PREPRODUCTION REPORT

LEARNING AIM A PRE-PRODUCTION REPORT 

The council have asked me to create a report on the important work pre-production wise that is required as part of a digital media production. The council will then send this to the community media organisations that may get funding for potential future productions. I will be assessing pre-production requirements and how they corelate to media productions like ‘One Mile Away’.

To begin with preproduction is the task in which the elements of a film are planned before hand to help production run smoothly. This would include things such as finance and budgeting, logistics, regulations, pre-production documentation and the pre-production process. The better the initial framework and foundation, the stronger the platform to build the film from. 

Finance and budgeting 

In regard to funding a film there are several ways. Anything from private and big studio funding to government, grants and crowd funding. Deciding which method to use can be difficult s it depends on primarily budget, which can sometimes limit options. It also depends on location and budget which filmmakers might not always have access to loads of different options. Under these circumstances, the filming is on a small scale which means no big investment is needed.

An example of a film with significant funding would be 'World War Z' which was studio funded on a large scale using Paramount Productions, they had a budget of $190-269 million. This method was helpful to them as it allowed them access to a lot of money which was needed for such a large production as it involved a larger cast requiring more costumes, food etc.

However due to community productions being on a smaller scale, this method may not be effective as something such as crowdfunding as you don need as much money. Crowdfunding is the method in which money is raised by people who all contribute a small amount usually over the internet. An example of this would be from the film “One Mile Away” a 2012 documentary by Woolcock, which was funded online, by the public, using a website called Kickstarter. The main backers to the film being channel 4, Creative England and Barrow Cadbury trust, eliminating the need for loans which may be difficult to get for a small-scale production. Crowdfunding is often suggested for new starters as it requires advertising which is good exposure for the film and requires no finical backing or investors. However, this is not to say that this method does not come without risks. For example, if the film does not gain any attention, it may not generate enough money to continue the project resulting in the money going back to the funders and your production company will have nothing and be back to square one. That is why for small productions advertisement is essential. 

Logistics 

The creation of a film can be extensive and time consuming, it takes mass amounts of planning and prepping to allow the process to run smoothly. To achieve this producers must have logistical documents for each film they wish to create, without these schedules would be messy and the films would potentially go unmade, as well as potential legal issues arising.

Important things to consider would be where cast would eat/go to the toilet, props, costumes, makeup, contingency plans, and planning permissions. As for legal issues the predominant cause for one likely taking place is due to location permissions. This is when film producers do not ask the owners of the land if they are allowed to film somewhere and then the owners of the location decide to take legal action, which could be Suing. In the film 'Monsters' the producers did not ask permission to film anywhere, which although did not end up causing them any issues and in fact probably saving money, it very easily could have. Potential issues could have been if something were to happen to a cast member while filming, they could have faced major consequences as they have no legal right to film there, or if they were sued, they could have lost the right to use footage filmed in those locations illegally used as well as the compensation money the landowners seek.

An example of a film not following legal requirements would be 2011s “The Hangover Part 11” when a tattoo artist sued Warner Brother's studio over copyright regarding a tattoo used in this particular film. The artist believed he was being infringed upon when one of the actors received the same original tattoo, he had given to celebrity mike Tyson. Although Warner Brothers tried to fight the lawsuit, they were eventually made to alter the tattoo for home video release of the movie, which probably cost them a lot of money that could have been avoided if they had asked for permission to use the tattoo or just produce an original one. By asking for permission to do tasks before filming you avoid potential roadblocks in the production of your film and when doing this following a filming schedule helps to eliminate time wasting as everything is done in order when you arrive to set. As a small production my advice would be avoid using unbranded clothing and double checking copyright laws on any music, imagery etc you wish to use.

Codes of practice/regulations 

As previously talked about legal factors need to be taken into consideration during the preproduction stage, documents such as risk assessments and cast releases must be made allowing you to follow the guidelines protecting you from litigation. As a small production team thoroughly checking these documents is essential as it could save you time, money, and a legal conviction. Even big companies often make mistakes, which was the case for the film “World War Z” when they made mistakes on the documents for importation on gun props. They ended up being confiscated by the Hungarian anti-terrorism due to them one not being cleared with the Hungarian import centre and two saying the guns were disabled when they were in fact fully functional when found. This put production significantly behind schedule, however luckily for them charges were dropped. This accident shows that is extremely easy to make mistakes on documents, leading to larger consequences which can have impacts on your film production. 

Preproduction documentation 

Preproduction documentation is the creation of functional documents crucial to keeping the production functioning effectively without issues whether that be technical, legal or both combined. Which usually include risk assessments, contingency plan, storyboard, scripts, call sheets, location recces, cast and crew release forms and shot lists. For the film “one mile away” which was a small, budgeted film they had to have a budget plan that took everything into account so they could be efficient with their money and direct it to where it is needed. Some of the usually required documents were not needed as it was a documentary, removing the need for storyboards and scripts as it was real life and could not be planned which saved time. However, because what happened was not planned and due to the nature of the documentary, producers needed to make solid risk assessments and crew release forms. An Example of a preproduction documentation fail would be 1997s “Titanic” where filming conditions were not taken into consideration in risk assessments as lots of the cast fell ill with the flu due to being in water for prolonged periods of time while filming. 

Preproduction process 

The order of the preproduction process usually starts with research, proposal, treatment, pitch, funding and then an initial plan. This applies to films on all scales from big to small as it is considered the best way to plan a film. Creating ideas is where the research comes into play which then turns into the proposal stage where the basic idea for your film and its storyline starts. Eventually you get to the pitch stage where you must pitch your idea to people you want to invest. Films like 2019s “Little Women” required a lot of research to create as it was a period film meaning producers needed not only the storyline but props, sets and script language to be time accurate because if not it would not make sense. For example, specific things like door handles and window fixtures must be fitting to the time because if not the whole aesthetic of the film will feel off, and it would not be historically accurate. As for budget films must pitch their ideas to investors to receive money to start their production. The film “World War Z” got around 120 million US dollars from paramount with an agreement that a percentage would be given back to them of the film's profits. The production of the film ran into many problems as they fought legal issues over props, having to refilm parts of the film, lack of budget research they even ended up going massively over budget which could of cost them their investors. The film could have been a failure due to all its production errors. 

Conclusion 

In closing I believe it is important to do thorough research on the content of your film as it will help in deciding which funding is the best route for you. Due to the small scale of your production id go with crowdfunding as it is unlikely a big study is willing to invest unless you can create a lot of interest and publicity. However, be aware you may not receive the amount of money you desire. I would take extra care in preproduction documentation as a small-scale production you will not have much room for mistakes. Researching what documents, you need specifically for your time of film could save you legal issues and technical ones allowing you to keep the production efficient.