Learning Aim A: Pre-production Report

 Pre-production Report 

 

Pre-production in media is all the things that come before creating the end goal, whether that be a film/short film or a general project. This stage includes things such as a Location Permissions, Production log, Call sheets, Source of finance and so on. The overall aim in pre-production is for everyone to gain an understanding of what is needed from them before filming starts. Pre-production also creates a vision for you to know what is going to happen and when things are going to take place e.g. first filming: where and when you will be filming. 

Finance: 

Finance and budgeting are crucial parts of pre-production. You have to identify an allocated budget to set and how you are going to fund this budget. One way of funding is crowd funding. This is where you create a website telling people you are going to create a film but need the money to fund it. You set an allocated goal for people to try and reach and help you achieve this goal. People then fund and donate their money towards your film and try to reach the goal set out. The advantages of this method is that you do not need to give the money back like loan would make you do and that there is no interest to pay either. A big disadvantage and risk are that you do not know how much you will get from people funding your film. This method would be suitable smaller film productions who would not need to rely on major amounts of money. 

Another method of generating money to film is big studio funding. An example of this would be World War Z. They asked a big studio such as Paramount for an allocated budget which they got 190-269 million pounds to fund their film. This method is only suitable for the bigger and more high profile predicted films. An advantage of this would be that you could get high amounts of money to film but a major disadvantage would be that all that money must be paid back. For a short film like mine, I would suggest either crowd funding or a bank loan for a short film like mine. 

Logistics: 

A part of logistics is permissions. This means you need permission from either local councils or even the country to film in specific areas. For example, a case study I learnt about was the film called ‘Monsters’ and they sort of ‘winged’ it and did not use or ask for any permissions to film where they wanted to film but did it anyway. You need permissions because if not you could face a fine which could wipe the whole budget spent on the film itself. 

Consent forms are also a key component of logistics. This is where you ask people who are going to be in your film to sign that they are happy to be filmed. One mile away is a documentary and they would have had to have everyone who was filmed to have signed a consent form. This is to avoid anyone who was filmed after the show to say that they never agreed to be filmed and then sue the producers and film makers. 

 

Codes of practice/regulations:  

A part of codes of practice and regulations is copyright. Copyright means the legal right of the owner of property. This is mostly a term for music. If you did use copyrighted music, then this could result in a lawsuit being put against you. One Mile Away did follow the codes of practice and copyright rules but for some of the people in the documentary, they said they would only be in the documentary if their music was used. (Rappers and other musicians made them use their music or they wouldn’t be in the documentary). 

Another part of codes of practice and regulations is risk assessments. Risk assessments are crucial to have planned out as everyone will be aware of the things that could go wrong and how to avoid them from happening. As we know the film monsters did not follow many rules in pre-production so we can assume they did not create any risk assessments, however we don’t know for definite. 

 

Pre-production documentation: 

Scripts are a key part of the pre-production documentation process. It will also make me have more ideas going forward to add in when planning my final idea. A storyboard will also illustrate the storyline and will also show different scenes and transitions I want in my film. I made mine to show different camera movements and edits such as a zoom in or out. This will help me when filming as I will know when to add different camera moves or edits. I can also add different transitions. As I have mentioned, the film ‘Monsters’ did not follow many rules during pre-production and another thing they did not do was create a storyboard for the film. This would lead to most likely making it up on the day with little to no planning on what shots will take place or transitions. This has a similar impact as a storyboard but just in more detail. The script will make sure I know exactly what is happening at certain points, what speech or audio will happen and when and finally different movements between characters. For example, if someone comes into frame (Enters the classroom).  A script will also help me set out a vision for my film and how I intend it to run. Should make it run smoothly and quicker to film so we don't have to make up what to do or say on the spot. A script is all about having an idea in place and sticking to that idea you have created. 

Storyboards have a similar impact as a storyboard but just in more detail. The script will make sure I know exactly what is happening at certain points, what speech or audio will happen and when and finally different movements between characters. For example, if someone comes into frame (Enters the classroom).  A script will also help me set out a vision for my film and how I intend it to run. Should make it run smoothly and quicker to film so we don't have to make up what to do or say on the spot. A script is all about having an idea in place and sticking to that idea you have created. World War Z had everything planned out during pre-production, including storyboards. They would’ve had to make roughly 2500 shots during the 2-hour long film which equivalates to around 230 storyboard pages. Obviously, a lot of work went into making these storyboards and were a must do during their pre-production. 

 

Pre-production process: 

So much research will have to be done during pre-production. This research will include whether the area you will be filming in is safe, what times a day is the location free to film in, budgeting, schedules for what times people need to be on set, what props to hire and will be most effective. Monsters hardly did any of this research other than the bare minimum such as what budget they had to work with. They did no planning to what day they were going to film on and what times. This can be risky as if no planning is done then something could pop up on the day which prevents them from filming such as if the location, they wanted to film at was undergoing construction work. If this was to happen with no research or secondary locations, then they would’ve been in a pickle and not sure what to do next. They got lucky with their methods of pre-production and filming. 

Scheduling is another key role in pre-production. This is where you do all the timelines of the project you want to make. World War Z schedule wasn’t great as they didn't have a contingency plan and if they did then they would’ve been able to reschedule and have a scheduled time to do any reshoots. 

 
Conclusion: 

Pre-production has a lot of rules to follow and codes. These are all set in place to make the filming process as smooth as they possibly can. If finance and budgeting is followed correctly, then you no longer run the high risk of going over budget or not having the correct funding. If the logistics and codes of practice rules are followed correctly then you no longer run the risk any lawsuits or fines being handed out to you. If pre-production documentation is followed correctly then it will allow the actual filming process to run smoothly and easy. If the pre-production process rules are taken into account, then it will allow you more scheduled time and no hassle when or if need be, to reschedule anything.