Film Production

The idea: making a film takes years and can involve hundreds of people. Inspiration is all around us it can be during a casual conversation with a mate or even in a magazine or book you are reading. wherever the idea comes from it is up to the producer to make the idea into a reality. A director visually presents a script and can make it into a reality. A producer knows how to take a story and turn it into real life. The writer defines and clarifies the idea and the plot with the main characters. The writer will create a treatment which is a one page description of the main story with the main characters. A pitch is then created this includes all the information the producer needs to sell the idea to financiers to commission a script.

Development Finance: The producer uses the pitch and treatment plus their powers of persuasion to get money to develop a script. The producer approaches film production companies and asks for development money but they have projects of their own. The producer can offer the future sales and broadcast rights of the film to a production company in return for money to develop the script. The producer can also apply to a public funding body such as the UK film council for a development grant. The producer can even pitch the idea to private investors in hope they will support the project.

Script Development: Firstly the writer creates a synopsis and joins with the producer to see if they agree or not on the key parts of the film. There are many ways to write the script but most writers a step outline to plan their script. Part of the writers fee is dependent on the first draft of the script. this can be the hardest part of screenwriting. Once the producer and writer is happy they send the draft to the financiers who all have their own ideas. When everyone is happy with the script it is locked off and the writer is paid. The final process of this is to create a sales treatment.

Packaging: The producer and director have to now package the script into a full commercial proposition so it can be financed. one common way to make the project more commercial is to attach well known stars to the script. Well known heads of department who are commercially successful carry on considerable clout with financiers. To turn the film into a proper business proposition the producer must know how much the film will cost to make. Potential investors will want to know how the producer plans to raise the money and how they will plan to pay the investors back. The producer has packaged the film into a viable commercial proposition. Now its time to see what people think off it.

Financing: financiers can be anywhere in the world.To secure the investment the producer needs to make the film so she must travel. Private individuals, Production companies and public bodies all invest in films. The producers lawyer draws up contracts to seal the deals. The producer can also raise money from pre-sales selling the rights to the films before it have been created. The are parts of banks that specialize in film finance and they invest in commercial projects and can even offer loans. Most financiers insist that a completion bond is in place before they agree to invest. Once all the essential funding and insurance is secured the film gets the green light and the producer gets drunk.

Pre-Production- This stage starts with a kick off meeting which consists the heads of departments getting the shooting script and then beginning the pre-production process. After the meeting has held place the long process of casting begins and then the blueprints for each shot are drawn up then the production manager plans every aspect of the film and employs people to help with this. These shots are relatively easy to effect shots because effect shots have to be planned in much more detail and it could take months to design and build. To finish the first assistant director, the line producer and the production manager make a key logistic triangle of the production.

The Shoot- Shooting begins and funding is released. The shooting department get ready for the shooting of the film that the director and editor need. After the cameras are in place the lighting and sound need to be set up. Finally hair and make up have to be checked. Once everything is in place the acting begins and the hardest part of acting is the special effects as these need to be carefully planned with minimum risk to the cast and crew Finally film productions are set to a tight schedule and if it falls behind the financiers and insures step in.

Post Production- Once the processed footage comes in the editor can start to assemble the scenes and a native sequence for the film. After this has finished the work on audio begins and to follow the digital effects are added by special effects compositors. After the digital effects have been added the titles and credits are added. The final stage of the picture edit is the color and fine aesthetics are carefully adjusted. Once the picture edit is complete the sound goes to a dubbing theater for the final levels to be set. Finally the film reaches final cut and it is put into full lock and copies can now be made.

Sales- To start of sales a sales agent has to be employed, they are specialists in film sales. After they have been hired a trailer is made to captivate the audience and now the sales agent and producer combine all they need to sell there film. The film market is vast so the film has a lot of work to do to attract people, one way to do this is to make a viewing at a top rated film festival. The product now can be sold to distributors across the world.

Marketing- To help with the marketing a marketing team is put together, this consists of a sales agent and a specialist in film sales. The key part of marketing is knowing the audience, this can be gauged from running test screenings. The specific audience is now selected and the advertising and media input can be stemmed around this group. For the film to be in cinemas the distributor has to arrange deals with cinemas to screen it.

Exhibition- The start of the exhibition of a film usually begins with the premier which is a reason for the media to come out and get the film into the eyes of the audience again. The distributors then deliver the necessary film prints to the cinemas screening the film. The exhibitors then take part of the box office receipt, this is included in the distributors bill. After the distributors have been paid the financiers can recover their money from the recoupment schedule.

Other windows- additional revenue can also come from hotel showings and in flight films on airlines. The main sum of money comes from the sales of DVDs which people spend more money on than cinema tickets. Another way of making additional revenue is to sell game rights for the film. Once the profits have been made the key people in the making can receive their rewards. There can always be income coming in from a film even if it means re-releasing it.