The Pre-Production Process

Our assigned production was to make a 90 second short film to be entered into the DepicT! competition. DepicT! is a short film competition welcoming filmmakers from all over the world to make great films. The entry requirements: To enter the DepicT! competition, our film had to be 90 seconds or less ( any longer and it would have to be entered into the Encounters Short Film and Animation Festival), and had to be completed after the September of the previous year ( a 2016 entry must be completed after September 2015). The competition welcomes all genres and production techniques. The films will then be shortlisted and judged by a panel of experienced judges. Previous judges have included: Chris Auty, (head of producing, National Film and Television School), Pegah Farahmand ( Editor of Random Acts, Channel 4) and Dick Pope (Oscar Nominated Cinematographer) to name but a few. The winners of the competition have a chance to win up to £2500, industry exposure, and some other great prizes.

So, for our short film we played around with the idea of Time as our main theme. Our movie was called emiT (time backwards), and involved a boy getting hit by a car after an argument with his dad and then waking up in an alternative universe/dimension, where he is interviewed by emiT. We tried to maintain a surreal, sinister feel to the film with hints of madness and powerful visual suggestions. Our main distribution for our film is YouTube as well as Facebook. We were even lucky enough to have Jimmy (actor for emiT) share us on Facebook which, by extension, is increasing our film's exposure.

There are many types of moving image media products out there, ranging from cinemas, television, feature films and trailers to animations, DVDs, Blu-rays and public screens.  For most of these things you have to got to a place to watch or buy from a shop to watch at home. This purchasing makes you a consumer of media. With these forms you are confined to what is available at the time and what is in stock. However, thanks to the evolution of web to 2.0, consumers can now choose exactly what to see and when they want to see it - for example watching a  film or TV programme which they had missed. Furthermore, the average consumer can now produce as well as consume media products (known as prosuming). They are able to post their creations/products on sites like YouTube, Vimeo and Facebook, having the power to share their media products to the world from the tips of their finger. This ease of sharing files gives rise to web-series, BBC iPlayer, Amazon Prime, Netflix and Crunchyroll.

So, with all of these media distributors, you need to make some movies to distribute, right? For this, you may find yourself needing to be funded. There are quite a few avenues that a filmmaker can go down to achieve this. Say you wanted to make a big Feature film. Well, on average this costs around $140,000,000. A film like James Cameron's "Avatar", for instance, cost around $237 million to make! To put this into perspective, even 100 lot of generations of your children's children will not earn anywhere near this number in all of their lives combined! Then who on earth can afford these extremely high budget films? Big corporate businesses and investors such as Time Warner, Ingenious Film Partners, Dune Entertainment and Sony, to name but a few. You may be wondering why the companies such as these, a willing to invest such huge sums into films: Risk Capital. At the box office, "Avatar" made $2.877 billion. Compare that to its $237 million cost to make and you are looking at a huge return profit. In fact, for those returns, you could roughly make 12 more Avatar like movies in total ( and Avatar was an extraordinarily high budget film - even by Hollywood standards). Basically, these big investors are willing to stake huge sums to get that next big return, that will pay for all of the other films which didn't cut it; this is know as Risk Capital. Of course the problem is, nobody knows what will be that next big hit! Take for instance "Clerks", cost $27,575 to make, only 95% of the movie was shot in the same convenient store, takes in $3.2 million at the box office. This very low budget film, with a cast of 18 actors and actresses, some of which play multiple roles,  rakes in a huge return. It shows you that you don't need huge amounts of money to make a great movie and that you just never can tell what is going to be the next big thing.

Big corporations aren't the only way to get funding for your movie either. Some directors have earnt their money by unconventional means. Robert Robriguez made half of the funds to "El Mariachi" by selling his body to science and testing pharmaceutical drugs. The director of, the previously mentioned, "Clerks", Kevin Smith, maxed out multiple bank cards as well as selling his treasured comic book collection to achieve his $27 000. He used friends and acquaintances for a lot of the casting roles and shot the movie at the store where he worked at. Very low budget, small cast, one location, huge success! Now I don't recommend maxing out credit cards or selling a kidney to make your movie. Another Way to gain money for your movie is by crowdfunding, websites like: Kickstarter, Leetchi and GoFundMe, allow for generous souls, dream makers and fans, to donate to your project. One benefit from crowdfunding is that it give you complete control over what you do with the money and the movie making process. Zach Braff, screen play writer and actor, uses crowdfunding for his film "Wish I was here" and explains in  the video why he has chosen to use Kickstarter.
 
Lastly, private investors are another means to funding. Megan Ellison, has invested in multiple movies such as, Waking Madison, Passion Play and True Grit. This shows you that there are many ways to gain funding for you project; whether that be by corporate businesses, Crowdfunding, private investors or by selling a kidney or two.

So, what is all this money for? For any Film/TV production, the money will be spent on: cameras, props, costumes, cast/talent, editors, software, sound editors, facilities, locations, releases, crew, clearances, insurance, copy right and not to mention, marketing. Sometimes marketing can cost more that what it takes to make the movie. We needed all of these things for our 90 second short, however, with a budget of zero. We achieved this by using what we had available from the college (equipment and software) and connections that we knew for our location, props and actor.  Depending on what your project is, can depend on the other personnel/equipment that you will need. For a High Budget Hollywood movie like "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them", you will need makeup artists, stunt designers, stunt doubles, special effects buyer/co-ordinator, and in the case of this movie writing credits. This is somebody who has A) been employed by the company to write for the project or B) sold or given permission to use their material which they have wrote about. The cast is huge and not everyone that is involved with the project will having any part in the production, some will be refined to either, pre, post or production. These roles would not have been needed in a documentary like "Human Planet". They would need aerial coordinators for aerial shots and researchers. Researchers develop ideas, draw on knowledge and understanding as well as presenting facts to 'decision makers'. They would not need a stunt coordinator as they are documenting life and nothing will be scripted in quite the same way. Something which is unique to live TV is a Vision Mixer. They edit the program live with a plethora of transition methods, such as cuts, wipes and mixes. These are only found with live TV because is happening in the moment, whereas with films for example, you can edit transitions over a process of months rather than seconds.  "Clerks" has a very small cast of organisers and editors compared to the other two examples. This is due to their small budget and they end up doing multiple roles. For instance, Kevin Smith, acts, directs and edits in the movie.

This was the case for our film. We were all involved in the pre, post and production of the media. We tried to make sure everyone got a chance at all the roles so we could all experience what it was like: storyboarding, sound effects, script writing and so on. However, this was less achievable in production as Toby was in almost every shot and therefore, couldn't be behind the camera as well as in front. We did play to people strengths and desires but as previously mentioned, gave everyone the opportunity to do them. Toby played himself in the movie, editing (was probably the best at this as he had some experience with youtube channel) , added sounds, storyboarding and helped with the script. Craig, took care of risk assessment, cinematography,  transport, editing, sound and ideas/opinions. I was the main photographer as I had previous experience from my A-level, helped with editing, sound, wrote the script, locations organiser, talent finder, story boarding and prop/equipment manager.

Other contributors to films and TV are makeup teams, costume designers, chefs and script supervisors. All of these roles work away from the camera but are still part of the success.

We had a time frame of a week and a half to create and storyboard, a week and a half to shoot and a week and a half to edit, so 4 and a half weeks for the entire thing. We met all of our deadlines and worked really well as a team. In the industry, meeting deadlines is highly important for many reasons. If you don't, you go over budget because you have to keep all of the talent for longer. They need to be fed and housed which costs more money. You need to increase your locations releases, equipment and crew have to stay longer. In other words, it just drains more money. If it for live TV or even a for a series, you may lose your places and therefore your work won't get aired; you won't make money and you will lose your job. Therefore, deadlines are highly important.

The very basic equipment you need for general use  is a camera, sound recording (microphone), a tripod, (possibly) lights and editing (computer & software). This is what we used for our DepicT! short, minus the lights. However, you could even just use an I-pad if you really wanted to. We were lucky as the college allowed us the use of equipment and editing software for our movie. For those in industry, you can either buy or rent the equipment and facilities for editing; you could even hire an editor. One post production house you could use is, " Video Production London",  they offer themselves as a professional video production and multimedia communications company. They work to high standards delivering you a professional finish. They source music, build graphics, voice overs and create special effects. For post production editing, an editor for a half a day will cost £195 and for a full day £295. A studio where you can post produce yourself is, "Hiring Post". They offer a far range of software and suites for your editing purposes. In their suites they use both apple and microsoft software such as Premier Pro and Final Cut Pro 7. They have a vast arrange of Audio Kit as well, from Coles Lip Microphones, Soundcraft E8 Mixer and M-Audio AV40 Speakers. I have emailed them for a quote for how much it would cost for a day's rental and am awaiting response.
I personally cannot find any editing studios for film closer to home. They all seem to be centred in London which is no real surprise as that is where all of the action takes place at the moment. Generally people stay in London and if they do go somewhere else they take people from London with them. It's a shame and I hope the industry spreads out as there is talent waiting to be found all over the country.

Before you film it is a very good idea to perform a Location Recce, this is where you scout out an area where you are considering to film. From this you should aim to learn, will that location be what you want and what you need? Will the lighting be good for your purpose or will you need to bring additional lights/covers? What shots do you think you will be able to do? When can you use the location? and, what risks/hazards are there which you need to take into account for? If everything is satisfactory then you will want to pursue a location release. This obtained by the owner, manager if it a venue or property, the  council or police if it is in public space. The location release is about gaining permission to shoot at that site, knowing which days/times you can use it, and, potentially, how much it will cost. With our film, we used a building known as the Hut, which I owned by the Seagull Theatre. I seeked out permission from Karen Read, the manager of the Seagull, who very kindly allowed us to film there free of charge. We chose that building as it had a medium sized, empty room, which was white, had two doors and felt cold and slightly haunting. This worked perfectly for our movie and helped the mise-en-scene. The location was close to where I lived and manageable for the others, so with a little help from mums and dads taxi service, it worked perfectly.  Our second location was Gunton Cliff, Lowestoft. This road was chosen because it is incredibly quiet and we felt like this would be the safest for everyone involved. Our tutor, Sean Offord, had sent an email to the police notifying that students where going to be shoot outside of college. We also asked the permission of local residents if we could shoot in front of their house, on the road, as they may be in the background: They all gave permission happily. I think our biggest logistical issues where finding a day when everyone could meet and getting them there. As we shot outside of college time (in our holiday!) we had to pick a day that worked for all of us and our actor, Jimmy. Thankfully, with enough asking around, we managed to find a day. With transport, Mums and Dads have never been so useful we. We were able to get all the crew and props to the location: thanks guys. As we were shooting till late at night, we tried to get all of the shoots done which were either in a set scene or scenario. So, rather than just chronologically working through the film, we shot the scenes which flowed easily from one and another. For examples, all scenes that would be using a car first then all scenes which were just on the road without a car. This helped to keep think efficient as we weren't resetting a similar scene over and over again.


Besides crew and cast, there is many things which are required to make a movie image product. Props, script, original footage, music, sound effects, concepts, ideas, insurance and Creative Commons Copyright (CC). CC is an additional branch to Copyright but, allows the creator to give easy access to anyone who desire to use their work, providing they have followed their specific boundaries and licensing terms. There are 4 different brackets and they can have two bracket on a single Copyright. Firstly, there is Attribution, this is practically on all CCs, but, it requires the consumer to give credit to the maker/owner of the CC. Secondly, Non-Commercial, which require that you don't use the CC product on anything which is purely for commercial purpose. Thirdly, No Derivatives, this mean that the uses cannot change the the product or modify it. Lastly, Share Alike, this mean that anyone can can change/modify your work providing that anyone can change and modify the work they have created, using your work.

So, with our Depict! video, we had to make sure we either a) didn't infringe on copyright and b) if it was a creative commons copyright, that we obeyed their legislations. As were unable to give credit in the, credits, we will attribute their work in the description of the Video. Another which we did, was used copyright free music and sounds, which can be sourced easily on the internet, one example is Freesound.org.

So, how does copyright (C) work? Well, automatically protects you and your contents on anything that you create originally. That can be, web content, written work, music, sounds, illustrations, broadcasts, photography, dramatic and film & television broadcasting. You don't have to apply, sign, or registe r. You can apply the © logo, date and your name next to the creation. Whether you do or don't, that doesn't affect the protection of it either, it is still protected by copyright. In short, copyright stops plagiarism. This means that people cannot recreate, use, rent,distribute, modify or upload to the internet your work. It says that your work could be protected overseas with countries through the Berne Convention. The protection for overseas typically lasts for a lifetime plus 50 years; only exception being photography which is a life time and 25years. For the UK, copyright begins as soon as the work is created and generally last for 70 years after the creator's death. If you own the C you can license and sell you work. If you register with a licensing body, such as a collecting society, they will work out terms and conditions as well as collect royalties. To sell your copyright you will need to write a document, known as an  assignment, to show that a transaction had taken place. You also have "moral rights", over a C, this means that if you feel that is will degrade, go against or damage your reputation, you can object to it's use. In fact, Musicians often get annoyed by politicians who use their songs for political campaigns and events. Such as Donald Trump using Adele's song, Rolling in the Deep. A spokesman for Adele said, " Adele has not given permission for her music to be used in any political campaign". This again happened with the Rolling Stones, on May 4th, the Stones asked Trump to stop playing their songs at his campaign events. This is important, as people may think that the Band supports the ideas and ideologies of that candidate/campaign, which could be the complete opposite. Therefore, potentially degrading the image they want to portray.

On other terms and conditions, Clearance, in media terms, is where you gain permission to use, be or have a specific item or location. For example, we had to have clearance to be at the Hut, whilst we were shooting emiT. Another important thing is, Public Liability Insurance, this is where you are covered if you damage property, injur or damage yourself or someone else; it also cover equipment. This is vital and luckily we covered by it through the college, however, if we were working on an independent project then we would need to see it out for ourselves. A website like Simply Business, would allow us to compare quotes for it. Lastly, Completion guarantee ( sometimes known as a completion bond) is a type of insurance which assures that the film will be complete on time and that if it goes over budget, it will not be from the financier's pocket. Daily reports of the schedule and cache flow are required. If they do not meet the deadlines, then the Completion guarantee company has rights to take over, hiring and firing who they deem necessary to get the job done. If this this does happen, this can negatively affect the artistic route which the team may have been trying to achieve as the company is held responsible for any budget that goes over. One example is the Thief and the Cobbler, an animation by Richard Williams. It went dramatically over budget and elapsing time (30 years) resulting in Warner Bros pulling out and a completion guarantee company taking over and reconstructuring the animation. However,the guarantee company knows it is best if they work with the production team to help them get back on track and in an agreed financial state. So it is unlikely it will be a severe as the Thief and the Cobbler.

Within film, television and broadcasting you have regulatory bodies such as OFCOM, who basically monitor and look after the general public with these services. Meaning; they make sure citizens, make sure there are a variety of quality radio services, you have access to high speed broadband, protect you from harmful material on both the web, radio and television, allow a universal postal service, ensure they are a plethora of TV channels, protect you from scams, prompt service providers and promote competition when appropriate.  They are not responsible for the content of adverts, fees to do with the BBC, complaints to do with the BBC, premium rate service and newspapers/magazines. The BBC however, is regulated by the BBC Trust. The BBC trust is different from OFCOM because the BBC Trust is only concerned with their services, the BBC where as, OFCOM regulates multiple providers.  The BBFC (the British Board of Film Censors), is an independent, non-government body which has been classifying film since 1912. They classify film, DVDs and Blue-Rays in order to help protect children and give the consumer more information of the content that will be in the film. For theatre releases, you typically have two examiners that watch the film the whole way through and categorise the movie with age rating using a set of standardised guidelines. The two examiner must agree on the rating for the movie otherwise other members may get involved, including the Chief Executive and Presidential team. For Blue-rays and DVDs, one examiner is often, only required however, they are scrutinised  more than theatre, as the potential for children to see them without supervision is much higher. When making a decision on the age rating, content such as: violence, sex, nudity, language, horror, drugs, dangerous and easily imitable behaviour are all taken into account.

These companies are fantastic for TV and Film however, struggle more when it comes to the internet. The issue that you face is that, because of web 2.0, anyone can upload whatever they want essentially, making it much harder to monitor. Many sites have administrators who you can inform about harmful, sexual, hateful material. Things which are illegal in the UK are still illegal online, such as incitement to racial hate crime. The European Union was in the process of updating its safeguards to protect children from sex, violence and setting limits on advertising to do with TV, Radio and Internet, however, this was drawn back to only TV and Radio. They say that if it is TV program, then it will most likely abide by the EUs safeguards. They make a point about, if a European Video site, similar to YouTube became active, they didn't want it to be at a disadvantage because of the legislations that it would have to follow unlike, YouTube, which is US based. The 9pm Watershed will have less meaning as well because of the on demand websites available now. If you can access any program whenever you want, then what is the point of a Watershed on TV? It is easily accessible, anyone can do it including children, which is the issue! Programs which would be shown after the watershed have a G symbol next to them. I know that the BBFC give their certificate on websites such as Amazon Prime, BT TV, Google Play, and many more. Some playback services ask for you to enter your age before you are allowed access to, which no-one has ever lied about... As you can see, it is an incredibly hard thing to monitor. I imagine the DepicT! have a responsibility about the videos which they show and allow into the competition, especially since they come from all over the world. Not to mention, they are judging art and creativity where nudity of human form is often seen at 'artistic'... Anyhow, they do have a set of rules and guidelines which they abide by and do not allow on their channel: http://www.watershed.co.uk/statement-of-commitments/ . If we would have had a violent or hateful scene or tone in emiT, then we may have breached their code of conduct and not be allowed to enter our video. Luckily, we don't and everything should be dandy. If hate crimes are not allowed, then why are Nazis allowed to be shown in films and television? After all, there cause was about hatred and discrimination...

Trade unions and associations are made up of workers in that industry which are formed to protect the worker interest and rights. Unions are really important as they promote job security, better paid leave and maternity, The union also gives the worker a voice for them to communicate with managers and make sure they are being treated correctly. PACT and BECTU are trade unions who are specifically for Film and Television producers and workers. They voice your opinions and issue to help make a better working environment for you. To receive their advice and benefits you have to be a member. They both offer advise and guidance. BECTU also offers training for the industry, such as editing courses, Emergency Fist aid and multiple insurances, like Public Liability. You can also have, Trade Associations. These are a group of businesses, that are all in the same industry and work together to promote it as a whole.  They offer help and trial witnesses. Knowledge and training to their associates for their industry; help with business and political things. Basically, they have a similar structure to help improve but, assocaitation are purly for the industry where as, unions are for the workers.