required for a media production. Like a script, a story board also tells the story of the production. This is done with images that show the action in each shot of the production which is usually accompanied with text showing what is being spoken and sound effects. The story board is shown to both directors and producers so they can understand how the production should look in the end. The story board artist would pitch their drawings to the director to try and give a feel of what the film will actually turn out like.
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| image from: http://screencrush.com/movie-storyboards/ |
This is a picture taken of an official storyboard from the film 'Green Hornet'. Here we see 3 different images which display some of the action in a scene. From the first image we can tell one character is punching another. The second drawing shows the punch has caused that character to fall backward. The last drawing displays the same character talking to a different person. This is taken from a scene halfway through the film so the characters will have been introduced earlier in the storyboard process. The drawings also have text underneath them. The text in this storyboard describes what would be happening at this point in the film. The text on the last drawing is different as it shows what the character is saying. To show this,m the artist has wrote 'Kato', the characters name, and then the dialogue. This then shows the reader who will be saying this line.
These 4 drawings are my own. I have drawn them as part of a storyboard I need for a short film i am making. They are all in descending order. They show the very beginning of the film. The drawings show that there is a tunnel and a masculine figure then appears in the tunnel. It then shows a different angle of the person in the third drawing. The last drawing here shows the same tunnel with a darker surrounding. In my last drawing i have added a box with text in it. the writing shows what sound i want to include in this specific shot. In this case it is the sound of fans cheering. By doing my storyboard I now know what the shots should look like when i come to shoot my film.
"I will never let something go into production unless it is working fantastic in that version with the still drawings. Because no matter all the great animation you can do will never save a bad story. We will work and rework and rework and rework these reels — sometimes thirty times before we let it go into production. We’re really adamant. We’ll even slow the production down or stop production to get the story right because we believe that it’s the story that entertains audiences. It’s not the technology. It’s not the way something looks. It’s the story."-John Lasseter
John Lasseter is the chief creative officer at Pixar. He is also explaining the importance of having a good storyline. This is why the storyboard is important as a visual of the script can show where the script might need improvements and how they can make it look it's best.
Script Breakdown
A script breakdown is used after the script and storyboard have been made to perfect the story line. A script breakdown is useful as it allows the film to be categorised and sorted into lists. This is helpful as the director can then sort out their schedule and most importantly their budget. With the script breakdown everyone can see which part of the script they should be taking notice of.
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| Image from: http://becomingproducer.blogspot.co.uk/2012/03/production-script-breakdown.html |
This is a key for a script breakdown. It shows all the different colours and shapes that will be applied to a script. This is useful for all different jobs involved in film making. For example an actor will know to pay attention to the red sections as that is any speaking role. Actors would also need to look at the purple section as that shows props which actors would need. The script breakdown would help with the budget as it allows the director to section off everything that they will need to pay for and then go on to work out the costs individually.
Budget
The budget is how much money the company is aiming to spend on their film. The company provides the director with a certain amount of money. They are given an amount of money based on how well they think the film will do. For example if the film is expected to do well then they might have a higher budget as the distributor expects to make a lot of profit for the film. A low budget film will be a film not expected to make much money or is being provided money by a company with not much to spend and therefore have no choice but to give a small budget. A director would usually decide what they are going to buy after they are given their budget. They have to buy everything they need without going over their budget which can mean in some cases that certain parts of film may have to be cut out or redone. Also, film makers usually leave around 10% of their budget spare in case of unexpected accidents. An example of this could be if cameras get damaged and need replacing or repairing. The 10% is left over so they can be paid for and still not go over the budget.
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| Image form: http://www.docstoc.com/docs/16953963/Sample-Independent-Film-Budget |
This is an example of a film budget. It is categorized to show quantity, units, fee, cost and total. It has also been sectioned off to show the different aspects of the film that need paying for. It is important that everything here is listed as if the director goes over the budget then they can easily find where they need to cut down. Adding the Fee and the cost here is useful to the director as they can see how much the individual item or person would cost. This helps as if they did need to cut down they could easily see how much money they would be taking back. For example on this budget, if they wanted to take away an Audio person they would deduct £75.00 from the budget.
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| Image from: http://www.thesmokinggun.com/documents/celebrity/hollywood-numbers |
This is a section of a professional budget of the film The Village. The actual film budget will have been pages long. This is a film directed and produced by M. Night Shymalan who is most famous for his film, 'The Sixth Sense'. This is a much more advanced budget as they have added detailed costs for each individual asset to the film. The budget for this film will also have been a lot higher as this followed other successful films by the director therefore the distributor will have had faith in him to make a profit.
"My friend James Cameron and I made three films together- True Lies, The Terminator and Terminator 2. Of course, that was during his early, low-budget, art house period."-Arnold Schwarzenegger
From this quote we can see Schwarzenegger is trying to state that even a low budget film can turn out to be a classic. The Terminator films have become extremely popular and well known over the years and these turned out to be low budget.
Risk Assessment
A risk assessment is a very important part to the production of a film. Without a risk assessment, anyone involved in a film could be in danger. The purpose of the risk assessment is to identify all of the possible dangers that could occur to anyone involved in making the film. When identified it is then important to assess how likely it is for this risk to happen. It is useful to know the likely hood as there is no point in changing location of a film for a high risk even though the chances of it happening are extremely slim. A risk assessment is necessary as anyone involved with health and safety and the directors can look at the risks and see how they can insure they are not a major issue to the film. In some cases the director may have to stop the film or rethink a lot of what has been done if there is a likely chance of a very severe risk. There are 5 different measurements for risk. Negligible, low risk, moderate risk, severe and very severe. Negligible is a risk that is nothing to worry about such as someone hurting their arm on a piece of equipment. Very severe is the biggest hazard as this is a risk which can kill someone. If there is a likely chance of a very severe risk then drastic changes should be made to that aspect.
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| Image from: http://rachaelrayner-portfolio.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/film-production-risk-assessments.html |
This is an unofficial risk assessment. It shows the basic risks which could take place on a film production. On this assessment it shows risk controls already in place. This is what is being done to ensure that none of these risks occur or what will be done in such an event. There is also a further section on more things that will help to prevent any danger. In this risk assessment there are two columns for people who would be put in danger and equipment that could get damaged. The equipment is also important as if that gets damaged then it will cost money to replace and therefore taking more out the budget. However, it is a higher risk if a person will get harmed as they could have their life in danger. The basic 3 steps to making a risk assessment are: identify all the risks, measure the likeliness and identify all control measures to prevent the risk.
Clearances
Clearances can be very valuable in a film production. Clearances are like contracts which are used to ensure that no one involved in the film can take money away from the director or film company by suing them. An example is an actors contract. This is a clearance that all the actors must sign to show that they are agreeing to do what is expected of them. It is also a contract for the film producers to make sure that they treat the actors well and provide them with what is expected such as catering.
This is the actors contract I will be using in my own short film. This is a contract that covers low budget films which is what mine is as I am not backed by any major company. On this contract i am making sure the actor is agreeing to the date of filming, the location I am filming at and ensuring I keep all the rights of the film. It is also helping the actor as by signing this I am telling them all the terms of their service and if I do not follow these terms then I am breaking the contract and the actor would be able to then take legal action. This is likewise if the actor does not follow the contract and if they do not do their duty I have the right to replace them.
Image from: http://halfwaythere10.files.wordpress.com/2010/11/screen-shot-2010-11-13-at-20-04-50.png
This is a section of a professional writers contract. It lists the rights the said writer has by working on the film and the terms in which he must work by. Like this there will be different contracts for each different member of the film production company. Everyone will be made to sign one when they are hired. This helps stop any delays from individuals during the production process and makes sure everyone follows the set rules.
Legal considerations
The final stage of pre-production is to look into all the legal aspects. There are a few legal considerations that must be taken into account before you begin shooting your film. The first and possibly the most important is copyright.
Copyright-It is important that all your work done in the pre-production stage is copyrighted. When copyrighted, you are protecting your work from being taken by any one else. You cannot copyright your idea therefore it is important that you copyright your script. This is because it shows your film idea and is therefore proof that you thought of it and stops anyone else using your idea or script without legal action being taken. As soon as you create the document, such as the script, it is already copyrighted however it is important to prove that you came up with the idea first by showing when you created it. If it is a script that you are wanting to protect then remember to include the date of when you have published it so if someone does take the script then you can prove that you created it first. Almost everything you will create in the pre-production stage can be copyrighted, another important element is to copyright characters. This is so people can't use different stories with your characters in them. When beginning your film it is important to check that you have not taken anything copyrighted. Do not remake an existing film as this can cause legal action against you. It is important to know that the first copyright owner of the film will be the producer. If an employee hired by the producer creates the film the copyright owner is still the producer as they hired the employee. You can tell if something is copyrighted as it will be marked with the copyright symbol.
Image from: http://www.copyrightauthority.com/copyright-symbol/
"I own all the characters I created, thanks to the Writers Guild, so nobody can do anything without me. The way it works is: if the copyright owners instigate a project, like the movie, then i get a fee as creator. If i instigate a project like the musical, i pay a percentage to the copyright owners."-Sherwood Schwartz
Here we have been described how copyright works. We see that he has copyrighted all of his own created characters and by doing so he makes money every time the characters were used.
Public domain-The Public Domain consists of created works, such as film, that do not have a known owner. This means it is available to anyone who wants it. An item can go into the public domain if it's copyright has ran out. Copyright lasts the entire life of the author and then an extra 70 years after their death. If the work was owned by more than one person then it lasts for the lifetime of the longest living writer and then the 70 years are added on. There are other ways that work can go into the public domain for example the write can decide to get rid of the copyright and share it with others. The works of Shakespeare is a very popular item in the public domain. This is because all of his work is well known and popular and Shakespeare himself has been dead for more than 70 years now. Film makers often recreate his work as they know that Shakespeare fans will want to see the film. A more recent example is the character of Sherlock Holmes. The copyright over Sherlock Holmes recently expired and therefore has spurred on the creation of new television series and a new line of films.
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| Image from: https://storify.com/shimjung/sherlock-holmes |
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| Image from: http://oneonethreeeight.wordpress.com/2011/11/23/romeo-and-juliet-poster-campaign/ |
Creative Commons-This is a non-profit organisation. They provide people with another license which works alongside the copyright license. It is free of charge and it allows creators of work to changes the terms of their copyright license. It allows them to share their work with everyone under their own conditions. For example, the creator can allow others to use their work as long as they share the credit. This is useful for film makers as it means they can help spread their name through other peoples work. There is still a legal side to creative commons as if someone uses your work but does not follow your conditions then you can use your creative commons license to take away the work from them or even take them to court.
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| Image from: http://infojustice.org/archives/category/positive-agenda/licensing-protected-materials/creative-commons |
Insurance-Insurance is another legal consideration. This is not necessary however it is very useful. Insurance provides financial protection. Film makers often insure their film equipment in case they get damaged. By getting the equipment insured you are making sure that the equipment can be fixed or replaced if they are damaged beyond repair. This is very useful for film production as it means that if, for example, a valuable camera is dropped and broken, the producer does not have to eat into their budget to replace it, instead they tell their insurance and they will replace or fix the camera. Insurance does cost money to get however it is cheaper to pay for then to have to pay for a whole new set of filming equipment.
This concludes the pre-production stage of film making. By taking into account all these steps in order then you should be ready to create your own film.
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