Preproduction Handbook

 Essay TV and Film 

 

I created a student short film in a small group of 2 others. The short film had to be 90 seconds long and we made it in just over a month (including pre-production, filming, and editing). We distributed it on YouTube and Blogger as they are free resources to distribute your short film on, and it was easy access for examination.  

There are many other diverse types of moving media production including films (short and feature length), animation, Television series and VFX. You can distribute these on many different platforms like streaming services like Netflix or Amazon Prime, you can also do cinema releases so you release your films in cinema to try and get more revenue in the Box Office, you can also put it up for digital download so people can just download your film online and watch it from home. Although not used but now, DVDs and Blu-rays are still a platform you can release your product on. You can also make your own website and pay google to put your website at the top of the suggestions to make it more accessible to more people. The other way of distributing your product is by uploading it to social media, which is often what smaller studios will do as its free for people to watch and upload. A product would be the moving media production, as it is consumable and can stand alone or interact with other products while a platform is something your release a product on. 

There are also multiple methods of funding for example Big Studios can give funding to smaller studios if they like their film idea. Usually this would take place after a pitch of some sorts by the smaller studio seeking out funding and resources from the bigger studio to help make their idea. Producers is another good avenue for studios to go down, in which they will do a pitch of their idea to an investor who will donate money to them if they are impressed by their idea. Crowd funding through resources like Kickstarter, the studio can pitch their speech online and to the public, and the everyday people will give money to support your idea.  

The money received from funding would go to different resources. One of them being advertisement and trailers for if you wanted to advertise your moving media production (however this is more common with bigger studios to do) and you can pay to put your product on specific platforms like streaming services, cinema releases, DVD/Blu-ray, or cable TV. You can spend money on hiring equipment like microphones, cameras, tripods, editing software and locations. You also need to spend the money on hiring personnel to make your film and buying food and drink for them.  

For my Depict project we had to get equipment: cameras, microphone, computer, adobe premiere pro, computers, and actors. We also needed to get props like the missing person’s poster, the spoon, fake blood, the cake, and the bowl. We needed these to produce the film, without the equipment we would not have been able to record or edit anything while without the props the scenes would not have made sense and it added some life into the film. 

 

The typical makeup of a team to make a moving a moving image production depends on what sort of budget the film has. A low budget short will have only a few people working on it, usually someone directing, someone working on the camera, and then someone recording audio with maybe a few actors. For editing you might bring in an editor or re-use a member of the crew or cast to edit to save money. Shorts also require less people as it does not take as long to make, the workload is smaller and there is less equipment to handle. A television programme would have jobs roles: scriptwriter, director, producer, costume artist, makeup artist, editor, cinematographer, sound designer, product manager, set designer, art director and boom operator. This is a lot more roles than what you would find in a low budget short, as a television programme has a higher budget, has more work involved with it and has a longer run time. Due to this they need to and can afford to hire more staff for more specialised roles to help make the process easier and the product more refined. They would also have multiple of one job; they might have multiple cinematographers or camera operators as they will need to film more shots than in a low budget film. However, in a Hollywood Feature length film there is much more funding and much more to plan and record, meaning they would have the same staff as a television programme crew but just more of them, as you still need a lot of those roles within Hollywood feature length films. In a Hollywood feature length film however, there would be more emphasis on each of the stages, filming scenes and doing retakes more than in a television programme, having more time to focus on pre-production to make sure everyone is happy with the idea, that you have a good storyboard, that the script is good etc. And longer time to edit to add in better quality VFX if any is needed at all, better visuals and making it look more put together.  

In my Depict group project we only had 3 people in our group, so we had to allocate large chunks of work to a person. While recording we would have someone directing, someone filming and someone acting, because we did not record audio for our film and rather used a backing track, we did not need someone to operate the microphones apart from the first scene where the victim Laura picks up the keys. In pre-production we also split this up evenly as well, a member of our group (Kris) being given the Storyboard and Budget to complete, someone else was given the script and shot list to complete (Georgia) and I was given some of the location's sheets and the talent forms to complete. For the postproduction, I was given the chase scene and cooking scene to edit, while a member of our group was given the credits and introduction to edit (Kris). Because of our small group, when it came to filming, we had to bring in some extras as the 2 members of our group acting could not act and record at the same time. This proved to be an easy fix bringing people in and getting them to fill in the talent forms meant we could keep track of everyone helping in our group.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

Deadlines are important in big projects to make sure everyone is moving at the same pace and that everything gets done. In a professional media industry, when deadlines are not met it can set everyone in the team back and delays the project even more. Making sure everyone sticks to these deadlines by checking up on everyone’s work is vital in making sure the deadlines will be met and it does not slow down production, as slowing down production costs more money and time that can be used elsewhere to make the product better and more effective at executing its ideas or story.  

For our film Depict we set strict deadlines through a production schedule to make sure everyone stayed on task and to make sure we got everything completed for the day it was due in. We did face issues of work not being completed by the deadlines which led to us having to postpone what we were doing for those pieces of work to be caught up on. However, on most of the project we met to the deadlines and kept to the production schedule which kept the project moving, mostly, smoothly and allowed us to be completed by the deadline. The production schedule was a big part of keeping track of everything we had and had not done, and it made sure we were on track to meet the deadline set by the class. 

 

 

For our Depict project, we had cameras, tripods, computers and Adobe Premier Pro and microphones available to us through the school by filling in a form which allowed us to take the equipment outside of college grounds, but some equipment we had to get ourselves like using our own ring light to make the video visible during the first scene of our movie as it was shot in complete darkness, so one of the people in our group (Georgia) brought in her own ring light when we filmed. I also brought in some props like fake blood, and someone else in our group (Kris) brought in a bowl and spoon so we could use them during filming. 

A location recce is a form that describes a location you will be filming at, with days and times, some photographs, when you will be filming and what equipment you will need. This form is used to make sure everyone stays on the same page and is fully aware of the filming locations and what will be needed. It helps keeps everything organised and in order. A location release is a form that has the permissions and legal content in filming in a public location. The person who owns the location or a local council/authority will sign the form to show you have permission to anyone who asks for it, and it will have your own name and signature. This is to make sure if someone stops you for filming there, you can show you have permission to film there. 

 

 

 

 

For our Depict film, we filmed most of it at a park called the Railway in Gorleston, as its one long concrete pavement, and during the night it can be very dark and with little street lighting. It was in an easily accessible area as everyone can get to Gorleston due to the college being in Gorleston, and it was only a 20-minute walk away from the college. The park is also surrounded by trees and bushes, making it feel isolated and eery, perfect for a horror comedy filming. Our next location was some picnic tables just outside of the college cafeteria for the cooking scene, we had originally planned to do it inside to make it look like a cooking channel, however we were not able to book a room to film in that would align with our production schedule, so we found a substitute area in which we made it look like our door cooking show and making most of what we had. The area itself we filmed in felt very picnic-like and picturesque, with lots of lush green plants and the weather was bright and sunny, only adding to the atmosphere. The location was also easily accessible as it was within the college, so we were able to do it during school hours. Our last scene was for the credit roll in which we filmed in a corridor in the science block of the school, which was supposed to resemble people grading food in Come Dine with Me. We chose the corridor because it was quiet and practical to film in, as it was a very empty corridor and was within the college, making it easily accessible for everyone. However, the corridor was also good to film in as it gave us a simple, undistracting backdrop and it makes the actors stand out from the background.  

Our biggest logistical issue was weather and time. We organised to film the chase scene earlier than the first scene of Laura (the victim) picking up the keys, thinking it would still be dark, however it was light out and it was too much to pack all our equipment away to go home to return a few hours later so we just had to continue with shooting, and keep the inconsistency within the film. Also, the weather during the chase scene was completely different, and it was rainier and a lot colder, even though you cannot see the rain on the footage, it meant we had to always try and keep the umbrella over all equipment, and it was too cold and wet to film some of our scene ideas, like Laura’s body lying on the floor dead. Due to how cold it was, we also had to make sure the actors were wearing warmer coats and clothing as it was too cold to record the actors in their previous clothing.  

For a production, you might need the following materials: camera, tripod, computer, editing software, microphone, headphones, props like fake weapons, makeup for the actors, trams, drones, crane, setting props like interior decoration, transportable and fixed lighting, different lenses for the camera for different shots, boom mics, light reflector. 

Some materials are expensive like decent quality cameras, computers, microphones, drones, cranes, and trams. So, a solution to this is to rent equipment from people who already own it, meaning it becomes less expensive as you are not buying it outright, however this does mean that you only get it for a limited amount of time, so if you need to reshoot something you need to re-hire it, or use different equipment.  

 

 

 

While filming, you also need to take into consideration some legal considerations to consider while using these materials. The biggest legal consideration is copyright, if you show any product symbols, logos, or themes within your film you could face copyright strikes, as you are showing someone else's product without giving proper credit, unless you have written permission to allow you to film it. If you decide to film on public roads or highways you need to inform the Highways Department of the local authority to get full permission and tell them what you plan to film and where. If you film any explosions, fake firearms, or show fake police officers or police cars for your film, you must get it approved by your local police department, if not you could face serious legal issues and fining.  

Copyright affected our Depict film as we wanted to use a copyrighted piece of music for the backdrop, however, to get around this, we only used segments of the song, and during the cooking scene we had a low volume of TV static. However, in a real studio this would be copyright claimed as it is too close to the original source material, so next time we should try and create our own cover of any copyrighted music we want to use and credit it, as this falls under the laws of fair use if we do not make any profits, however if we make profits then we should go to the creator and owner of the copyrighted products to get permission.   

Clearance means that you copyright your own work so others cannot use it. Having completed this process makes your project look more appealing to potential investors as they know the project they are funding is not going to be stolen from them or repurposed.  

Public Liability Insurance is an insurance that can protect the public from your company and any lawsuits thrown at your company for harming the public unintentionally, for example during filming, if you have a scene where you label that you have dangerous equipment, if the member of the public chooses to ignore this advice and ends up getting injured because of it, your company’s Public Liability Insurance will help cover any legal costs and fines that that member of the public makes against you.  

Completion guarantee is when a sponsor or investor signs a completion guarantee with the producer of a film project, which ensures that legally they must complete the project, so their money does not go to waste. For example, if your film sponsor made you sign a completion guarantee, you would have to finish the film they signed to invest in, or you would face legal issues for using their money for a project that never took off the ground.  

OFCOM is a company sponsored by the UK government to make sure all film and television media is following laws and legislations and are not showing anything cruel or offensive to the public. They will take on complaints from customers and pass them onto different companies to organise and sort through, and to make sure film companies are not letting their customers down.  

 

 

 

 

On the other hand, we have the BBC, which watch over British film media, but also make their own products and have their own channels. Their job is to have an unbiased outlook on the world, and give news reports, TV shows and films through the lenses of being unbiased. Unlike OFCOM they make their own TV shows, films and news reports and have their own channels, but they are sponsored by the government similar to OFCOM. 

The BFC is a non-governmental organisation that protect minors and children from potentially harmful content, and progressively changing the views and stigmas that lie in the film and television world.  

A trade union is a group of a specific group of people, organisation or profession that join to protect their work rights. Trade unions are important in the film industry because they make sure that those working within the industry have proper breaks, sick leaves, holiday, wages, and work conditions. It makes sure everyone is treated fairly and gets the work rights they deserve and need to continue with their work.  

BECTU are trade unions for those working in the film industry. BECTU do campaigns for the fair pay, treatment, and work conditions for those working within the film industry that are not acting. They make sure everyone within the union has fair wages, work hours and contracts for work. However, PACT on the other hand is a company specialised in helping bring independent films and tv shows to the mainstream while also helping to keep their workplace safe, fair, and productive.  

Trade Associations are non-profit organisations that work with those in the same profession and act as a voice for the industry, voicing opinions, concerns, and ideas from various aspects of the industry for the whole profession to hear. Being a member of a trade association means you can get extra benefits like some for training and advice, they also make sure your workplace is living up to the standards that they and trade unions set.  

Behind the scenes making of the Depict Project;