The Pre-Production Process

Type of production

We were given the task to create a Depict short 90 second film. For our distribution, we uploaded it to YouTube.  There many ways to distribute films, for professionally made films they distribute through box office or put on to CDs, Distributing through box office makes the most money.

Finance and sources of funding

There are different types of media products, some are short films that are 30 seconds long and others, which are professionally made, which are can vary in length for 90 minutes to 180 minutes, each type distribute in different ways. Professionally made films gets a well-known distributer who have a lot of money to distribute their films, these companies normally release the films to cinemas, and after they release to onto DVD. Other films, which are made by lesser-known producers usually, go straight to DVD. Some films are played on TV, which gets them money from the adverts played in the brakes.

Some of the funding for films come as donations from various websites from people who enjoy a certain director’s films or believe that the project will be a success. Other well-known films are funded from companies that feel that the film will be a success invest in the movie and will earn profit when the movie hits the box office. Some movies are fund by the actors involved in the project who believe that the project will be a success.

Requirements

The crew already owned everything we needed for the Depict task. Some of the required thing we needed were; camera, music, location, and actors.

Personnel

In different types of media production, you require different quantities and types of personnel, for example in a low budget short production you would we limited to the amount of personnel based on how low the budget or how much the production costs. So a normal crew for a low budget short would only we a few people doing multiple jobs, this normally means that the entire production takes longer.

In a Hollywood feature film the personnel, because of the amount of funding going into a Hollywood feature film; people would have their own specific job making the production go a lot faster compared to a low budget film. In a TV programme they would have, a team working on things together like a Hollywood feature just with a lower budget and less money on CGI. When making a film the crew normally consists of a;

• ·        Director
• ·        Second unit director
• ·        Music director
• ·        Writer
• ·        Producer
• ·        Executive producer
• ·        Line producer
• ·        Production manager
• ·        Assistant manager
• ·        Assistant production manager
• ·        Unit manager
• ·        Production coordinator
• ·        First assistant director
• ·        Second assistant director
• ·        Production accountant
• ·        Location manager
• ·        Assistant location manager
• ·        Location scout
• ·        Location assistant
• ·        Location production assistant
• ·        Casting director
• ·        Cast PA
• ·        Camera operator
• ·        First assistant camera
• ·        Second assistant camera
• ·        Film loader
• ·        Digital imaging technician
• ·        Gaffer
• ·        Grip
• ·        Key grip
• ·        Dolly grip
• ·        Sound grip
• ·        Production sound mixer
• ·        Boom operator
• ·        Production designer
• ·        Art director
• ·        Set decorator
• ·        Prop maker
• ·        Costume designer
• ·        Costume supervisor
• ·        Make-up artist
• ·        Hair stylist
• ·        Stunt coordinator
• ·        Film editor
• ·        Negative cutter
• ·        Visual effects producer
• ·        Compositor
• ·        Sound designer
• ·        Sound editor

In our group, we spread the work out equally between our group, because there was only three of us for the pre-production I worked on the risk assessment, Budgeting. I also helped with the filming and was an actor. Everyone was involved with the editing.

Time

If the deadlines are not met in a professional media industry, it can result in people who are linked with whatever part that caused it being fired. In our Depict film, we did not meet our deadline mainly because we lost the footage multiple times causing us to re-shoot the same shoot multiple times.

Equipment/ Facilities

Equipment like cameras and props for professional media productions are either rented or created by the crew. For our Depict project the camera and tripod were all provided by the college and all out fits where owned by the actors.

Locations

Location recces are used by scout out an area where you will be filming so you can determine if that area is safe enough to film at. A location release gives you permission to film at the location if it if private property, it also lets the owner of the property know that if any damage done to the property while filming it will be the production company fault.

For our Depict video we chose outside of East Norfolk Sixth Form College because it was perfect for the establishing shot, we also filmed in down in Gorleston high street. While down there we kept having to re-shoot the same shot because we were filming in a car park and cars occasionally came into the car park causing us to stop filming, this only happened a few times so it didn’t really affect us too much.

Legal issues

When filming outside in the view of the public using props like a knife or gun even if fake can cause panic to avoid this you should inform everyone in the area, you should also try to clear the area and get a police form so the police are informed about your filming.

Copyright can affect many productions because it can cost them money if they use certain sounds or music. In our Depict production, we never used anything that is copyrighted, we checked before using it.

Public liability insurance covers the costs of any legal claims due to injury of a third party or if property sustains damage when under your use.

Clearance in media refers to securing permission of copyrighted material and researching property to see if there are any ownership claims and disputes.

Completion guarantee is an insurance that is offered by a completion guarantor company in return for a percentage fee based on the budget of a media production.

Regulation

OFCOM is the communications regulator in the UK. There main legal duties are to ensure:

• ·         The UK has a wide range of electronic communications services, including high-speed services such as broadband;
• ·         A wide range of high-quality television and radio programmes are provided, appealing to a range of tastes and interests;
• ·         Television and radio services are provided by a range of different organisations;
• ·         People who watch television and listen to the radio are protected from harmful or offensive material;
• ·         People are protected from being treated unfairly in television and radio programmes, and from having their privacy invaded;
• ·         Viewers of video on demand services are protected from harmful content;
• ·         A universal postal service is provided in the UK - this means a six days a week, universally priced delivery and collection service across the country; and
• ·         The radio spectrum (the airwaves used by everyone from taxi firms and boat owners, to mobile-phone companies and broadcasters) is used in the most effective way.

The BBC is regulated by the office of fair trading (OFT)

Trade union and trade associations

A trade union is an organized group of workers in a particular trade, group of trades, or profession, formed to protect and further their rights and interests. Trade unions are important because most actors work by a contract and the trade union will make sure they get paid the right amount.

BECTU provides a wide range of services including:

• ·         Negotiating pay, conditions and contracts with employers
• ·         Advice and representation on health and safety
• ·         Training support and courses

A trade association, also known as an industry trade group, business association, sector association or industry body, is an organization founded and funded by businesses that operate in a specific industry. An industry trade association participates in public relations activities such as advertising, education, political donations, lobbying and publishing, but its focus is collaboration between companies.

https://www.ofcom.org.uk/about-ofcom/what-is-ofcom

Depict - submission feedback

Evaluation for Depict Production

In my Depict Production I used multiple techniques in order to achieve an appropriate final product, examples of this include a close up shot at 0:14 this is in order to introduce the character to the audience and to show the character’s emotions. At 0:31 there is an example of a canted angle which shows the piece of paper in his hand giving the audience an insight into the narrative keeping them engaged with the production early on. At 0:10 there is a pan down to reveal the establishing shot of the college and the main character, this is intended to intrigue the viewer and like the last shot keep the audience engaged at an early stage due to the short films runtime not really allowing much build up, the aforementioned shot acts as a proxy for the longer build ups which longer films can fit into their runtime. Going back to the shot at 0:14, it is also an example of the rule of thirds as it has our protagonist occupying the primary third, dominating the scene and attracting the most attention and showing his importance.

In terms of the use of editing, our production features a moderate amount, opening with a quick fade after the title splash in order to ease in to the unfolding narrative and make it less choppy with the high number of cuts present. Due to how this production is a short film, cuts become more noticeable and in order to not make the cuts become too jarring, some are turned into fades in order to lend a softer and more natural feel to our production. For continuity we included the example at 0:17 seconds, the shot is a POV and gives continuity to the narrative as it helps us see what the character is seeing, letting the audience see his internal narrative, with the shot also being up for multiple interpretations. The aforementioned shot is also an example of an identification device due to how it is a POV primarily and a Continuity element only in its use.

When it came to sound our production featured mixes of both Non diegetic and ambient sound with the cars speeding past at 0:17 being an example of this, the music featured is discordant and is used in order to create suspense for the final scene, giving it more pull and grabbing the audience’s attention for the film’s final act, the films music choices could also be seen as an insight into the protagonist’s mind, perhaps showing some form of anxiety.

Finally, mise-en-scene is used to great effect with examples throughout the film giving meaning to the production in a non-verbal manner, the pieces of paper although having little outside meaning to begin with, end up being a key part to the ending with the phrase “BECOME ONE OF US” written in bold capitals, its meaning is up for the audience’s interpretation and leaves them thinking about the film after the credits start rolling. Another key element of the film is how the lighting and use of colour affect the piece, the use of monochrome informs the audience that the protagonist is colour blind and gives them his outlook, emphasising shadows and showing that he has a darker side or that he sees the worlds shadows clearer than most.  

Alien - DepicT

Alien - DepicT

Me and two others were put in a group and asked to make a 90 second short film for depict. We based are DepicT film on conformity. There we a lot of things we had to complete before we started filming so we used the fact that there were three of us to are advantage and we worked on multiple things each to speed things up.

During the pre-production stage I helped complete the budgeting sheet and the risk assessment, everyone also had to do a minor release form or and adult one, I felt confident completing these tasks by myself but I had help completing them because everything else was completed and they had nothing to do. During filming I featured in the film briefly, for the rest I help behind the camera.

Production Schedule

Storyboard

Shot List

Shot List

Budgeting

Budgeting

Plot Synopsis

Plot Synopsis

Risk Assessment

Risk Assessment

Depict research

I like this short film because I find it funny, this short film has a man continuously antagonize a dog but part way through the dog starts to lower the window the man panics and tries to get in the car next to him that looks like his car, he breaks the window and start driving away then you see an even bigger dog in the back seat of the car.

The short film is funny if very amusing and the animation is descent even if it's not in colour, I like the twist ending.




This short film is very entertaining, this short film is different from the rest, the others make to sense and have a story that's hard to follow, this one's random but in a good way. The man tries selling his bike telling him all these unique features that the bike has, then a man walks past with a unicorn telling him what his unicorn can do and the other guy gets jealous and tells him to leave

This short film combines fantasy with London people which is enjoyable to watch and works well.




This short film is bizarre it doesn't follow any story it just shows people dying in space in different stupid ways, I enjoyed this short film I think it's very funny and is entertaining to watch even though it's only 40 seconds long.