The Pre-Production Process - Requirements for a moving image production

The media product that we produced was a low budget Short 60 second DePict Video for their annual contest. We distributed it through our College media YouTube channel. They entries was posted up online for the public to view

There are many different types of moving image products, the first one that comes to mind is fictional, eg TV soap, horror film, drama, sci fi, children’s cartoons. These are ones that are scripted or acted for you entertainment.

The other type is  factual, eg news program, documentaries, reality TV, quiz
shows, program. These are the ones that are real events that are happening. These normally haven't been scripted or made up.

FINANCE AND SOURCES OF FUNDING

Here is a list of what i believe you would have to spend your money on when thinking about making a film:
- Equipment (Camera,m Lighting, Sound, mic etc)
- Crew
- Script writers
- actors
- location
- transport
- advertisement
- licences
- Programs for editing
- Food and drink for the set
- Costumes
- computers for editing

Their companies the give you money to help you make your film, here is a short list of them:
       - http://www.weareukfilm.com/financing-in-the-uk
       - http://www.creativeengland.co.uk/film/production-funding
       - http://www.bbc.co.uk/filmnetwork/filmmaking/guide/before-you-start/funding
       - http://www.themoviefund.com/

 These are only a few I found. But you don't have too go with websites or companies you can simply go to the bank and ask for a loan. If you are skeptical about doing any of these there is always crowd funding. An example of this is a kick starter. An example of a film that is being kick started right now is Juarez 2045. This allows you to ask the public for small donations that will help with the cost. This is where you get loads of people to contribute a small amount. This is normally done via the internet. With films now a days, people have either their favorite actor/actress or even their own favorite director. There may be people that have enough money to privately invest into that movie they want to make. This means they get money from anonymous investors so they can make the film. A good example of private funding is a women called Megan Ellison. She is known for investing money into films. She has invested in Terminator 5, Killing them Softly, Lawless and many more. 

REQUIREMENTS

When we went filming we had to require only a small amount of equipment. The reason why is because we wasn't making 1 huge film, we all had been assigned groups to make multiple films. The group that i was allocated to used a standard video camera, a tripod, a small selection of problems (Hand cuffs, Radio, Plastic gun, Police hat, headphones and various pieces of clothing) and also had a 16GB SD card. We used are local park to film as our location because it is opposite the college so it was easier to access.

PERSONNEL

a typical crew for a low budget short would be a camera man, sound guy/girl, and a hand full of close friends and family to help out with the filming. You also may have an editor but normally someone within the group edits it all together for you.
In a television program you would have a lot more people working for it because it is on a bigger scale than a low budget short. For a television program the crew would look something like this:

Casting director
Costume designer
  Director
Location manager
  Make-up artist
  Production designer
  Researcher
  Set designer
Television producer
  Writer
  Head writer
  Screenwriter
  Story editor
Camera operator
Technical staff

For a Hollywood cinema you would need a lot more staff than these two put together. The list which i am about to show has been taken from a webpage that gives a list of TV crew you'll need for a Hollywood cinema. I've added the extras that you would need for a Hollywood film ,the ones from the other two are not included but you still need them to make the film.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Television_crew)

Production
Camera operator/cinematographer/video graphed
Character generator operator/Aston/Duet operator
Floor manager
Graphics coordinator
Stage manager
Gaffer
Grip (job)
Gallery/control room team
Production manager
Production assistant
Runner
Stunt coordinator
Technical director
Television director – director
Video control operator/vision engineering
Video tape operator
Vision mixer
Post-production
olorist
Composer
Editor
Foley artist
Post-production runner
Publicist
Sound editor
        Title sequence designer
Specialist editors
ADR editor
Blue screen director/matte Artist
Special effects coordinator

When we was making our short we decided amount our selves who would be allocated to what role. we had a short couple of minutes talking about our strengths and limitations, then we came to  a group decision that we all felt comfortable. Because we only had 3 people we all kind of said that we would do a little bit of everything. Because then it seemed fair that all of us had done everything, and this meant none was doing the same thing all the time.


When we talk about making a big Hollywood cinema film we actually don't think about the money side of it until later on. You need investors so they can invest in your film. investors give you money to make the film and then expect the money back and a little more once the film has been made. One of the top investors around are called Gateway Films (http://www.independentfilminvesting.com) they allow anything from $10,000 - $1,000,000. there are also other investors out there that also do much bigger invests than Gateway films, these don't always have to be companies, normally individuals invest into films such as Reid Hoffman. He is one of the biggest film investors going. He invested in over 50 films.when filming you also need to take into consideration that the main people for the film are the actors, you need to keep them happy so they produce great content for your film. In the move Fast and Furious 6, Paul Walker didnt want to do a shot alone so the director added Vin Disel in this scene there he shouldn't be, just  to make Paul Walker happy. It just shows that you need to keep certain people more happy than others.

DEADLINES

if you dont meet a deadline in the professional industry your film doesn't get made, it just becomes one big flop and you lose a load of money. deadlines are so important to meet because they are set for a reason and if you miss them then it starts costing people money, mainly yourself. If the you miss the deadline but 1-3 days it might still get made, but if you miss it by weeks then you have no chance of making that film that you put all that effort into.
When we did our low budget short we had a certain deadline to meet. As a group we had 6 lessons to plan, 1 week to film and 6 lessons to edit. As a group we met this deadline and handed our piece in on time.

GETTING YOUR EQUIPMENT

When making a professional movie, you want the best equipment that you can afford. Many high end directors normally will have there own equipment. But if you are just starting out then you can hire the equipment through companies. A well known one is called DecodeUK (http://decodeuk.com/kit-hire/) they offer a huge range of hire equipment.

As you can see here they offer everything that you would need to start a film, and this equipment isnt basic either, it is high quality equipment that they offer. This is only one of many equipment hire companies. here are a short selection that you can choose from: Maniac films (http://www.maniacfilms.com/rental/), Filmscape (https://www.filmscapemedia.com/) these all offer high end equipment and some companies offer more than others. The nearest company to where i live that offers the same service as these companies do is in Unit 3 Hall Farm, Martham Road, Great Yarmouth. this is only a few minutes from where i live. The company is called RDC Audio.

As i said before we only had basic equipment, no high end camera's. We simply obtained this equipment through the AV room at college. We use our student ID's to rent the equipment. There are other pieces of equipment available such as Road Microphones, Dollies, and other steady cams. We felt like we didn't need any of this equipment due to our location. The only thing we felt like we should of done is use steady cam to make the quality better and also not so shaky.


LOCATION

A location reece is where you scout out potential areas where you would like to film. You simply use this to take down basic information of the place so you know where it is. This allows you to search multiple locations and remember where they were.

When we went searching locations we had certain theme in mind which was urban. Our first location was the college field, but it didn't have that certain look/feel to it. We then went to and scouted the local graveyard, this was a good place to film but was hard to contact anyone to see if it is okay to film in there. The last location was the park which lead into an abandon allotment which just seemed to be perfect and was what we as a group were looking for.

The main issue for us was health and safety. Because the allotment was abandoned we had to watch out for shard of glass and metal that was laying around. we overcame this by simply just watching where we were going and also making sure the path we took was clear and safe. The other factor that we had to take into consideration was the public as the park is used by the public to walk their dogs so we didnt want to stop them but also we wanted to film so we had a couple of issues with dogs running in the set and also a couple of them running into the scene. This was easily solved because if we had any disturbances like this we simply filmed the shot again which wasn't no hassle.


MATERIALS

The main thing i can think of that you would need are licences for equipment and also programs that you want to use. This is a huge part of the film because if you dont have the licence for a certain piece of equipment or software then your movie wont be distributed and also you will receive a heavy fine that you will have to pay. The other thing that you may need is Copyright right's. This means you can use a certain piece of music or a certain location. Copyright has been a big issue in the past and now-a-days it becoming more of a problem. The financial considerations that take place are stuff like affordability. The main financial consideration is that if you use a certain program, music, sound clip will we be fined for using it? The one thing you dont want is a fine whilst making a film because it just adds to the cost and might also lose you a huge chunk of profit that you could of got.

LEGAL ISSUES

As i had said before the main thing that you nee to watch out for is copyright issues and also making sure you own a solid copy of the program that you are using. Copyright is where you use a certain place/image/music clip that you dont own, it is someone else's. When editing you will need a high end editing program such as Sony Vegas or After Effects. The editor must have a purchased copy of these software's because if they find out you dont have a solid copy you will be fined and even get a criminal record .

Copyright is a legal right created by the law of a country that grants the creator of an original work exclusive rights to its use and distribution. People normally get into trouble with copyright through music. The way it can effect you is if you use a song of say someone like David Guetta, but you haven't asked to use but you use it anyway without their consent.

The only copyright issue that we fell into when making our DepicT entry was music, ours had to be copyright free and also loyalty free. This meant that we has to searched high and low for music hat we could use and post up onto YouTube with getting a copyright strike.

Clearance is where you are allowed to use a certain piece of music or any copyrighted thing. When you have clearance you are allowed to use that piece in your film. For example you just got clearance to use a song by a certain artist, this now allows you to put that song in your film.  public liability insurance policy covers your business if someone is injured in some way by your business, or if you damage third party property when carrying out work. Bear in mind that even a minor scratch to personal property could lead to hefty fines, especially as you could be required to pay legal fees if the case goes to court, and these too will be covered by your policy.

Public liability insurance is a type of insurance that covers the general public. This may come into place if you are using the general public in your movie. This only takes effect if someone is hurt or injured during the making of the film. The insurance is used to cover the costs of compensation and also personal claims against the company. Public liability insurance is the most common type of insurance taken out by small businesses, but with a range of cover options available, it's just as well-suited to larger firms.

A completion guarantee is a form of insurance offered by a company (in return for a percentage fee based on the budget) that is often used in independently financed films to guarantee that the producer will complete and deliver the film to the distributor(s) thereby triggering the payment of minimum distribution guarantees to the producer (but received by the bank/investor who has cash flowed the guarantee (at a discount) to the producer to trigger

Ofcom is the communications regulator in the UK. they make people in the UK get the best from their communications services and are protected from scams.

Twelve people who work for the BBC regulate the BBC. What makes it different to OFCOM is that they only provide better service for their own shows, not for everyone unlike OFCOM who provide a service that benefits everyone.

The BBFC (British Board of Film Classification) is a non-governmental organisation. What the BBFC does is it is responsible for the national classification and censorship of films within the United Kingdom.

The way regulation works now is that it is done by itself. The on-demand feature on most box-sets is self-regulated by a group called the Association for Television on Demand, whose code broadly mirrors that of Ofcom. With online videos becoming more and more bigger nowadays this means it is harder to regulate because anyone anywhere can view them at any point of the day. Overall it just shows that now-a-days it is harder to regulate certain things due to the power of the internet. Overall if it is not on the internet it means it is easy to regulate, but most regulations are now self-regulated.

the trade union is an organisation of workers who have come together to achieve common goals such as to protect trade, improve the safety and also make the trades more successful. The trade union is important because trade unions play an important role and are helpful in effective communication between the workers and the management. They provide the advice and support to ensure that the differences of opinion do not turn into major conflicts.

PACT stands for Producers Alliance for Cinema and Television PACT helps giving independent UK producers their own intellectual property rights. BECTU is (Broadcasting, Entertainment, Cinematography and Theater Union) is a trade union in the United Kingdom. PACT helps to shape the best possible regulatory and legislative environment for the independent production sector to grow.