In this report, I am going to advise local community media organisations
on the essential pre-production work that takes place as part of a creative
media production. I will be evaluating the pre-production requirements,
procedures and documentation and how they apply to different media projects
such as 'Monsters', 'World War Z' and 'One Mile Away'.
Pre-production is the work done on any
media product and planning before full-scale production begins. If
pre-production is carried out effectively it can ensure that the media product
will be successful. Pre-production is crucial and without it the success of the
film could be hugely affected.
There are three stages in a production:
pre-production, production and post-production. Pre-production ends when the
planning ends and the content starts being produced.
Finance
There are many types of funding options for available to media producers
such as crowd funding, grants, government funding, private investors, tax
reliefs, self-financing, co-production and product placement. However not all
media producers have all these options available to them which means they must
find out which options are convenient for them and should make the decision of
what type of funding they are going to go with and which they believe would be
the best suited to them.
Some media productions are financed by big studios such as Paramount.
Paramount financed the film World War Z, which had a budget of $125 million.
The advantages of getting an investment from a big studio is that they have a
lot of money from investing in other films and it’s also a lot quicker than
having to raise the money by going down the route of a different option.
However, the big studio will want a percentage of the films earnings and if a
film isn’t successful it will mean there won’t be much money left for the
producers. Another disadvantage is that big studios only want to make
blockbusters with big stars and have more control of the movies.
When sourcing finance, producers need to make sure they manage their
budget effectively and this is crucial to make sure they don’t go over budget
and have to get extra money. However, the producers of 'World War Z' spent all
the $125 million and then went back to Paramount to ask for more money.
Paramount had two choices, either to give the director the extra money or to
not give them the extra money. If they didn’t give them the extra money it
would have had repercussions and this would mean the film would never have been
finished which would have been disappointing and the production company would
have lost $125 million. In the end the film was successful earning $540 million
in the box office. Although this was an effective method of funding for this
film, realistically community media organisations shouldn’t go down this route
of funding and this is because it's such a small project it means the big
studios wouldn’t even give them the funding for it.
Some media productions are financed by the bank, the producers of
Monsters pitched for their money to the bank and they ended up with a budget of
$500,000. The advantages of getting the money from the bank are that the money
would be secure and trusted and that when the bank agree to give you the money
you are guaranteed you are going to get it, where as with other options of
funding such as crowd-funding, you never know how much money you are going to
get. This is also a lot quicker process rather than having to go down the route
of raising the funds. However, a disadvantage of getting the money from the
bank is that the bank will expect you to pay back interest and in the case of
the film ‘Monsters’ the bank wanted a 50% bonus back plus 5% from the producers
profits. Getting a loan from a bank can also be seen as quite a risk and this
is because the film might be unsuccessful and not earn enough money to pay the
bank back as well and to an extent this is a risk the director of ‘Monsters’
had to consider. Although, in this case it was successful and the film made
$4.2 million in the box office. I don’t think getting the money from the bank
would be suitable for community media organisations because it means they have
to pay the money back to the bank as well as a cut of their earnings and
because it’s a small project they might not earn enough to pay it back.
Some media productions are funded by more than one smaller company such
as the film documentary 'One Mile Away'. The film was funded by Channel 4,
Barrow Cadbury Trust and Creative England, with development grants from PUMA
and Fallon and finishing funds from Influence Film Fund. The producers needed
all these companies to fund the project because otherwise they wouldn’t have had
enough money to make the documentary. The producers made a pledge on
Kickstarter; a funding platform for creative projects. The producers aim was to
raise £20,000 on Kickstarter by the 11th of April and they reached
their goal by raising £21,033. Although, they managed to reach their goal
things could have gone a lot differently. For example, when setting up a pledge
you never know how much money you are going to get and the outcome could have
been that they might not have had enough money to even proceed making the film
and this is a disadvantage. It can also take a lot of time to raise the money
which is why other options of funding are more secure. However, by going down
this route of funding it means the producers don’t have to pay the money back.
I think this is the best option of funding for community media organisations
because it means that they don’t have to pay any of the money back and this
would be the most suitable.
Logistics
There are a lot of logistical elements media producers need to consider
when filming such as effective management of the production schedule and
understanding the need for contingency plans. It is vital that the producers
get clearance to film in locations, otherwise it could result in them being
prosecuted. It's also very important to plan which props and costumes are going
to be used and making sure to hire all the equipment you need. Another factor
to take into consideration is catering and this is for the crew and actors and
it's important to make sure not to spend too much money on elements like this.
The director of ‘Monsters’ did not get clearances to film in any of the
five countries that they filmed in and this meant that they could have faced
major consequences. Getting permission to film in certain locations ensures
that if anything goes wrong while they are at that location they are covered
and won't face any consequences, however if something went wrong and the
producers hadn't even got permission to film there in the first place they
could face a major backlash. Although, not getting permission could have
benefits in the long run; it means the producers don’t have to wait to get
clearance which means they can just start filming straight away. This saves a
lot of time which means you're not paying the crew for as long resulting in
saving some money. However, this was very much a risk for the director of
'Monsters'. I believe that the producers planned effectively to make sure they
didn’t spend too much money on the logistical aspects such as props, costumes
and catering and I believe this because I didn’t find any evidence to tell me
otherwise. The director also stated that he wanted to spend most of the budget
on location. I also believe that the producers didn't have a contingency plan
and this is because the director planned to create the visual effects for the
film himself at home, but because he was an amateur this took him a very long
time to do and you would've thought he would have had a plan B to hire somebody
else to do the visual effects.
The producers of 'Monsters' bought the filming equipment for $15,000 and
this was a very small amount of their budget. However, they only got consumer
grade prosumer level equipment such as a Digital Video Camera, rather than the
more expensive 35mm film. I believe getting cheaper filming equipment was a
good idea because it didn’t affect the film in any way and just proves not all
producers need to get professional paraphernalia, which also resulted in saving
money. The film was edited on a laptop instead of getting professional
equipment and this also saved money. I believe it's very important that local
community projects don’t do the same as the director of monsters did and my
advice would be to produce a detailed production schedule and detailed budgets
and also get clearances to film in every single place otherwise you could face
a backlash which small local media producers cannot afford.
The directors of 'World war Z' got clearances to film in every location
they had filmed in. They could not have afforded to take any risks such as not
getting clearances to film in locations and this is because they got their
money from a very high profile big studio. Not only would it have hugely
affected the producers of 'World War Z' if they didn’t get permission but it
would also have affected Paramount who financed the film and they would all be
sued for a lot of money probably resulting in the film never being finished.
However, getting clearances for locations means that if anything goes wrong
while filming in these locations then they wouldn’t get sued, although nothing
should technically go wrong if all precautions have been considered and risk
assessments have been made. The evidence I found suggests that the producers
planned effectively enough to not spend too much money on logistical aspects
such as catering, props and costumes and made sure they had all the equipment
they needed. However, I believe that the producers didn’t make a very good
contingency plan or failed to make one altogether and I think this because they
decided to have the films third act rewrote and reshot, but if they planned
effectively enough in the first place then this wouldn't have happened. This
information is very helpful for local media producers and they should follow
what the producers of 'World War Z' did and get clearances for filming in all locations. This information could also be helpful as it shows local media producers that a contingency plan is essential as it means you have a solution to any problem that arises.
It is likely that the producers of 'One Mile Away' got clearances to
film in every location in Birmingham that they filmed in. This ensured that if
anything went wrong while filming that the producers wouldn’t suffer any
repercussions. The evidence I found leads me to believe that the producers had
effective management of their production schedule and also had a contingency
plan in place.
In conclusion, I believe that its crucial for local community projects
to get permission to film in locations, this is because small community
projects like this only have a very small budget meaning that they can't afford
to be sued because this would result in no money being left for the project.
It's also very important to create contingency plans and this is so that if
there is any setbacks then they have a plan B. Organizations that don’t make
contingency plans often do poorly when setbacks happen. Contingency planning is
critical to success and it's important to have one in place, this is because if
plan A goes wrong and you don’t have a plan B it means people will have to
spend longer time planning which means people will have to be paid for longer
resulting in less money for the budget.
Codes of Practice/Regulations
There are a lot of legal factors media producers have to consider during
the pre-production process, for example when all films are being made the
producers have to follow certain regulations and guidelines which are vital,
such as getting clearances to film in locations, having insurance, following
health and safety, complying with the codes of practice, getting permission to
use copyrighted content (such as music) and producing risk assessments. If
producers fail to follow these regulations it can be illegal and can result in
them being sued. Producers also have to make sure to pay the cast the correct
amount of money; actors have to be in a union called Equity which states how
much they have to be paid. The crew might also be in a union called BECTU
(Broadcasting, entertainment, cinematograph and theatre union) and this has
rates of pay identified for different jobs.
The producers of 'Monsters' did not follow the regulation of getting
permission to film in any of the locations and this was a very big risk for the
producers meaning that if they got caught out or if anything went wrong on
these locations then they could be sued which would have hugely affected the
production of 'Monsters' because they only had a small budget of $500,000.
Because the director had never made a film before it meant he was an amateur
yet he probably did understand the actual risks of not getting clearances but
risked this anyway as a way of saving time and money and this was an advantage.
Other than this I believe the producers followed the rest of the
regulations, 'Monsters' contained a lot of stunts meaning that a lot of risk
assessments would have had to be carried out. If risk assessments aren't
carried out and something goes wrong and causes an accident then this can
result in the producers facing a major backlash. I believe this information is
useful for local media producers because it gives them examples of what no to
do. My advice is that they should definitely get permission to film in all
locations. Other aspects that should be completed are getting permission to use
certain music, having insurance and making risk assessments.
To an extent the producers of 'World War Z' appear to have followed most
of the regulations. One regulation the producers failed to follow was when they
didn't let the Hungarian Authorities know that a delivery of weapons was going
to be delivered and this resulted in the Hungarian Counter Terrorism Centre
raiding the warehouse that the weapons were delivered to. The documentation
also stated that the weapons had been fully disabled but they were found to be
fully functional. I think that this was a very dangerous thing for the
producers to do and this got taken to court. However, the producers were very
lucky because the charges got dropped. The outcome could have been completely
different and they could have been sued or faced even worse consequences
because this was a very serious regulation to not follow. Local community media
producers should take this information into consideration and make sure they
follow the regulations like the producers of 'World War Z' but also make sure
to fill out any documentation correctly unlike the producers did for 'World War
Z'
I believe that the producers of 'One Mile Away' followed all the
regulations and this is because there is no evidence of them failing to do so.
I also believe this because the director of the film, Penny Woolcock has made
films before meaning that she is a professional who understands how important
following regulations are. She also got some of the funding from a high-profile
company (Channel 4) and if she didn’t follow the regulations then not only would
it create a bad reputation for her but it would also reflect on Channel 4. If
she didn’t follow regulations it could mean she is at risk of being sued and
with a small budget of around £20,000 this is something the producers cannot
afford to risk. Also, because the film documentary had no script and was based
around gangs it meant that something was likely to go wrong while filming and
this happened to the director herself when a gun was held up to her. All of the
crew also wore stab proof jackets and this means that risk assessments will
have been carried out. If an accident had happened and not all regulations had
been followed they could have faced being sued. This also leads me to believe
that the director had liability insurance. This is the most useful information
for local media producers because it gives examples of exactly what they should
do.
In conclusion, I believe that local community projects should follow all
regulations. This is because failing to follow regulations and codes of
practice is illegal and if accidents happen this can be very risky. Accidents
can always happen and this happened to a stunt woman while filming a stunt for
Deadpool 2 which resulted in her death, if it was found that the producers had
failed to complete the relevant risk assessments they would get sued. If a
local community project failed to follow regulations they would be at risk of
being sued and this isn't something a small project can afford to be risking.
Pre-Production Documentation
There is a range of pre-production documentation that media producers
should complete such as call sheets, storyboards, scripts, risk assessments and
so on. It is also crucial to keep pre-production documentation somewhere safe;
if you are filming on a location and somebody comes and asks you if you have
permission to film there then you can easily get your documentation out that
states you have permission. If an accident happens while filming someone will
also have to see documentation such as risk assessments to check they have been
carried out properly.
The director (Gareth Edwards) wrote ‘Monsters’ and he did not storyboard
or script the film but wrote a treatment of the story and outlines that
detailed specifics points that needed to be hit in dialogue. I believe that not
storyboarding or scripting was a bad idea because it could result in filming
taking longer. Call sheets will also have been made because without these the
actors wouldn’t know which days to show up which makes filming very
complicated. If actors came in on the wrong days due to not having a call sheet
then they would still have to be paid; not having call sheets is unprofessional
and even though the director had never made a film before I believe he would
have made call sheets because he understands the importance of them. ‘Monsters’
contained a lot of stunts and this leads me to believe that risk assessments
will definitely have been carried out because health and safety is very
important. If something went wrong when filming and the producers hadn’t made
risk assessments then they would be prosecuted. In my opinion, I think that
local community media producers should storyboard and script their project
because without them filming can take a lot longer which results in cast and
crew needing paying for longer
The producers of ‘World War Z’ failed to clear the delivery of 85
assault rifles, sniper rifles and handguns with the Hungarian authorities which
meant the Hungarian Counter Terrorism Centre raided the warehouse that the guns
had been delivered to. This could have been prevented if the producers got the
relevant clearances and had stored the documentation. The documentation also
stated that the weapons had been fully disabled but they were found to be fully
functional. I believe filling the documentation out incorrectly was a very
inconsiderate thing to do and could have resulted in the producers being
prosecuted. This resulted in the matter going to court, although the producers
were very lucky and the charges were dropped due to the investigators being unable
to establish who was criminally liable for these mistakes which meant the
producers were off the hook. The outcome of this could have been very different
and the producers could have been sued for a lot of money which could have
resulted in the film never being finished due to not having enough funds. A
script was made for this film but the third act was re-written. I believe this
was only a good idea if re-writing the scenes was absolutely necessary; this
resulted in spending ore money and taking more time. Storyboards will also have
been made that will have had to be re-made due to script changes. Risk
assessments will definitely have been made due to the film containing a lot of
stunts. It’s very important to keep track of a budget record, for example the
producers of ‘World War Z’ would have had to make a budget record and this is
used to show Paramount that they have been spending their funding properly. My
advice is that local media producers should have a script written and make sure
that’s the script that they definitely want to go ahead with, otherwise this
could result in them changing their mind which means a script would be
rewritten resulting in more time and money. I also think all documentation
should be completed and kept safe.
The producers of ‘One Mile Away’ didn’t have scripts or story boards and
this was down to the fact that it was a documentary. Documentaries aren’t
scripted and anything can happen while filming them which leads me to believe
that risk assessments were carried out for safety because anything could have
happened while filming two rival gangs. Call sheets won’t have been made
because this film didn’t have any actors in it because it was a documentary
following the lives of real people. The producers of ‘One Mile Away’ will have
had to make a budget record and this is because they got most of the money for
their funding from the high-profile company Channel 4 and Channel 4 would have
had to see the budget records to check they were spending the money efficiently
and not wasting it. I think this information is useful for local media
producers because it gives them examples of how to make a documentary and if
that is the type of project they want to make then this would come in useful.
In conclusion I think that local media projects should compete all
documentation and also make sure to keep it safe and this is so that if anyone
asks to see their documentation then they can easily show it them. I also think
that all the documentation should be completed because it saves time in the
long run and ensures the producers won’t get in trouble for anything. I believe
the producers of ‘World War Z’ will take into consideration all of their
mistakes and this should help advise other media producers to not fill
documentation out incorrectly.
Pre-production process
There is a conventional pre-production process in a certain order that
all media producers should follow. The steps to the process are: research,
proposal, treatment, pitch/seek funding followed by the plan.
The director of ‘Monsters’ had never made a film before which meant he
will have had to spend a lot of time researching how to make a successful film.
The director (Gareth Edwards) realised he would only have a small budget for
the film he wanted to make because he was new to directing and had never done
it before and this would mean he would have to research and learn how to be
efficient with the budget. After this he then pitched his idea to Vertigo Films
(a production company) where producer James Richardson asked him to watch ‘In
Search of a Midnight Kiss’ for an example of low-budget filmmaking and this had
a very small budget of $15,000. Watching this will have helped Gareth Edwards
understand how careful he would have to be with the budget to make ‘Monsters’ successful.
As a director, setting yourself timescales is also very important and
this is because it keeps everything on track and plans when a certain task
should be done by. Gareth Edwards planned to create the visual effects for
himself and gave himself a target timescale of 5 months to get it all done.
This is supposed to keep you on track so you don’t miss deadlines, however in
this case two months had gone by and he’d not even finished one visual effect.
I think this was a case of trial and error and he should have had a contingency
plan in place to get a professional in to do the visual shots.
The producers of ‘World War Z’ pitched to Paramount for their budget and
they was given $125 million for the making of the film. I don’t believe that
the producers of this film researched enough on how to spend their budget
carefully because they spent all their money and had to go back to Paramount
for more money and got their budget upped to $195. This was due to scripts
being re-written and scenes being re-shot. This also leads me to believe that
they didn’t have a very good budget schedule because if they planned what they
were going to spend the funding on then they wouldn’t have had to pitch for
more. The film was originally set for release in December 2012, the production
suffered some setbacks. In June 2012, the film's release date was pushed back.
This leads me to believe that timescales weren’t followed which is why there
was a delay in the film being released. My advice is that local media producers
should take a lot of time to research before going ahead with their project.
It's also very important to set yourself timescales because if not the project
can fall behind and take longer than expected and this would result in people
having to be paid for longer.
The director of ‘One Mile Away’ was passionate about making this
documentary because she wanted younger society to see watch it in an attempt to
try and make the community of Birmingham better and safer. Because of this she
set up a pledge on Kickstarter, she planned a timescale for the funding period
and this was Mar 12th 2013 - Apr 11th 2013 (30 days). Although every media
product needs research, the director of this documentary had made other films before
on small budgets so this was something she wasn’t new to and already had an
idea of what she was doing. My advice is that local media producers should be
passionate about the project they want to make like Penny Woolcock was.
In conclusion I believe that it is very important that local media
producers take a lot of time to research before making any type of media
product, this is so that they can consider all the factors and decide whether
or not to go ahead with their idea. For example, local media producers will
have to take into consideration the amount of money and resources they have and
decide if their idea would actually be successful. If you decide to go ahead
the next step would be to decide if you have enough money or not, if not I
would recommend going down the route of crowdfunding. This is because small
media producers wouldn’t be able to get funding from the Big 6 Studios. Also,
if they got the funding from the bank then they would have to pay the bank back
plus interest and this could be a risk for smaller projects because you may not
earn enough to pay them back.
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