Pre-Production Report

I have produced this report for my county council as to inform some of the media project workers in the community as to why pre-production is such an essential part in the creation of creative media production. To do this, I broke down the process into 5 sections, as to better group some the very important parts and tasks to explore them in there own theme such as important documentation and the logistics. I then began to explain what each activity was, giving examples of how different formats of films, such as my own pre-production work, did that process and how successful that was, providing guidance towards how to make a good pre-production process. I believe I have explored the main themes and processes of the pre-production process and provided a insightful take on how to make good and clear pre-production, assessing the good and bad.



Pre-Production Report

Introduction

When wanting to create a piece of media pre-production is a very vital part of the making. It consists of planning out many different parts to complete it, for it to then aid effectively in the making of the media product. A successful pre-production can only impact your product in a positive way as it means you have everything laid out and there will be no mishaps in your making and final product. In order to explain what pre-production is in further detail, I will be referring to other films pre-production and as to how they were successful or not to help you to understand what makes a good pre-production.

Finance & Budgeting

A very important factor in the making of pre-production is the understanding and sourcing of finance and budgeting. There are many ways that the funding for a film can be acquired such as the big studio model compared to crowdfunding/self-funded and then how this money can be used most effectively to avoid extra costs and going over your set budget.

For a film with a big studio model funding, there are lots of factors that go into to handling the budgeting and financing of such a big production, which all need to be properly assessed. This is because with out proper assessment the finances may not add up properly or cause issues of going over budget. For an example of this the film 'World War Z' ended up going over $65 million over there estimated budget due to a unforeseen need to take many re-shoots of certain scenes. This was very bad finance management on there end clearly due a lack of  significant research and planning when it came to assessing there budget or even in there plan themselves that forced them to have to re-shoot and spend more money. This is a clear example of why you really need to put planning into your resources and money otherwise the payments may end up coming out of your own pocket to cover everything, not matter what scale film you are producing 

On the other hand, a film with a small low budget can still be hard to budget for since they have less money too work with. With out proper assessment this can lead to detrimental cuts to some aspects of the production and still going over budget. An example for would be the film 'One Mile Away', a much smaller budget film that handled the use of their finances much better by properly assessing what money should go where in there pre-production stage. As there film was being funded by many means such as private investors, grants and crowdfunding, all of these had to be properly assessed. I think its safe to say they succeeded in this as the documentary ended up being a bit hit and even got put into cinemas, something that rarely happens with films like it. That just shows how important the processing of your budget really matters when producing a film, even in the budget I small, with a lot of work you can still get everything you need a film a great film

Overall the assessment of your budget is a significant step in your own pre-production process as it means there will be no room for errors or running out at your production goes along.

Logistics

The organising and arrangement of all the components for the production and filming of your media product are all very important factors to consider in the pre-production of any film. There's quite a range of things in this category such as your crew & cast, props & costume, catering, equipment hire & transport, clearances for filming, locations etc and a production schedule. They are all very important in their own ways, but I will explain the importance of organising your cast & crew and the different roles within those, and the process of equipment hire and some of the basic kinds that should be considered.

Organisation and understanding of the roles within your cast & crew are vital parts of the pre-production, as without them, there is no film to produce. Starting with the crew, there are many roles which a film may have depending on its budget, a big studio model production would have hundreds of people working on the film, whereas something with a lower budget would have around 10-30 working to produce it, sometimes. Some of the essential roles within a films pre-production being that of the Director, Producers, Writers, photography and casting Directors. Directors are the ones who are in charge on a set, but not really in charge of what’s happening within the set, that is usually left to the direction of the producers and photography directors. Writers are usually also the director, being the ones who came up the concept and provided things like the script and storyboard for the production. Finally, the casting directors are the ones who decide the cast of the films, getting to together actors and dealing with release forms and contacts. These are all the most important roles within a films crew since it is one of the big deciding factors on a film’s success or downfall by the organisation and collaboration of everyone within the team and in making sure each role is filled. The role of the crew is a very important and essential part of the pre-production that needs to be thoroughly evaluated and planned, as its impact is great on the final piece of media.

Pared with this, is the need for a selection of actors to star in your film as those people provide your film with the actual substance it needs. The organisation of a cast is a very important task to do as it means that when filming rolls around each character has an actor, noted contact details for each one if anything was to happen or change, as well then making sure they understand their rights in the release forms they need to sign in order to work for your film production. An example to show the importance pre-organising a cast is that if the cast is not properly sorted and confirmed before the start of filming, on the day this can cause an array of problems such as people not showing up, people not knowing there roles or lines, people not fitting the roles you thought they would, too high or too low a number of extras and the fact that many may decide to drop out if they do not properly understand there rights while filming. This is clearly a very bad thing, stressing the importance of organising the cast thoroughly before even deciding to do any filming, making them a very important consideration in your pre-production.

Overall, those are both great examples of some of the logistic considerations that need to be considered prior to any kind of filming as they are very integral roles that go into the filming themselves.

Codes of Practice/Regulations

There are quite a range of legal factors all media producers such as yourselves need to consider when producing a piece of media such as cast release forms, location permissions, music rights and copyright, insurance and risk assessments. I will explain the significance of two of these but all of them are all important factors that should be looked into and assessed.

An important regulation is the professional assessment and organisation of your filming locations and permissions to film the reccees that need to be made along with those. This is because with out these vital pre-production steps there again can be problems when it comes round the actual production of your film and that will only waste you time and efforts when his could have already been assessed previously and sorted. As an example, here is a location permission request I have made previously for my own filming project.





By clearly explaining what it is I hope to do on there property and rules I will uphold while doing so better guarantees a good response rather than plain message of just asking to film there. This is important regulation to make sure you have record of prior to filming as if there any questions as to your permission status you can show this and the organisations reply to cover you, rather than either illegally filming or getting yourself into trouble by not having these. Making this a very important consideration when doing your own pre-production process for your film.

Another very important regulation that you definitely need to make sure you meet is the making of a risk assessment in each place your cast or crew may be. This helps to negate any possible risk and accidents that could happen by making everyone aware of the risks and providing way to fix these problems if they were to occur anyway. Again, showing a risk assessment I myself have made previously as an example of this:




Laying out all the problems and thoroughly assessing them in this way is a very effective way of making sure all bases are covered and considered for any of these problems arise. Making this a very good layout for yourself to make sure you complete this vital pre-production step before anything bad can happen.

These regulations are things you need to make sure you are meeting a professional standard on as it cause fines, incidents and loss of time and money if not assessed properly and addressed before filming comes around.

Pre-Production Documentation

Similar to the rest of the categories, this one is no different having a range of documentation that you need to make sure you complete before any filming takes place as these are all very important records to keep track of and keep safe for future reference and need. I will explain the importance of a couple things: scripts & storyboards as well as your need for call sheets and contingency as these are all very important documents you should have ready and prepared when you are filming.

Scripts & storyboard are absolute essentials to have ready previous to being on set as those are the content you need to film. Scripts are what your actors are there to perform and the storyboard provides a point of refence for each shot for the camera worker and producer on set, further showing the stress they have on the film if they aren't prepared before hand. For example, my storyboard is going to be an initial I will have on hand when I get round the production process.


This whole sheet will save me so much time when I get round to filming as it provides me with every shot type, angle, movement and framing I need for each shot. This will greatly impact the productions stages speed as it means I can go to set already knowing what needs to be done, rather than improving each shot for hours since I wasn't prepared. This is why I highly recommend to you making your storyboard and script high importance when producing your own pre-production.

Another great thing to make sure you have prepared before hand are your call sheets for your filming day along with a contingency plan you can have on and in case anything goes south. These are both important documentation to make as the call provide important details on what is happening, where, with who, how everything is going to happen with contacts for everything. pairing this with the contingency plan, a more refined version of the risk assessment makes incidents easier to deal with as they have a solution for everything with the contacts at the ready. For example, without your call sheet there is no way to contact any of you crew if you don't know there numbers, making the contingency plan fall apart if they are not able to contact anyone is anything goes wrong or changes. This turns a bad situation worse due to a lack of planning from your end of things, putting all the blame on you. Making this a very important consideration in making of your own pre-production for your media product.

Having all of these documents finished and on hand at all times through the whole film making process will save a lot of time and be a great life saver in any bad situation that may come your way, so its better to be safe than sorry when it comes to the production of your own film.

Pre-Production Process

Finally the last consideration in the whole process is the process itself, providing yourself with a plan and schedule for all of this will help in achieving each task to the best it can be as well prior research of your own before you even start the process with a basic proposal and treatment made for your film itself, looking at how other films have handled there situation. This is a big overall consideration that needs to looked before you start anything.

For example, a great way to keep productivity up and making sure to complete all tasks is too keep track of everything using a pre-production log. By logging each task you do and making a note of what it is you know you need to do next creates a very efficient way of keeping track of all your considerations, overall producing a well formed piece of pre-production. I did this with my own pre-production work seen here


This is an example of the log I took of my own work, writing what I completed on what date, and keeping in mind what needed to be done next. This was a really effective and easy thing to produce as I was adding to it as I went along, keeping myself on track. This great pair with a pre-made schedule in which you set goals to get each task done with a reasonable amount, keeping you on track and on time at the same time. Which I why greatly recommend to you to follow this same process to make pre-production a lot more easy to handle completing it in easy chucks likes this sets out.

Finally, the practicality of having your proposal and treatment being the first tasks you complete really kicks start the whole pre-production process. Having your film idea ready and prepared before anything means your going into it with that knowledge already, rather than fumbling on different ideas as you go along, having a confirmed steady idea is very important. For example, if you decide to go ahead and start your whole process with no idea/an inclining of what it is you want to film, its going to make the process a lot hard as you wont know what locations you need or the amount cast and crew or how to pitch your idea to any other media companies. This really impedes your progress and slows the whole thing down considerably. That is what makes this first step very important to achieve in you own attempt at making the pre-production for you media product.

This initial planning and thinking will really save you a lot of time in the long run with your pre-production process as it means you can get through things quicker in the time goals you have set yourself. The quicker the pre-production process is finished, the quicker you can move on to producing your own actual film.

Overall, this assessment and explanation of the pre-production process is here to help you achieve the best you can in your own film producing by making sure you understand the importance and significance pre-production has. This whole process can be the make or break of your entire film, by simply making sure the parts I have discussed are assessed and evaluated before the production of your media project begins. 

Pre-Production Evaluation

 In this Evaluation, I have compared my final pieces of pre-production processes to what would be consider more professional pieces of pre-production to compare and contrast them to each other and too see what I could have improved on in my process and see what I did well. In doing this I am able to see my own mistakes and explain on how I improve these in the future. I think this will have a good impact on the final outcome of my project as I can acknowledge these mistakes or the things I did well when using this process to refer back too in the future. 

Production Log

I have completed this pre-production process continuously throughout the making of my pre-production activity's too keep a track of where I am in the process and always know and evaluate what it is I need to complete next. To do this, from the very beginning I set up this table with the first things I was supposed to complete, and as I completed each one, I'd write what it is I need to do next. I may not have always completed each task in the correct order or in the timeframes I set myself in my Action Plan in the beginning, but I used this to make sure I was on track and always knowing what was too come next. I believe the use of this log through out my process had a big impact on the production of the pre-production itself as well as going into making sure I have all the parts completed too aid me towards my final outcome for my short film extract. 

Equipment List and Bookings

 I have completed this pre-production activity to provide a reputation of the kind of equipment I am going to need to produce my short film extract, and to show the booking process of this equipment from school. First I evaluated what kind of equipment I was going too need to use, such as the lenses I may need to get certain shots and several lights to make sure the lighting is same through different scenes to keep the continuity. Then I made sure to show how I would book the equipment for a filming day. I think having this step in the pre-production is a vey essential part of the pre-production process as it provides structure and organisation to the equipment and clearly shows the booking system and how it works for future reference.  

Contingency Plan

I have completed this pre-production activity to provide additional support and evaluation to my risk assessment by making a Contingency Plan, which helps to detail and explain solutions to all possible problems and incidents and the solutions to such things. To do this I mind mapped some ideas of possible points of conflict in order to then provide what to do if that situation was to happen, a colour coded them into three sections, Filming (the production), Editing (post-production) and the general problem of running out of time at any point during the making of my film. The darker shade being the problems and the lighter shades being the solution. I think this will have a big impact on my final production and it has evaluated all possible incidents beforehand, as to avoid panic, confusion, or either further problems by setting out what do in each situation.

 

Call Sheet

 I have completed this pre-production activity to provide a simple sheet of all contacts who are involved with or are present on a day filming and make the reasonability of each resource clear. I did this by providing all the people who will be present on this particular day of filming as well as the contacts for the location, giving an email and email for everyone (still awaiting some from people). This will have an impact on my final piece of film as it means if anything was to go wrong or these is a need to contact someone, this sheets makes it lot easier to solve that problem quicker and get back on schedule to filming and avoiding any cancelations.

Risk Assessment

 I have completed this pre-production task to further cover all safety and regulations of anything that may possibly happen during the filming of my film extract. To do this I set out a table, coming up with serval problems which may happen on a day of shooting, and assessed each one to try and avoid it before it happens and what to do further if it was too happen on filming day. This will have a great impact on the final product of my project as means we are able to avoid most problems, meaning there will be no backlash of fees or upset for example if someone was to trip and hurt themselves.

Cast Release Form

 I have completed this pre-production activity to provide an example of a professional document which would be filled out for the production of my film extract and to cover the rules and regulations of signing up to help work on my film. I did this by writing a formal letter of all of the rights the cast member has to sign and agree to. This will have a massive impact on my final production as it means i have signed agreement to these terms and can keep a record of the agreement they have signed up to if anything was too happen regarding the contents of the letter.

Cast & Crew

 I have completed this pre-production activity to further develop my project and provide more structure to making of it. To do this I produced a list of all the roles that are needed and then provided people to fill these roles, and due to my budget I have taken the role of the crew since it is my media production and to cover all the safety risks of me being the only one to handle equipment and I am the only one with permission to film at all my locations. This will have a big impact on my final project outcome as it is a vital step in the making and producing of a short film, having a fledged out cast and crew.

Location Permission Table

I have completed this pre-production activity to keep a simple track of all my locations and the position of permission I was in at time of making. I did this by listing who I was needing to contact and what format of request I would be using, and stating what response I have received from them. This would have an impact on the outcome of my project as it a piece of documentation to help keep organised and have a simple layout of the state of my locations. 

Location Permission Request Email

 I have completed this pre-production activity as an example of a permission request and shows the behind the scenes communication needed to plan each thing. To do this I decided to contact one of my location contacts, writing a formal email of permission to use that location, provided details of what it is that I am going to be doing and any thins I will need from them to show that can be trusted and have everything planned. This will have a great impact on my production as it is vital to secure locations for filming and too keep record of this documentation for future references. 

Location Recces

 I have completed this pre-production element to provide a thorough document of all the locations I will be using aiding in the planning and safety at the same time by providing details for each place. I did this by presenting each location in its own table and providing the same details for each one so there is consents as well as making sure all the needed information is there. This will have a great impact on my film extract is it provides a simple document with all the information for each location in one place, meaning if for example we need an address or need to contact an owner, we can do so using this.

Treatment

 I have completed this pre-production task to further reach the goal of being up to industry standard procedure as the treatment is the thing that further sells the film idea and gives a summary of the whole film. I did this by giving my idea a logline and then putting further detail into the film as a whole, not just the extract I will be shooting. This will have an impact on my outcome as it gives the storyline more structure and content while also keeping the actual ending in mind while filming this extract. 

Script

I have completed this piece of pre-production work to put further development into my film idea and give the film more material and structure by writing this script. To do this I researched the way a industry standard script is written and presented, using all the terms used in script writing to make it more fledged out. This will have a big impact on my final project as it is an essential piece of work that brings the film its self together by giving it content to be a piece of film making.

 

Shot List

 I have completed this pre-production activity for the purpose of having a more detailed technical record for each scene. I did this in pair with my storyboard to list each shot, angle and movement, so everything is correctly framed and we understand how we want the final product to look. This will have another positive impact on my final production as having this with me as well on shoot days will be an essential piece too make sure every scene is done correctly and  exactly how it should look.

Storyboard

 I have completed this pre-production activity to further formulate a detailed idea for the film I will be shooting, using a storyboard to plan each scene and provide details on the audio and actions within each one. To do this I used a storyboard template and filled it in, drawing each scene using arrows and boxes to indicate movement of the character and/or the camera, then writing a summary of the audio used in each.  This will have a great impact on the final outcome as it means I am prepared for the shoot days having this on hand to show how it should be visualized and framed.

Budget

I have completed this pre-production activity to show my understanding of how much goes into making a film and where errors and mistakes can be made, such as going over your set budget, it helps me to understand why all of the pre-production content can help with making sure you don’t go over the budget or miss anything.