Learning Aim A- Pre-production Report

 Report 

To create a successful pre-production plan, you must create a range of documents displaying and organising everything. Each thing will come under one of five segments: Logistics, Finance and Budgeting, Codes of Practice/ Regulations, Pre-production Documentation and the Pre-production Process. If your pre-production plan is disorganized and not enough effort has been put into it, then it may negatively affect production on a large scale. 

Finance 

The financial side of production is also important as you are planning your costs and if you incorrectly work out costs and do this in a sloppy manner, it may affect your whole production and result in making a loss on the film. Therefore, if you budget correctly, then production will go a lot more smoothly with an effective budgeting method. For example, the film ‘Monsters,’ by Gareth Edwards had a budget of £500,000 but they ended up coming way under this as they did not have to use their budget for contingency and effectively budgeted their costs. Equipment alone came at in approximately £15,000. They ended up making a 748% profit earning £4.24 million at the box office due to their effective budgeting. If they under budgeted, then this may have led to a loss on the film or could even mean that they must stop production altogether. Its best to not extremely over-budget though as this could result in a company not financing your film. Therefore, the budget must include all costs and everything that costs money needs to be covered and looked and overall, the budget needs to be managed well. Having the correct source of finance is also important during pre-production as this is what funds your film and the choice in finance could affect other factors of your film for example you could lose some control over it. However, some films have a large budget and self-funding is not possible, for example ‘Whiplash’ had an estimated budget of £3.2 million (which ended up being £3.3 million) and could not fund this by himself, he could afford to make an 18-minute short film, which he did, and ‘Bold Films’ saw this and wanted to fund the full £3.2 million for the film Whiplash. This film grossed £49 million but due to Bold Films funding this, they took a large amount of the money resulting in Damien Chazelle (the director and writer) to not earn much on his film. Due to him not self-funding, he has no risk of losing his own money which is a positive to getting a company to invest. Overall, it is best to think long and hard and do analysis on which source of finance is best to use creating a successful financial model so production takes place, and the company will profit. If the budget is not correctly worked out the entire film production may have to be cancelled and if it is not finance correctly this may also cause production to stop due to lack of funding and lack of money being dedicated to the film. I would advise a local media organisation to budget effectively because it will positively affect their chances of the film going to plan and not overspending what you anticipated. If you do not budget correctly then your film could collapse due to overspending and not have the money you require to produce your film. I would also advise a local media organisation to put significant thought into what financial model suits you best as a large film like ‘Whiplash’, requires a large budget and needed outside investors to invest money into the film as it required a large budget however small production companies may produce low cost films where sources of finance from outside investors may not apply as you may be able to self-fund the film. If you chose to self-fund and didn’t expect the costs to be so high, then you will not be able to cover the costs for your film and therefore not be able to film it. This is why it is important that you choose the best financial model for you, 

Logistics 

An effective analysis needs to be carried out as this is important for pre-production due to the logistical aspects such as cast and crew, costumes and props, catering, equipment hire/transport clearances, locations, production schedule needs to be sorted out ready for when production comes. It is best to research a significant amount of information to ensure that you know everything about a category before working on it. Creating these to a good standard decreases the likeliness significantly of something going wrong. An effective production schedule needs to be carried out and managed well as this is a plan which helps you stay organised in production and if not carried out effectively, then the production stage may be negatively affected. For example, if you have not planned to have contingency days in your production schedule for reshoots, then the film may have been delayed or may not have been released on its set release date therefore I would advise a local media organisation to effectively create a production schedule because it positively effects production as every task will have a dedicated time frame and the film will be released on its set release date with no delays similarly to ‘World War Z’ 

‘World War Z’ re-shot the third act and entirely removed a shot of Brad Pitt fighting zombies. They managed to re-shoot the shots and release the film on time and if they did not anticipate the possibility of this happening, then they would not have been able to re-shoot or may have had to delay the release of the film. This will also have been put into the contingency plan for planning re-shoots of scenes if filming does not go well or something on set happens resulting in needing more time to film. This means that an effective contingency plan needs to also be carried out planning ways to overcome possible issues that may rise. For example, ‘World War Z’ did a good job of this as they had troubles post-production however, this did not affect the film or the release date of the film as they had planned ways to overcome it and have days dedicated for this.  

Another aspect of logistics that needs to be looked at is transport of equipment and cast and crew. You need to plan how everything is going to be transported as you may have to dedicate a large amount of your budget to this if your locations are far apart. If the locations are far apart then you may not be able to cover the cost of transport and you may have to think about alternative locations to save on money and transport costs. For example, ‘Monsters’ was shot in Belize, Mexico, Guatemala, Costa Rica, and the United States over three weeks. Due to them shooting in these locations, money was not spent on flights for equipment and cast so the budget and costs could be spent on other things. If this was not planned beforehand, then the production company may have under budgeted and therefore may have not been able to go through with production if it was too large of a cost and did not fit into their budget therefore the budget has to be carried out effectively. I would therefore advise a local media organisation to plan out their cost of equipment transport as it is something that is easily forgotten about and can be very high when travelling between many different places which may result in you not being able to cover the costs of filming in certain locations and possibly having to film in a different location. Overall, an effective management of a production schedule creates a lower chance of something going wrong as everything is planned out and a dedicated a set number of days, with the contingency days, so the film will release on its set release date that has been set. The contingency days are put in place as if something goes wrong, the film will be delayed so days are dedicated for if something does go wrong. Contingency plans are also important as they make the producers aware of issues that may occur and gives a solution further ensuring that the film release on time and not going over the dedicated contingency days. 

Pre-production Documentation 

Your pre-production must be carried out professionally and effectively, it also must not be carried out carelessly as this part of pre-production is an important part. The pre-production documentation should include your script, storyboards, a call sheet, location recces, risk assessments, release forms, budget schedules, shot lists, and contingency plans. The script is an important part of the film as this sets out the dialogue and effects that will be used and said throughout the film and informs the cast and crew what they need to say and do during scenes. If this is done thoughtlessly and is not produced professionally then this will result in an unfavourable script therefore affecting the film negatively and possibly sending the audience an incorrect message as well as incorrectly informing the cast and crew of what to do during scenes. The script and storyboard are the documents which layout the film and is the result of the idea that the director thought of. For example, Damien Chazelle wrote and produced the script for Whiplash but did not have enough money for the film and therefore could not self-fund his film. He had enough money however to make a short film which caught the eye of film maker Jason Reitman who fell in love with the story after reading the script and funded the entire film. Because the script was carried out effectively, ‘Whiplash’ was produced, and Chazelle funded the film with $3.3 million. If Chazelle did not carry out his script effectively, Chazelle may not have fell in love with the story and funded the film and Whiplash may have never been produced therefore I would advise a small media organisation to produce a fantastic script as this is a fundamental to production and if not produced correctly and if it is not thoroughly though out then the film will be very unorganised and you will have to think of lines on set which will not have been planned out and thought out beforehand which increases the likeliness of the production team not going over the time dedicated to filming due to creating the script and thinking of lines on set. 

Another document for pre-production that is important to carry out effectively is the storyboards for the film. The storyboard needs to be carried out thoroughly and must be detailed so the crew know how to set up scenes, so they meet the producer's standards, and the film is produced the way the director and producer wants it to be produced. If this is not done correctly, then the film may be produced differently to how the director intended, and the crew may not have enough information to shoot certain scenes. For example, Damien Chazelle (the writer of Whiplash) hand drew 150 storyboards to keep production moving, shooting as many as 100 setups a day. If Chazelle did not keep up with production, production would have come to halt, and the film would have been delayed not releasing on the set release date. If Damien did not carry out the storyboards effectively, then the crew also may not have had enough information and detail to shoot the scenes. Overall, pre-production documentation needs to be organised and produced to a professional standard ensuring that production of the film will take place, and everything goes to plan. Documentation needs to be kept so the crew knows how to shoot shots and set up sets as well as the cast being able to learn lines. If something also went wrong for example all the footage was corrupted, then the documents would provide all the necessary information to re-shoot. Therefore, I would advise a small media organisation to draw up all their storyboard pre-production so that the scenes can be to the standard you want, and the crew can ensure that the scenes are filmed the way you intend. If you do not draw up a storyboard with the essential information, then the crew will not know how you exactly want the scene and will shoot the film how they interpret it however, if you give them all the essential information of shots and scenes as well as pictures to go with them, they will know exactly how you want it. 

Pre-production process 

The pre-production process is important to the film as it can help avoid problems and investigate these problems in-depth to try and overcome them. An in-depth analysis needs to be carried out and researching and the planning of the film needs to be completed correctly as it prepares you and sets you up for the creation of the film. This includes the research of the film, the proposal, the film treatment, the pitch/ seeking funding, and the plan. The research into everything such as financing needs to be created beforehand as if the script has been written, locations have been planned and the production has been planned to a very extreme level when the money cannot be provided for it, the film will not be affordable and able to be shot. For example, Monsters by Garreth Edwards was produced with a budget of £500,000 and earnt a total of $4.24 million at box office making a 748% profit. If they did not put in the correct research for this film, then they may have run into more issues down the road and ended up spending more money on their film and may not have been able to cut down on costs. Due to them successfully researching into the costs, they were able to bring the film to life as they had investigated the cost of equipment etc and did not estimate a budget too high and because they researched into this enough, they were able to bring the film to life as it fit within their budget. This positively affected Garreth Edwards and the film production team as this was a very successful film therefore, I would advise a small media organisation team to research the essential information like costs of transport to locations or costs of filming, location permissions etc as you will be aware of the costs of each segment. If you weren’t able to carry out the necessary research, then you may not be able to cover costs and therefore may not be able to shoot your film. 

Another example of a pre-production process that must be professionally produced is the pitch and funding seeking. If funding cannot be provided for the film, then the film cannot be shot and therefore cannot come to life. Therefore, the film must find funding and if they cannot self-fund, then funding must be provided by another party. The pitch is how companies present their film idea and is important and if not successful, the film cannot be funded and not be shot. For example, the documentary One Mile Away was funded by Channel 4, Barrow Cadbury Trust, Creative England, PUMA, Fallon, Film Fund, and her ‘backers’ on the Kickstarter which raised £21,033 in 30 days. If the team did not provide a good pitch to the investors, then they will have not had enough funding to be able to produce this documentary, but because they had a good team and thoroughly thought it through ensuring it was to an excellent standard, they gained funding for the documentary and could spread their message. Therefore, the pitch needs to be inclusive of everything and be very persuasive towards to investors due to it being important. Overall, the correct research needs to be put in for the film to correctly estimate the finances and many other things for the film to successfully take place. The pitch also needs to be very professionally written and include all the information so investors will invest in you and your film by funding it so you can produce it. Therefore, I would advise a local media organisation to think about and produce their script thoroughly as it is essential for your film. It needs to be persuasive but get straight to the point as well as being brief, but in lots of detail. If your script is not produced to a professional standard and does is not persuasive then investors will not fund your film and if you have a large budget that you cannot self-fund, then you will not be able to produce your film therefore a well-produced script is vital and positively affects production and the film as a whole. 

Codes of Practice/ Regulations 

The Codes of Practice are particularly important to the film production as they help you meet legal obligations under health and safety laws, as well as get permissions to use certain music and research if it is copyrighted and if there are any royalties involved. The varied factors within codes of practice are permissions such as music, location releases (councils and police etc), cast/ extra releases, insurance (public liability), health and safety/ risk assessment, unions for cast and crew as well as many more. One factor that is particularly important to film production is the risk assessment, this is important as it makes you aware of the possible risks that may arise on set making you cautious of them and estimating how likely they are to happen and how fatal the risk could be. By working this out you can come up with a reasonable judgement on how severe the risk is and come up with solutions and ways to avoid them. Film production teams do this, for example ‘One Mile Away’ produced by Rare Day, had to create a risk assessment as the cast and crew had to go in dangerous environments but had to create a risk assessment to judge the risks and come up with ways to decrease the danger and make the cast and crew safe which worked out perfectly for them as the cast and crew was not injured during the shooting of the film. If the production team did not produce a risk assessment for the crew, then they may have not been as aware of the risks and not be cautious about them resulting in something terrible happening on set for example one the crew members getting hurt or injured therefore I would request a small media organisation to produce an in-depth risk assessment to identify risks and measure the likeliness and significance reducing the risks and putting the necessary steps in place to reduce their likeliness and significance. 

Another important factor is music permissions and making sure the music has copyright on them. If the music does not have copyright on them then people can steal your music and sell it even without your permission although if you copyright your music like the producers of ‘Whiplash’ did, then you can sell the soundtrack and own the audio that is in your film. This in turn made the film more money as people was interested in buying the Whiplash’s album passively affecting the film and bringing in even more money for the film. You also need to be careful about using other people's music and sounds as this could cause them to claim on you for using their sound. What you must do instead of using sound without permission is to contact the owner of the sound and negotiate the appropriate licenses for you to use. If you use music without permission, then this could result in lawsuits and a large chunk of money could be claimed by the party whose music you used reducing your revenue and therefore possibly resulting in a loss of revenue and an overall loss in money. Therefore, using music that is copyright free or being granted permission for using certain music in your soundtrack positively affects production and post-production as this may directly affect your revenue received from the film. Overall, the correct legal obligations must be completed going from risk assessments where risks are assessed, and ways are found to reduce the risk up to music permissions where you must copyright your music and sound as well as contact the owners of a sound that you want to use and not use it without permission.  

Conclusion 

Summarising all these segments, finance and budgeting is massively important as you don’t want to underbudget your film production and then not be able to cover the costs when it comes to it. Logistics is important as an effective production schedule needs to be put in place as if it isn't, then the film may not be produced on time and its release date will have to be delayed. Codes of Practice/ Regulations is important as the health and safety of it all is important as well as the legal side of things as this could in turn lead in a lawsuit if produced in a sloppy manner. Pre-production Documentation is also very important as this includes documentation such as the script which is a major part to the film as it is what the cast and crew read off and use to understand the dialogue the say and way to set up the scene. It needs to be produced very well as you don’t want the wrong message to be sent to your audience. Pre-production process is also very important as this includes processes such as the pitch which is how you show investors what your film is all about. If this is not produced very well and is not presented in a convincing way, then investors are less likely to invest in your film production resulting in your film not being produced. All these segments need to be carried out effectively and thoroughly so you can successfully produce your film with minimal risk of things going wrong.