Requirements For Production Essay

 Finance & Distribution: 

We produced a 90 second short film for the depict competition. We distributed it by uploading it to YouTube, which is a free to use online video sharing platform. Other types of moving image media product include full length feature films, TV shows, music videos & social media content (YouTube videos, Tiktoks, ETC.) Different distribution methods include Cinema screenings, Paid for Online streaming services (Netflix, Disney+, ETC.) & Physical distribution on DVD/Blu-Ray in shops. 

Sources of funding include Lottery funding, where the national lottery financially supports the production with the money it makes from its lottery tickets. Another source is to seek investment from a production company such as 21st Century Fox by pitching the idea of the film to them. One relatively new way of financing a film is by crowdfunding – Where the public pays an amount of money for the film before it’s made and if enough people do so, this pays for the production of the film. Crowdfunding platforms include Kickstarter and GoFundMe. 

Requirements for production include Equipment hire, Crew, Talent, Props, Costumes, Food & Drink for Crew & Talent, Distribution unless it's on a free platform and requires no SEO to promote it, Licenses to use copyrighted music or film locations, transport to film locations. 

For our depict project, we had to obtain none of these. Equipment hire was free, no props or costumes were used, all crew and talent were college students and so didn’t need to be paid or fed and lastly, distribution was free. 

Personnel: 

Crew size for a low budget short film can vary slightly. It would usually be 2 – A director and a camera operator who will also record sound, possibly 2 operators and a director if a more sophisticated feel is aimed for and maybe even 3 operators and a director for even more footage to edit between. Alternatively, if the budget is very tight and the shoot is simple, a camera operator can direct the shoot themselves and lower the crew size to just 1. This does, however, run the risk of having to re-shoot shots that aren’t good enough if adequate time isn’t spent before the shoot to make sure that everything will be captured to a high enough standard 

The crew size for a television programme is considerably larger and varies considerably more with the average being around 50-100 and roles ranging from higher roles such as director, assistant director & executive producer down to lower roles such as runners, wardrobe & costume people, makeup artists. If a programme runs for several series', this number can be even bigger as different people will work on different shoots throughout the running of the show. The biggest differences from a low budget short film crew are that people fulfil one role rather than multi-tasking, such as separate camera operators and sound recordists and separate editing teams, and many more roles are fulfilled that would otherwise be ignored, such as gaffers (who deal with lighting and electricals), Prop crew, ETC. 

The crew size for a Hollywood Feature Film has an even bigger range – from 500 to 3,000. Feature films have on average 3.5 writers, 7 producers, 55 art department members, 32 sound crew members, 55 crew members in camera / electrical and 156 crew members in visual effects. Some roles exclusive to such a big production are stunt teams, to safely design and film stunts and large visual effects teams which would get much less use on a tv programme. 

For our production, we had to allocate roles tightly as the crew size was either 1 or 2. I directed most of the shots as I had the most ideas of how they should look & for the shots with no other crew members, I operated the camera and microphone as well. For the shots with 2 crew members, I directed and operated the camera while Callum operated the microphone with Gustas operating the camera for shots I was acting in. 

Other contributors to a media product than crew include the cast or talent in front of the camera. For a fictional story, they’d be actors and actresses whereas for a non-fictional programme such as a documentary, they’d be presenters. Both also may include voiceover artists as well. Other contributors can also include copyright owners of material the writers and producers want to use such as music. The producers will need to obtain copyright holders’ permission to use their music otherwise the product cannot be distributed. 

Time:  

Our timeframe was from the 19th of October to the 7th of December, which is 7 weeks. We spent 2 weeks planning the original story but then decided at the start of the 3rd week that it didn’t really work, so we then spent a week working on the new story and allocating the pre-production documents. The documents were completed throughout the 4th week. The 5th week was spent doing an unsuccessful shoot and reviewing if any of the shots could be used. The 6th week was spent re-shooting all the shots and editing some of them. And the 7th week was spent shooting the rest of the shots and editing everything that hadn’t already been edited. Overall, we used the time we were given fairly well as the product was finished within the deadline, so we did meet the set deadline, although we could have used it a bit better as we were rather tight for time in the later couple of weeks, most likely due to the first 2 weeks being wasted on the old story idea. If hard deadlines aren’t met in the professional media industry, it will cost the production company as the film won’t be ready to hit film festivals and screenings when it’s supposed to. This will lead to the person(s) at fault getting less or no work given to them in the future if they have a reputation for not delivering the work they promise on time and therefore costing the company (or companies) lots of money. 

Equipment/ Facilities: 

The most obvious way of obtaining equipment is to buy it, either from an equipment retailer or directly from the various manufacturers but a way that could be much cheaper and more effective is renting equipment. This is best used for equipment you don’t often use or just for one-off shoots. Renting can be done from small local kit hire shops or national hire companies and there’s plenty of each to choose from. 

For our project, we used a Camera, a Field Mic, a Tripod and a Clapperboard. We could have used more equipment, but the production was simple, and the crew wasn’t big enough to effectively operate any more equipment. We obtained it by hiring it from the college, so luckily, it was free to hire. 

Locations:

A location recess is a visit to a proposed location to evaluate the suitability of the location for filming. The visitor will look at things such as if the space is big enough to fit all the required equipment and if it’s accessible for the transport to bring such equipment. 

A location release is a contract that grants permission from the premises owner or manager to the crew to bring their equipment and film. 

For our project, we filmed all scenes on-site at college, so we only had to fill out 1 location release for the college to sign, which they did with no objection. We picked the college as it was simple to obtain permission but big enough to obtain a wide range of different backgrounds and vibes if we needed them. 

We didn’t encounter many logistical issues or risks apart from wind being a minor annoyance given that we were filming outside, and our field mics didn’t really hide the noise that much so some of the audio was of bad quality. Apart from that, the shoots weren’t very risky or logistically problematic at all. 

Materials:  

Materials needed for a film production include Props, Costumes, Scripts, Editing Effects & other visual media to be used within the final edit of the film. There are some financial considerations to be made for a film production. One example is background music as most artists will charge royalties for use of their music, the easiest ways to avoid this is to use royalty free music. Another example is insurance for equipment breaking which, if you’ve bought equipment, is very important as the equipment is so expensive. 

Legal issues: 

One way people might go about avoiding paying the artist’s royalties mentioned above is to simply use the music without crediting or paying the artist. This however breaks copyright laws which prohibit unauthorised distribution of any recorded music. This will most likely end up with the copyright holder taking you to court and the court issuing you a large fine. The best way to avoid this is to obtain Clearances, which pay the copyright holders wtheir royalties and allow you to distribute your film legally. Another legal issue while filming could be if someone is injured, they could make a compensation claim against you and this could be pretty costly as well. A way of preventing this is to get Public Liability Insurance, which will pay for legal costs and the compensation itself should one be filed against you. Another way of preventing legal issues that surround the agreement to distribute the film is to obtain a completion guarantee which guarantees that the producer will deliver the film of agreed cast, script and budget to the distribution company. This triggers payments to the producer and can be used as collateral for a production loan from a bank. 

Our project was unaffected by legal issues as I wrote and recorded the background music myself, so no copyright was infringed or licensed and the film was self-distributed, so no completion guarantees were needed. 

Regulation: 

A regulatory body is a public organisation or government authority that imposes restrictions, requirements or conditions on companies to make sure they are operating properly and fairly. OFCOM is an example of a regulatory body – They regulate TV, Radio, On-Demand Video, Postal services, Fixed-Line Telecoms & Mobiles. It protects people from scams and promotes competition in the industry. The BBC is regulated by the OFT (Office of Fair Trading), The European Commission and OFCOM. Another regulatory body is the BBFC (British Board of Film Classification) is a designated body that place age ratings and censorship on films. They have a requirement to classify any work released on physical formats. 

Currently, there is some regulation on online released films such as on YouTube, where video’s uploaded must comply with their terms of service which aim to keep users safe, and if the video doesn’t comply, it will be taken down from YouTube. The UK government has recently published plans for a regulatory framework to remove online content that exhibits harmful or illegal behaviour. However, these plans are not yet finished and so, no legislation of sort exists in the UK. 

None of the above-mentioned regulation affects our depict project as no harmful or illegal behaviour was exhibited and although there is mild language used on one of the shots, the video has no restrictions on YouTube as to who can view it. 

Trade Unions & Associations: 

A trade union is a group of workers in a trade or association. They aim to protect their rights and best interests by advising each other, campaigning for better pay and for working conditions. They’re important as they have had a big impact on improving working conditions, with examples being: National Minimum Wage, Improved Parental Leave and Minimum holiday & sickness entitlements. An example is BECTU – a trade union for staff and workers in the media and entertainment industries. They’re also the biggest trade union at the BBC. 

A Trade Association is an organisation that founded by business within the industry that carries out PR activities such as advertising & educating and promotes collaboration between companies. An example is PACT - a trade association representing the interests of UK independent television & film companies. They offer tools and support to their members to help them grow their production businesses and work to ensure a better business environment.