Requirements for a Moving Image Production

Requirements for a moving image production
Type of moving image production (media forms)
We produced a 90 second short film for a competition called Depict! (To be entered into the 2015 competition.) Our short was called ‘Teachers Pet’ and was of a chase through college for whiteboard spray. As the teacher had wrote on the board in permanent marker. We distributed it via the internet through YouTube on the channel ENbtecmedia and under the name of ‘Teachers Pet.’

figure 1 depict rules and entry requirements

Feature films- A feature film is a film (also called a movie or motion picture) with a running time of 40 minutes or longer According to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, American Film Institute, and British Film Institute. While the Screen Actors Guild states that it is 80 minutes or longer. The majority of the time a feature film is between 70 and 210 minutes long. The film is distributed to the audience via a movie theatre or television, or personal home viewing e.g. DVD’s or Blu-ray disk etc. this is by trailers. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feature_film)

Print adverts- like a magazine or newspaper things that are in things you read but are not on anything electronic.

television- sometimes known as TV, or Tele is a telecommunication medium used for transmitting moving images and sound. Television can transmit images that are monochrome (black-and-white), in color, or in three dimensions. The name television can refer specifically to a television set, a television program, or the medium of television transmission. Television is an iconic mass medium, serving as a conduit for entertainment, advertising and news. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Television)

films- A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still images which, when shown on a screen, creates the illusion of moving images due to the phi phenomenon. This optical illusion causes the audience to perceive continuous motion between separate objects viewed rapidly in succession. A film is created by photographing actual scenes with a motion picture camera; by photographing drawings or miniature models using traditional animation techniques; by means of CGI and computer animation; or by a combination of some or all of these techniques and other visual effects. The word "cinema" is often used to refer to the industry of films and filmmaking or to the art of filmmaking itself. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Film)

webisodes- is an episode of a series that is distributed as web television. It is available as either for download or in streaming, as opposed to first airing on broadcast or cable television. The format can be used as a preview, a promotion, as part of a collection of shorts, or a commercial. A webisode may or may not have been broadcast on TV. What defines it is its online distribution on the web, or through video-sharing web sites such as Vimeo or YouTube. While there is no set standard for length, most webisodes are relatively short, ranging from 3–15 minutes in length.(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Webisode)

Radio- radio is media that you listen to there are different radio channels for different audiences BBC has various radio stations that appeal to a different audience types

figure 2 bbc radio stations

BBC radio 1 is more popular music attract young adults and radio 2 is older music radio 5 is sport etc.Finance and sources of funding 


There are four main methods of financing the production of a film: government grants, tax incentives and shelters, private equity and hedge funds, debt finance and equity finance.

Government grants- A number of governments run programs to make the cost of producing films more manageable by paying a percentage of the cost. For instance, until it was got rid of in March 2011, the UK Film Council provided National Lottery funding to producers. Often pure grants, where the government expects no financial return a film this was used for was The Riot Club.

figure 3 the riot club

Tax incentives and shelters- When there is a tax deduction on people involved in the film making these so called soft money incentives are generally not realized until a production is completed, all payments are made to workers, financial institutions and rental or prop companies. Shelters are when a government or a company from a certain country pays for some of the movie to be shot in their country or there product be used so they can get a promotion out of it.

Private equity and hedge funds- Hard cash investments made to your project by a single investor, a group of investors, and personal investments from colleagues/family. Equity investments require that the investor own a stake in the film e.g. Sylvester Stallone (Copland) which he also stared in. A hedge fund is a group of investors that pay their own share with their own money and they expect to get their money back and more.

figure 4 copland funded by Sylvester Stallone 

Debt finance and equity finance

Pre-sales is based on the script and cast selling the right to distribute a film in different countries before the film is completed. Once the deal is made, the distributor will insist the producers deliver on certain things if a alteration is made, financing may collapse. In order to gain the “marquee names” essential for drawing in an international audience, distributors and sale agents will often make casting suggestions. Pre-sales contracts with big name actors or directors will often have an "essential element" clause that allows the buyer to get out of the contract if the star or director falls out of the picture and a big name equivalent cannot be obtained

Television pre-sales- Although it is more usual for a producer to sell the TV rights of this film after it has been made, it is sometimes possible to sell the rights in advance and use the money to pay for the production. In some cases the television station will be a subsidiary of the movie studio's parent company. E.g. the Inbetweeners movie as it is funded by channel 4’s movie channel film 4 and is only shown on that TV station or feeder stations such as E4.

figure 6 channel 4's the inbetweeners movie 

Product Placement financing with Income from product placement can be used to supplement the budget of a film.

The Bond franchise is notable for its lucrative product placements deals, bringing in millions of dollars. Lexus, Bulgari and American Express reportedly paid a combined $20 million for product placement, a record-high amount. Product placement may also take the form of in-kind contributions to the film, such as free cars or computers (as props or for the production's use). While no money changes hands, the films budget will be lowered by the amount that would have otherwise been spent on such items.

figure 7 James Bond logo

Requirements for any production

Cast and crew- A film crew is a group of people hired by a production company for the purpose of producing a film or motion picture. The crew is distinguished from the cast as the cast are understood to be the actors who appear in front of the camera or provide voices for characters in the film. The crew is also separate from the producers as the producers are the ones who own a portion of the film

Costumes- One of the more important things in filming. places people see costumes is in theatre, film and on television. In combination with other aspects, costumes can help actors portray characters' age, gender role, profession, social class, personality, ethnicity, and even information about the historical period/era, geographic location and time of day, as well as the season or weather of the theatrical performance.

Props- A prop is an object used on stage or on screen by actors during a performance or screen production. In practical terms, a prop is considered to be anything movable or portable on a stage or a set, distinct from the actors, scenery, costumes and electrical equipment. Consumable food items appearing in the production are also considered prop.

Location- A filming location is a place where some or all of a film or television series is produced, in addition to or instead of using sets constructed on a movie studio back lot or soundstage. In filmmaking, a location is any place where a film crew will be filming actors and recording their dialog.

Requirements for our depict project

Props- we had to get the spray that we had to chase thought the college for or we wouldn’t have been able to the video that we had planned as our whole project revolved around it.

Cast & crew- we wouldn’t be able to make the project without the cast and crew as the crew had to control the camera and what was going on in the scene. We needed the crew because if we didn’t the scenes would have had nothing in.

Location- we needed to secure locations as if we didn’t we would have to try and find somewhere else to film and the college was the right place for it. So it would have been difficult to get another place like it.


Personnel

Low budget short
A director is a person who directs the making of a film. Generally, a film director controls a film's visual and dramatic aspects

Cinematographer/Director of Photography
Is the chief over the camera and lighting crews working on a film

A assistant camera (AC) The AC sets up the camera, keeps the camera charged and make sure there's storage space to record the next scene.

a gaffer handles the lights should know his way around electricity, and make sure the available power sources do not get overloaded (not plugging too much into one outlet). He directs the lights according to the Director of Photography's instructions.

Both of these listen to the director of photography.

Production manager making sure everyone is fed, organizing transportation, getting people to sign paperwork, coordinating with location owners, and whatever else needs worrying over.

Assistant director (AD) tracking daily progress against the filming production schedule, arranging movement of equipment, checking cast and crew, and maintaining order on the set.

Production designers have one of the key roles in the creation of motion pictures and television. Working directly with the director and producer, they must select the settings and style to visually tell the story.

Hair and makeup responsible of doing the actors and actresses make-up and hair for the appropriate scenes

Script/continuity supervisor is a member of a film crew responsible for maintaining the motion picture's internal continuity and for recording the production unit's daily progress in shooting the film's screenplay. The script supervisor credit typically appears in the closing credits of a motion picture.

Grip. Grips have two main functions. The first is to work closely with the camera department to provide camera support, especially if the camera is mounted to a dolly, crane, or in an unusual position, such as the top of a ladder. Some grips may specialize in operating camera dollies or camera cranes.

Editor responsible for assembling recorded raw material into a finished product that's suitable for broadcasting. The material may include camera footage, dialogue, sound effects, graphics and special effects. This is a key role in the post-production process

figure 8 crew tables

A television programme 

In a television programme there are a lot more than a low budget short as it is a long running project and there will be more scenes needed shooting so will require more of everything.

figure 9 television cast and crew

Hollywood feature film

figure 10.a amount of people in each job sector in a Hollywood film

figure 10.b amount of crew in certain films

In our group all of us acted but we had one main person working on the camera he had past experience and it was his camera so we thought it would have been best. The other 2 didn’t have very much experience in acting and I have so I had to help them through it. We all had ago at editing even though I’m not very confident at it.

Cast and other contributors
There are a lot more people used in a film production. I.e. the cast who star in the production. Distributors who distribute the film in shops and cinemas so the film can earn money, writers who write the script and screenplay.

figure 11 Edgar wright- writer

figure 12 20th century fox- distributors

Time
if you don’t meet the deadlines in the film industry you have 2 choices you can go over budget and carry on filming meaning you have to pay for the equipment, props and costumes, cast and crew etc. or you can cancel the film all together this will make the producer less trustworthy in the future. And could also ruin careers and make companies redundant.

We met all the deadlines in class we had 6 lessons in each section and we cut it close on each section but we made it.

Equipment and facilities
in professional moving images equipment is rented at cost or can be provided by sponsors. If rented you get it for certain days and you have to do the scenes that need that piece of equipment in them days as you may not be able to get the equipment again.

Cameras, dolly’s, tripods and headphones were made available to us, we rented all the equipment using our student id cards from the colleges AV department. Apart from the camera which was brought in by one of our group who also brought in a microphone for the dialogue.Locations.

Location recces refers to pre-filming visit to a location to work out whether its good for shooting, including access to facilities and assessment of any potential lighting or sound issues, and is closely related to location scouting.

Location releases A location release form is a contract between the photographer and the owner of private property within or upon which a photograph was taken. By signing the release, the owner of the property loses the right to sue for specific types of claims.

We picked the college grounds to film ours as it was the main part of the film of chasing through the college to get something.

We faced tripping over so we made sure the corridors where clear and also faced people being in shot so we made sure nobody was coming when we where filming.

Materials
props and costumes, music you have to make sure you don’t go over budget getting the needed materials otherwise you face making a loss at the box office.

Legal issues 
materials maybe copyright protected so you may have to ask for the rights to them or you may have to find something that isn’t copyright protected.

figure 13 a.b.c copyright laws

Copyright stopped us from getting music we wanted so we had to search through websites for royalty free stuff which cut down our editing time so we had left some clear errors in.

Clearances
You'll only be able to distribute and screen your film in public if it is 'cleared'. This means that you have written permission to use everything and everyone that appears in your film. e.g. talent release forms.

Completion guarantee/insurance
is a form of insurance offered by a completion guarantor company.(in return for a percentage fee based on the budget) that is often used in independently financed films to guarantee that the producer will complete and deliver the film.

Regulatory bodies
Ofcom is the communications regulator in the UK. They regulate the TV and radio sectors, fixed line telecoms, mobiles, postal services, plus the airwaves over which wireless devices operate.

The BBC trust regulates the BBC as it is government funded so it doesn’t need to show adverts.
The BBFC

The British Board of Film Classification (BBFC), before 1985 known as British Board of Film Censors, is a non-governmental organization, founded by the film industry in 1912 and responsible for the national classification and censorship of films within the United Kingdom. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Board_of_Film_Classification)

figure 14 a and b about tv regulation

Trade unions and associations.
Trade unions an organized association of workers in a trade, group of trades, or profession, formed to protect and further their rights and interests. They help by getting jobs, sorting out finances and fight for you if something happens at work e.g. unfair dismissal.

BECTU is the UK's media and entertainment trade union; sectors covered include broadcasting, film, independent production, theatre and the arts, leisure and digital media.

A trade association, also known as an industry trade group, business association or sector association, is an organization founded and funded by businesses that operate in a specific industry.

Sources
http://www.depict.org/competition/
http://en.wikipedia.org/
https://www.google.co.uk/
https://www.google.co.uk/imghp?hl=en&tab=wi
http://www.quora.com/What-equipment-crew-is-needed-for-a-low-budget-film
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/6166814.stm
http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio