Film Chain

PRODUCTION 

 

The Production Process: 

The production process refers to the stages (phases) required to complete a media product, from the idea to the final master copy. The process can apply to any type of media production including film, video, television and audio recording. The stages in each medium vary; for example, there is obviously no storyboard in an audio recording. However the same general concepts work for any medium. 

The three main stages of production are: 

1. Pre-production: Planning, scripting & storyboarding, etc. 

2. Production: The actual shooting/recording. 

3. Post-production: Everything between production and creating the final master copy. 

Pre-Production- 

Pre-production is a fairly loose term which refers to the tasks undertaken before production begins. Exactly what is included in this stage depends on the medium and situation. 

For a small video company, pre-production may refer to everything that happens before shooting begins, for example, meeting with the client, research, storyboarding, location planning, etc. 

For feature films, pre-production is more specific and only begins when other milestones have been met such as financing, screenplay, casting and major staffing. In this case pre-production includes: 

• Location scouting 
• Prop and wardrobe identification and preparation 
• Special effects identification and preparation 
• Production schedule 
• Set construction 
• Script-locking (semi-finalisation of the script) 
• Script read-through with cast, director and other interested parties 

Production- 

In film and video, production refers to the part of the process in which footage is recorded. This is what most people imagine when they think of a film being made — actors on sets, cameras rolling, etc. The production phase is also known as principal photography. 

In large feature films the beginning of the production phase marks the "point of no return", i.e. the point at which it is no longer financially viable to cancel the project. At this point it is almost always cheaper to continue until the project is finished than to deal with the financial fall-out of canceling. 

The goal of principal photography is obviously to record all required shots, however it is fairly common to shoot "pick-up" shots in post-production. Pick-up shots may be required when a mistake is noticed, a script change is made (this is unusual), or even if a performance is deemed to be unsatisfactory. 

In music, production usually refers to the creative direction of a project. Unlike a film producer who is more of a manager, a music producer has a very hands-on role in the creative development. 

Post-Production- 

Post-production is the third and final major phase of the production process. It is often referred to simply as post, e.g. "We can sort that out in post". 

There are many things which can happen in post-production. Common tasks include: 

• Editing video footage 
• Editing the soundtrack, adding sound effects, music, etc. 
• Adding titles and graphics 
• Colour and exposure correction 
• Adding special effects 
• Re-shooting certain scenes if required ("pick-up" shots) 

In some cases post-production is relatively straightforward, consisting of choosing and arranging footage in the correct sequence. In most cases however, post-production is a time-consuming job taking longer than the actual production phase. 

Producers in the Film Industry-

One of my favourite movie producers would have to be Steven Spielberg, one reason being he produced my favourite movie - Saving Private Ryan. Spielberg currently has 3 Oscars and over 165 other achievements! He is definitely my favourite. 

Independent Productions- 

An Independent Production of a film is when a film is edited, directed, produced etc. by an independent persons or completely outside of a main studio. Such as - Everyday, Beasts of the southern wild, Arcadia etc.

How Different Studios Impact The Film Produced- 

Studios such as Marvel and Pixar generally make motion picture/animated films, these type of films are their field of concentration. 

Film studios such as Paramount Pictures and 20th century fox do live action films as well as motion picture. 

All studios have different strengths and this is what gives us variety!

Distribution 

Film Distribution is the process in which a film get from the edit-house to your local cinema screens. This process is usually done by a professional film distributor who decides which root your film should follow. However it can also be done independently but this may not be the most efficient way! 

Film festivals are usually for film makers who aren't mainstream, sometime these people find it hard to distribute theatrically so they host a film festival, this is there way of distributing the film - first hand. The traditional way of distributing would be theatrical but nowadays movies are becoming 100% digital and available to download at the click of a mouse! 

The day of release plays a huge role in the distribution, for example, releasing a film on a Monday morning when everybody is going to work wouldn't be a great idea, usually films are released on weekends, Friday's in particular. This is because people have a 2 day break with free time and money they've saved up. You always have blockbusters out Memorial Day, 4th of July, and Labor Day weekends. Three day weekends garner bigger audiences. Ever since Jaws invented the summer blockbuster, horror/action/sci-fi movies for 4th of July have been a staple.  

If a film doesn't secure a film distribution deal, it is likely to fail, it would have to distribute independently which is not always easy so sitting on a shelf somewhere is likely to be its destiny. However more and more films are being released independently so there may be a small market for it.

Marketing 

Marketing is the process of promoting a product or service to a specific group of people with specific interests, for example, putting an advert for toys on Cartoon Network would be a good marketing plan as kids and parents watch Cartoon Network. This contrast to distribution, you would distribute your film to a theatre, however you would market it on a poster outside the cinema.  

Here are 11 movie trailers which were deemed the best. This would be a successful marketing approach but it comes with a hefty budget. 

Here is a poster that caught my attention, I remember when I first saw it, I instantly knew I was going to watch the film,

THE DARK KNIGHT

 

Here are some more ways of advertising, they include bus adverts, happy meals and internet banners. 

Bus advert - 007 skyfall

Happy meal - Shrek

Films can cater for different audiences such as different language barriers, usually producers just voice over and usually have trailers in other languages as seen here. This trailer caters for people who understand Hindi, a dialect mostly spoken in India

But one that stood out to me was Angelina Jolie she shot two of the same film in different dialct. Here's and extract from the article : 

Internet banner

Angelina Jolie is filming her directorial debut, a controversial love story between a Muslim woman and a Serbian man, in two different languages: English and the Eastern European dialect many of her actors speak.  "We actually shot a full version in their native language and we shot a full version in English. We shot two complete films," Jolie tells local outlet Vasarnapi Hirek. "I was only able to do it because the actors were so fluent in English so they were willing to work hard and do the scenes in two languages."  
Theaters will have the option to choose the version they want to play depending on the region.

Exhibition 

Ways in which individuals can watch films nowadays are countless, we have digitial media now which almost every youth uses there are many services available such as Netflix, Hulu, Sky+, Virgin Media, iTunes... the list goes on. And to thin we can use all of these on our phone is crazy! Although some of us still use traditional ways such as DVD's. 

A box office used to be a place where anyone would buy tickets for a film or production. However the term is frequently used as a term for the success of a film, usually how much gross profit they make in a weekend etc. It is determined as a good box office if a film is successful. 

Depending on who was involved in the production of a movie and the release of the movie, everyone would get a certain cut, for example the production team may get 60%, the distributors may get 10%, the marketers may get 10%, actors may get 15% and the cinema may only get 5%. 

The reason why a cinema only gets so little is because they make HUGE amounts of money off of food, drinks, gaming arcades and even car parking. That's why your pocket is always short after a family trip! 

Most cinema's have comfortable seats and a quite environment, this is what encourages people to watch movies at their theatre as it may be just like watching at home, if not better. Not to mention the huge screen. 

Ancillary markets are non-theatrical markets for feature films such as television, internet streaming and pay per view. This is a form of exhibition because the film can be accessed on TV but, the public has to pay for it before they can see the film. 

BFI 

Funded by government as a national collection, the BFI National Archive has its origins in the movement to conserve film history in the 1930s and was founded as the National Film Library in 1935, just two years after the establishment of the British Film Institute, as the fulfilment of the BFI’s remit to ‘maintain a national repository of films of permanent value.’ 

They encourage the development of the arts of film, television and the moving image throughout the United Kingdom, to promote their use as a record of contemporary life and manners, to promote education about film, television and the moving image generally, and their impact on society, to promote access to and appreciation of the widest possible range of British and world cinema and to establish, care for and develop collections reflecting the moving image history and heritage of the United Kingdom.