Introduction

In this report, I will evaluate the pre-production requirements, procedures, and documentation relating to a film. Throughout this report, I intend to evaluate the extent to which these requirements contribute to the overall success of the planning and delivery of a range of films.

 

The pre-production requirements

There are four different sections to pre-production. The different stages are development, pre-production, production, post-production. If there is no pre-production, there is no way that the production can be successful.

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One requirement that needs to be considered during the pre-production is how much time will be available for building sets, hiring actors and crew, filming scenes, etc. Having a clear understanding of how much time is allowed to make the movie is important because it allows the producers to see when their cast/crew is available and will be able to make sure they can come in and film scenes.

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Another requirement that needs to be taken into account is funding. Depending on the size of the company or how successful the producers are, budgeting will be different. For example, big companies like Warner Bros will be able to set a bigger amount as their budget and will be able to cut their prices down by partnering with a smaller business that would want to work with them. However, smaller and less successful businesses may need to set up fundraisers in order to get the amount of money they need, these fundraisers can either be for other businesses to pay them or even regular people who are interested in the new movie.

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• requirements of the product (FILM)

In the case study film ‘Life in a Day,’ the producer’s idea was to create a documentary that included different videos from around the world that all occurred on the same day. Something that needed to be taken into consideration when creating this movie was that the producers may have to give some cameras to certain people if they cannot afford their own. 

 

One thing that was really important for the producer to think of was how many cameras they would be sending out to different countries and how many videos they would accept and place into the documentary. The reason why I am saying this is important is because the producer of this film didn’t consider the amount of cameras or the amount of videos they would receive and this made it difficult for them to go through and choose which videos they wanted to include, this also took up a lot of time as they had to watch through all the videos they were sent to make sure they were appropriate and matched the producer’s idea.

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• sources of finance for the product (FILM)

Finance is an important requirement to consider during pre-production. The reason for this is because without finance, no one will know how much money they have to spend or how much they have spent on things to do with the movies.

 

 For example, in the case study film ‘Veronica Mars,’ the money that would be used to create the movie was raised on a fundraising website called ‘Kickstarter.’ The reason this was done was because although the TV series the movie follows was successful, Universal wouldn’t produce the movie considering the series was cancelled a few years before. Using Kickstarter saved the movie from being abandoned and persuaded Universal to produce and distribute the movie to the right audiences. 

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• logistical considerations (such as deadlines)

Setting deadlines during pre-production is important because otherwise a company could spend more time filming than is really needed. When setting a deadline, it doesn’t need to be an exact amount of time.

 

 For example, the case study film ‘Shifty’ the film was made in 18 days. This deadline is very uncommon as most deadlines are usually months to years away from when production begins. The reason why this movie was only given 18 days to be filmed is because they used a government funded scheme called the ‘microwave scheme,’ this scheme offers support to smaller producers and tells them to create a film in 18 days with less than £100,000.

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• resources and regulatory requirements

There are many regulations when it comes to pre-production, a main company that is involved with this is BBFC. BBFC is responsible for giving movies film ratings, this is very important because some movies may contain inappropriate scenes that are unsuitable for children younger than 12, the age ratings for movies are determined by the amount of swearing and inappropriate scenes that occur. The more scenes there are, the higher the rating is.

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• the impact these factors have on each other

All the factors above are highly impacted by finance, without this it would be impossible for the movie to be created unless the producers come up with other ways of budgeting and funding the film. The reason why finance impacts all the factors is because it is the main thing that needs to be considered when making the movie. You need to take finance into consideration when you are choosing location, making props and sets, or hiring cast and crew.

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The established industry formats used within the pre-production processes

The first format that needs to be taken into account during pre-production is scripts. These scripts are written in size 12 font and in courier new, the reason why these are chosen is because it looks most like typewriter and it corresponds to the certain length of filming, for example, 90 pages will add up to 90 minutes making it long enough for a feature film. It is very important for the script to be completed with no mistakes as all the cast will be given a copy to practice from, if there are any mistakes, this could confuse the actors or mess the whole filming up.

 

Another format is risk assessments, these are a legal requirements as filling one out can keep cast and crew members safe from harm.  The purpose of filling these out is to make others aware of all the risks that can occur on the set. A key example of why risk assessments need to be filled out is during the filming of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, one of Daniel Radcliffe’s stunt doubles sustained a severe back injury after falling during one of his stunts and later became paralysed from the waist down, this example shows the severity and risk of some stunts that can be performed.

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One more format that needs to be considered is storyboards, these allow the company to visualise the film and see how it will look before being produced or filmed. Having a storyboard also allows anyone to give some ideas or help improve how they want it all to look.

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The functions of pre-production processes, reasons for undertaking them and the impact they have

The reason there are certain processes is to help the companies know what they are supposed to do during pre-production and what they are not allowed to do. Some of these processes are for legal reasons, for example, risk assessments need to be filled out when on a movie set due to the amount of things that could go wrong especially if there are stunts involved.

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Why are scripts released in different colours?

Scripts were released in different colours every time they were changed and reprinted. The reason why this is done is because it allows the directors to see who has got the wrong script and who needs to be given a new one. The colours of these scripts aren’t set and can vary between any colours the director or anyone on set wants.

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Why are they watermarked? What is the impact if a script does not have copyright? 

Scripts are watermarked with the companies name to avoid them being stolen, sold for money, or posted online. If someone posts a version of the uncopyrighted script onto the internet, another film company could get a hold of the script and copy some ideas for their new movie, if this happens, the film the script comes from will have to be abandoned and the company will have wasted time, money and resources. If a script isn’t watermarked, the company can get into serious trouble and the person in charge of the scripts could be fired.

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• The purposes of pre-production documentation

Storyboards allow the company to visualise the film and is helpful because it lets everyone involved on the movie to see what is going to happen before anything is filmed. The good thing about having a storyboard is there is more than one meaning more people can make one and as a whole the company or producer can decide what they wanted.

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Conclusion

In this report, I have evaluated the pre-production requirements, procedures and documentations relating to a film. Throughout this report I have explained why all these requirements are important and are necessary to the making of the movie.

 

I have decided that the most important thing to consider during pre-production is finance for many different reasons, the most important being that it is the thing that starts the movie off and is responsible for everything that is involved.