Understanding filmmaking

Scene 1- The idea (sources of information)

Remakes- When there has been a previous version of a film and they decide to re-make the film to make the film and story more modern e.g. Romeo and Juliet, written by William Shakespeare has been made into 12 different films from 1900 to 2013

Original ideas- The writer of the script has come up with an original idea which much be pitched to the producer to see whether it can be made into a film or not

From books- The idea for the film will be taken from a previous book as well as the story line, but the writers will have to change the story line a bit so that they can make a script for the actors e.g. The Mortal instruments was taken from the series of books written by Cassandra Clare and then made into a major film in 2013

Real life stories- Real life situations are taken and re-enacted to tell their story. The producer will make a basic story line and give it to the writers so that they can ‘enhance’ the story in certain areas to make it a good film e.g. 127 hours was taken from a real life experience

From toys- The film idea will be taken from a toy, which will then be put into a story that the writers will think of. These films are more for children as it makes the toys come to life. E.g. the avengers were made as just toys but Marvel has made two films, using the toy characters

Adaptation- When a screenplay has been taken and adapted to make a film. E.g. John Walters Hairspray has been made into a film, even though originally it was only a screenplay

The producer is in charge of listening to pitches as deciding whether they are a good idea or not, the ideas that are deemed as good will then be moved forward and the producer will be in charge of the entire film, to make sure that everything is done.

The director will receive the script from the writers and then be able to see what the film will look like and give ideas to the cast and direct the making of the entire film.

The writer will receive the idea from the producer and be able to write a script to the film, they will add detail to the film and decide the main characters and what characters need to be in the film. The writer will write a treatment which explains the main story and what characters need to be in the film and what they need to be and look like

Scene 2- Development finance

The pitch will be from the producer to the finance company to try and see if they will give the film company the money to make the film. The producer will use the treatment from the writers to explain the main story of the film and how much money they will need for the actors in the film and the budget.  The producer will then go and see the production company to see if they can get the money from them for a percentage of the money that the film will make. If the sales company decides that the idea of the film is good and will make a lot of money then they will provide money for the right to sell the film to distribution companies, with a percentage of the films making, going to them. This is good for the producer as it tells them that the idea is good enough for a commercial organisation to be interested in it.  If the broadcaster likes the idea of the film, they will ask for the rights to the show, so that they can broadcast it on their TV channels, in return for development money. They hope that this will make them money from advertising and “bringing a brilliant film to the viewing public”. It is important for the producer that the broadcasters are interested and make a deal with them as it shows that the idea will attract an audience. In return for development money and a part in the films financial intake, the distribution company will ask for the rights to give the film to cinemas, retailers, rental companies and broadcasters. This is important for the producer because this shows that the idea is marketable and will make a lot of money.

The producer, if they need to, could go out and pitch the idea to a private investor to see if they will help fund the development of the film. If the individual decides to invest at such an early stage in the film then they may ask for a lot in return for their funds e.g. to take the outcome of the development process. When the producer has got a development deal which includes sales, distribution and broadcasters. The producer has then given away the rights to the project, which means they will have to work very hard to keep all the developers satisfied

Scene 3- Script development

The writer has the produce a synopsis and then see if the producer agrees or not on the key events within the film. They will work very hard and closely together to make sure that they both agree on the key scenes as they both need to have a clear idea of what the film is going to include, not only in terms of genre and target audience but also for the budget, to make sure that their idea is plausible with the budget that they have got. This could take a long while as if the script is bad, the film will not make enough money to pay back all of the investors and there will be no profit made, whereas if the script is good it will, but good scripts can take a while to get perfect. The synopsis is in place to basically write out what the viewer will see on the screen, it will help both the writer and the producer make sure that all the key elements of the film are in the script

A writer will most likely make a step outline of all the key events in the film, with maybe a short description of the key event so that they can make sure that the key events are in the right order. This will eventually make up the script as it will have a lot more detail in it. With the step outline, the writer can tell when the scene breaks are going to be. The writers will more than likely write out the scenes on cards or post-it notes, so that the order of the film is easily changeable so that the writer can try out different orders to see which works best.

Scene 4- Packaging

The producer and director must now take the sales treatment and the final draft of the script and analyse them, coming up with a rough budget for the film. This includes the cost of the director, the stars and the key creating personnel. They will most likely use well known stars in their film if they can afford to as this can make the film more appealing to the audience if they already know some of the stars. They will need to have a meeting with the stars to tell them the main story line of the script and make a deal with them, making sure it is in their budget. The heads of department will then have a meeting with the editor, the production designer and the director of photography and get them on board with the film because if they are not involved, then the film cannot be made. They will work out how much of the profit they will receive from the film. The entire budget of the film is then worked out and turned into a business proposition; this lets the producer know the exact budget of the film. The producer will then go out and see potential investors to tell them how they plan on raising the money and how much profit they will take and how they intend on paying them back. When this is done, the entire film will be packaged into a viable commercial proposition, so that it can be judged by others on whether it is a good idea or not.

Scene 5- Financing

The producer must then travel around to meet different production companies and public bodies with their packaged film idea and draw up contracts with the production companies, the producer will need to go all around the world as financiers can be anywhere. The producer can also raise the money from the distributer, the sales company or the broadcaster, which is called “pre-sales”, which is selling the rights to the film before it has even been made. They can also get the money from the banks that specialise in film finance as they offer loans that the producer would have to pay back with the profit from the film. When all of this is done and the producer can got the full budget paid for, the film then has a ‘green light’ and the film can be made.

Scene 6- Pre-production

The head of departments will have a meeting, this will include the casting director, the editor, the head of sound, the director of photography, the production designer, the 1st AD and the line producer. They will decide the types of cast needed for the film, the sound design needed, the style of film, the clothes design for the cast and make sure that everyone knows what they're doing. They will then hold auditions for the cast of the film, this will be done whilst the writers are planning story boards for the film. The production designer needs to plan all of the outfits whilst the effects shots are being planned and built.


Scene 7- The shoot

The first day of the shoot is important as all of the funding is released and the producer can relax. The camera team will be in charge to make sure that they can get all of the shots that they need to fit in with the story board. The actors then do their thing whilst the lighting and sound crew capture it all,  the visual effects will be carefully monitored by a health and safety expert to make sure that all of the stunts are safe for the actors or stuntmen to partake in. This is all done in a small time space, as they are on a tight schedule, if they do not fit to this schedule, the financiers and insurers may have to step in.

Scene 8- Post production

When the shooting has finished, the processed footage will be given to the editor who will put it into scenes and create a narrative sequence. This is called a rough cut. When this is done, the the sounddepartment will then add all of the sound effects that are needed, this includes the music and the re-recorded dialogue that is needed from the actors. While this is being done, digital effects are being added by a team of special effects compositors. This is when the titles and credits are made, to add onto the end of the film. The picture is now edited if needed to as some of the colour in the clips may not be up to the standard of the Telecine operator (colourist). This is then all looked over and checked by the sound mixer to check whether thesound is up to standard as poor sound can ruin good acting. When all of this is done, this is called the final cut.

Scene 9- Sales
The final cut then needs to be sold to the distributors, this is done by making a short trailer which shows the most marketable moments of the film. This is then shown to the public to attract attention towards the film. The film will then be shown at a 'high-profile' film festival which will then create an even bigger buzz around the film which will grab the attention of distributors all around the world.

Scene 10- Marketing

The producer needs to hire a sales agent to help the film sales, these will make up the marketing team. Knowing the audience is a vital part of making a film, this is why the marketing team will need to run test screenings, so that they can tell how the film will do when released to the general public from the reactions of the tests. When they know the potential audience, they will base the advertising solely on that target group. This will increase the chances of their target audience going to see the film. Television, Radio, Newspapers and magazines will help with this, by giving positive views on the film so that people can hear about it. The internet is a big part in this as it helps the digital media create a buzz around the film but also making niche marketing possible. All this media buzz will then help the distributers sell the film to the cinemas and make a deal so that they will show the film in their cinemas.

Scene 11- Exhibition

Then the time comes for the Premiere of the film, this is will an event that the stars of the film will attend, it is used to launch the film to the general public and it normally covered by a lot of different medias. The film will then be released to up to 3,500 cinema screens around the UK , this is then the distributers job to supply all the prints of the film to all the different cinema screens so that they can be played. They will then send separate prints of the film to all the exhibitors and take their share of the box office receipts. The distributors will then be paid and the financiers can recover their investments, which will be written out in the recoupment schedule.

Scene 12-  Hospitality

When the film is released and has been taken down from the cinema screens, there is still money to be made. The film can be sold as in-flight entertainment, which can possibly bring in millions. The film can also be sold as a DVD or video for people to watch in their homes, this is a great idea as people spend more money on a DVD than a cinema ticket, which could bring even more success to the film. Also, TV is a source of revenue. The rights can be sold separately for pay-tv showings and terrestrial broadcast. Finally, films are sometimes made into video games for consoles for children.

This will create even more profit for the film, which will be split between the producer and all of the creative people, but this is only possible if the film makes a profit.

The final income from a film is, sometimes if the film is very popular on first release, the film company may re-release the film a certain amount of years later, as an anniversary.