the pre production essay

The pre-production process:

Types of moving image production (media forms):

For this project we were working on a 90 second video for DepicT an online competition; the video also has been shown on social media such as Facebook. I worked in a group with Zara Griffen and Sebastian Lear to produce the video titled A Visual Interpretation of Depression which ca be found on YouTube. There are lots of other methods of distributing films such as on demand e.g. 4od and BBC iplayer; other ways consist of DVD’s, Videos, streaming such as Netflix, adverts/ ident’s, cinemas, webisodes and Television. These are all effective ways of getting films noticed to the public. We made a short film for this project however there are other types of film and programs such as feature length films like Avengers, TV programs which come as singles, soaps and as a series. Adverts are another effective way of promoting films via trailers E.G.  Human traffic: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q_5xwVFVM3I and you also can film an advert promoting a brand such as this snickers advert: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qIVDxL2lgN4. Making music videos is another effective way of promoting a band or singer through the internet and television E.G. The Wombats: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9MHmx9nvHqU

Finance and sources of finance:

As the majority of people cannot self-fund their own films they need some kind of investment or funding which can be sourced through several different methods… there are some people with too much money to know how to spend it so they become private investors in films such as Megan Ellison who is the daughter of an American billionaire; so she spends her time and money investing in films such as true grit. A popular way of acquiring the money for films is by using crowd funding such as kickstarter which is where you ask your fans or people of interest for money to fund your business idea or film. Another form of this is E-begging which can be done for various reasons to reach out to the public for help contribute towards something, in this case it would be funding a film. You can get a studio backing to fund your film but it is not the best way as they want to take control of who and what is in your film; this is why many believe that crowd funding is best because you still remain in control of everything. Lots of high earning films that are going to make sequels such as MARVEL’s Avengers have sold their licensing to several companies so that they can legally produce merchandise for the film such as action figures and posters, this is a big industry where these companies will pay thousands of pounds to get the licence and this in turn funds there film budget. Another way of funding films which isn’t really the most effective is through competition prizes however you have to make a film first to win the competition so that you can make the intended film… DepicT is a good example of a film competition website which is what we are doing for this project. To fund filming you can also get a development fund which is a type of loan that can lend businesses or film makers money although it does have to be repaid and there is sometimes a fairly large APR percentage. One form of this is a BFI fund; this has a big reputation for supporting the UK film industry and has funded films such as Mr Holmes.

Requirement for any production:

For any production there are several requirements such as props which need to be paid for this can be things from studio hire to catering… Talent is an important part of a film production as you need actors/actresses in the production, another very important item is a camera; without this you may as well have nothing. Lighting and microphones are other essential bits of kit. You have to pay for things such as travel as talent and crew would not be expected to pay for flights etc. this also includes accommodation; you need to pay for film crews, editing and permissions to use land. For the film we made as a group we did not have to spend any money at the time, as everything was available to us, I owned a DSLR camera, tripod and lenses; I borrowed a go pro off my friend for the time-lapse and the microphone was hired off the college. All editing software was on the college computers so this did not have to be paid for either.

Personnel:

We allocated the work in our groups by ability although we shared everything we had to do, however people who where more skilled at whichever part where more involved and teaching the others. I did the majority of the of the cinematography, as I have been studying photography for three years now I could teach the others how to use a DSLR such as the boken shot of which Seb did, this required a large aperture (F1.6) and he didn’t know about aperture. Zara did a lot of the editing as she is the best at post production out of us however we all had a go at it. Seb did the voice recording as it was only to be his dialog throughout the video. There are lots of other people that are involved in the production of a media text behind the scenes such as screen righters like Alfred Hitchcock, runners help to keep films going and are very often overlooked. The most important jobs in a film are done behind the scenes such as directing and producer.

Time:  

We used the time we where given well although most of the filming was done out of college so during lessons was not as productive that week but we worked on the pre production some more and helped out some other groups, we finished the editing a day early so this meant the video could be put on YouTube before the deadline.  If a deadline isn’t met in the professional industry it can set everything else back costing them very large amounts of money as studios would have been hired for certain days and travel to locations would have to be rebooked.  

Equipment/Facilities:

In the professional moving image industry you have to get a film crew from a facility house unless you can buy all of the equipment and find hire your own crew. The equipment available to me was already owned by me except the microphone. The nearest facility house to us is in Norwich, it is called White Label Media, it is sponsored by the UEA and is BBC and ITV approved.   

Locations:

For the depict assignment we used several different locations to get the desired shots. At the start of the project we scouted for the locations on a recce. We got the location releases signed by the appropriate people however some of the locations we could not get permit ion due to lack of understanding the ownership of certain locations such as the abandoned house in Lingwood. The shot off the woods at the start of the short film is on public ground so we did not need permission to shoot there. 

We chose to shoot in the woods for the start of the video because it looked very effective for the mood we where trying to set for the video overall.

I am unsure of the location of the next shot as it was somebody from the IT office that shot the clip using a drone.

The next shot was taken at the abandoned house in lingwood, it looks really depressing as it is so dilapidated, it suits the mood of the short film.

The next location is again in Lingwood, it is a time-lapse of a sunset showing a field and surrounding area as it gets darker. This helps to portray the mood of the film as it is a sunset and is getting darker.

This next location was on a footbridge over the Caister bypass, it is a boken shot (out of focus) that shows the car lights at night going into the distance.

Again I am unsure of the location of the next shot as it is another drone shot by a member of the IT staff.

Materials:

In addition to camera equipment, crew and cast there are several other important materials that are needed in order for a media production. these include things such as:

• Props- These can be bought online, in specific shops or made.
• Costumes- These can be bought online or in shops. 
• Scripts- A script writer or group of script writhers will have to be employed. 
• Audio/ music (this can be originally produced, pay for licences to use existing music, or can be downloaded of a royalty free website such as Bensound http://www.bensound.com/.) 
• Pyrotechnics- Presumably somebody trained in the line of work will be employed. 

There are several financial considerations that need to be considered when purchasing materials for a media production, this includes how many props and pyrotechnics do you need to buy of each especially if they are going to be destroyed in a scene, how much you are paying for said material due to potential tight budget.

Legal issues:

There are several legal issues that need to be considered in a media production; one of the most important of these is copywrite law, this is so that companies and individuals keep full ownership of there products and ideas that have been patented. Another very important consideration is the health and safety of everyone involved in the production, the company or individuals can be sued for any ignores or accidents as they would be liable for the health and safety of there staff. 

Copyright protects everyone in the UK, there is no fee to get something copyrighted and it covers a wide range of things like film and television recordings, photography and sound and music recordings. Copyright protects you from people copying your work, putting copies of your work on the internet, selling or lending copies of your work and from making an adaptation of your work. Copyright did not particularly affect our DepicT project as the music we used for it was royalty free of a specific website that houses lots of stock music. However copyright would have helped our project so that people cannot copy our finished film. 

Regulations:

OFCOM is the communications regulator for the UK, they regulate the TV, radio, fixed line telecoms, mobile phones and postal services. Rather than OFCOM regulating the BBC it has its own trust (The BBC Trust). These two are different as the BBC Trust is private and does not use advertisement whereas OFCOM are an independent regulated and need funding through advertisement, this is why whenever you watch any channel other than a BBC on there are adverts, much the same as radio. The BBFC stands for the British Board of Film Classification, they control the age in which it is suitable to watch a specific film or video E.G. U, 12A, 12, 15 and 18. OFCOM can only control things such as TV and radio but they cannot control the internet to stop people from seeing anything that may be harmful of offensive to watch. The BBFC aim to protect children and adults from seeing something that may be harmful to them much like OFCOM do however they get there responses of the public every so many years to see if the age ratings are still of approval or if they need to be more str
ict. 

Trade unions and trade associations: 

A trade union is a group of workers or people with a similar profession that are formed to protect their rights as a worker; this is important so that if there is anything that workers do not agree on they can speak as a group to there employer and have the ability to go on strike. BECT is a union for people in Broadcasting, Entertainment, Cinematography and Theatre. They protect things like employment and pensions and promote equality in the workplace. A trade association is an organisation that is funded by businesses that operate in a specific industry.