Wednesday 26 September 2012
Production, Distribution etc hw1
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
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. At this point it is almost always cheaper to continue until the project is finished than to deal with the financial fall-out of cancelling. The goal of principal photography is obviously to record all required shots. Pick-up shots may be required when a mistake is noticed, a script change is made 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. 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.
Distribution
After post-production, delivering the content to the audience (e.g. film prints, CD/DVD, etc.) is crucial. This is how it usually works:
1. Someone has an idea for a movie.
2. They create an outline and use it to promote interest in the idea.
3. A studio or independent investor decides to purchase rights to the film.
4. People are brought together to make the film (screenwriter, producer, director, cast, crew).
5. The film is completed and sent to the studio.
6. The studio makes a licensing agreement with a distribution company.
7. The distribution company determines how many copies (prints) of the film to make.
8. The distribution company shows the movie (screening) to prospective buyers representing the theatres.
9. The buyers negotiate with the distribution company on which movies they wish to lease and the terms of the lease agreement.
10. The prints are sent to the theatres a few days before the opening day.
11. The theatre shows the movie for a specified number of weeks.
12. You buy a ticket and watch the movie.
13. At the end of the engagement, the theatre sends the print back to the distribution company and makes payment on the lease agreement.
Marketing
In theatres:
Trailers are a mainstay of film promotion, because they are delivered directly to movie-goers. They screen in theatres before movie showings. Generally they tell the story of the movie in a highly condensed fashion compressing maximum appeal into two and half minutes.
Film posters
Slideshows - stills, trivia, and trivia games from the film, shown between movie show times.
Standees (freestanding paperboard life-size images of figures from the film)
Cardboard 3D displays, sometimes producing sound
Television and radio:
Hollywood movie distributors spend about $4 billion a year to buy paid advertising (30-second TV commercials, newspaper ads, etc.) and over half that total is placed on broadcast and cable TV, which are the main vehicles for advertising movies to audiences. TV is effective because it can deliver to a vast audience quickly, which is crucial because films typically don’t linger in theatres more than 4–6 weeks. Internet:
Online digital film screeners: These digital film screeners have the benefit of letting you send individual copies of your film or a promo to the press, sales agents, distributors etc. Using them it’s simple to send individually controlled copies of your film to various recipients with different expiry dates. Along with the security of individual expiry dates, you can see reports of who viewed your film and track their viewing of the film.
Viral marketing: free distribution of trailers on movie-oriented websites and video user-generated-content websites, and rapid distribution of links to this content by email and blogs. This includes alleged leakage of early trailers of film scenes. Sometimes, the efforts go further such as in the lead time to the successful premiere of the film.
Print:
Paid advertisement in newspapers, magazines, and inserts in books.
Comic special editions or special episodes
Merchandising:
Promotional giveaways: branded drink cups, toys, or food combinations at fast food chains.
Promotional tour:
Film actors, directors, and producers appear for television, radio, and print media interviews, sometimes showing a clip from the film or an outtake. Interviews are conducted in person or remotely. During film production, these can take place on set.
Exhibition
Exhibition is the retail branch of the film industry. It involves not the production or the distribution of motion pictures, but their public screening, usually for paying customers in a site devoted to such screenings, the movie theatre. What the exhibitor sells is the experience of a film (and, frequently, concessions like soft drinks and popcorn). Because exhibitors to some extent control how films are programmed, promoted, and presented to the public, they have considerable influence over the box-office success and, more importantly, the reception of films.
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
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. At this point it is almost always cheaper to continue until the project is finished than to deal with the financial fall-out of cancelling. The goal of principal photography is obviously to record all required shots. Pick-up shots may be required when a mistake is noticed, a script change is made 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. 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.
Distribution
After post-production, delivering the content to the audience (e.g. film prints, CD/DVD, etc.) is crucial. This is how it usually works:
1. Someone has an idea for a movie.
2. They create an outline and use it to promote interest in the idea.
3. A studio or independent investor decides to purchase rights to the film.
4. People are brought together to make the film (screenwriter, producer, director, cast, crew).
5. The film is completed and sent to the studio.
6. The studio makes a licensing agreement with a distribution company.
7. The distribution company determines how many copies (prints) of the film to make.
8. The distribution company shows the movie (screening) to prospective buyers representing the theatres.
9. The buyers negotiate with the distribution company on which movies they wish to lease and the terms of the lease agreement.
10. The prints are sent to the theatres a few days before the opening day.
11. The theatre shows the movie for a specified number of weeks.
12. You buy a ticket and watch the movie.
13. At the end of the engagement, the theatre sends the print back to the distribution company and makes payment on the lease agreement.
Marketing
In theatres:
Trailers are a mainstay of film promotion, because they are delivered directly to movie-goers. They screen in theatres before movie showings. Generally they tell the story of the movie in a highly condensed fashion compressing maximum appeal into two and half minutes.
Film posters
Slideshows - stills, trivia, and trivia games from the film, shown between movie show times.
Standees (freestanding paperboard life-size images of figures from the film)
Cardboard 3D displays, sometimes producing sound
Television and radio:
Hollywood movie distributors spend about $4 billion a year to buy paid advertising (30-second TV commercials, newspaper ads, etc.) and over half that total is placed on broadcast and cable TV, which are the main vehicles for advertising movies to audiences. TV is effective because it can deliver to a vast audience quickly, which is crucial because films typically don’t linger in theatres more than 4–6 weeks. Internet:
Online digital film screeners: These digital film screeners have the benefit of letting you send individual copies of your film or a promo to the press, sales agents, distributors etc. Using them it’s simple to send individually controlled copies of your film to various recipients with different expiry dates. Along with the security of individual expiry dates, you can see reports of who viewed your film and track their viewing of the film.
Viral marketing: free distribution of trailers on movie-oriented websites and video user-generated-content websites, and rapid distribution of links to this content by email and blogs. This includes alleged leakage of early trailers of film scenes. Sometimes, the efforts go further such as in the lead time to the successful premiere of the film.
Print:
Paid advertisement in newspapers, magazines, and inserts in books.
Comic special editions or special episodes
Merchandising:
Promotional giveaways: branded drink cups, toys, or food combinations at fast food chains.
Promotional tour:
Film actors, directors, and producers appear for television, radio, and print media interviews, sometimes showing a clip from the film or an outtake. Interviews are conducted in person or remotely. During film production, these can take place on set.
Exhibition
Exhibition is the retail branch of the film industry. It involves not the production or the distribution of motion pictures, but their public screening, usually for paying customers in a site devoted to such screenings, the movie theatre. What the exhibitor sells is the experience of a film (and, frequently, concessions like soft drinks and popcorn). Because exhibitors to some extent control how films are programmed, promoted, and presented to the public, they have considerable influence over the box-office success and, more importantly, the reception of films.
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