Pre-Production Process

Much of the work that goes into the creation of a moving image happens before the actual filming process, also known as the pre-production process. We used the elements of this pre-production for our own 90 second short film, Hangman, made for the "DepicT!" competition, which we distributed on YouTube.

Types of Moving Image Production

Throughout the last century, the changes in the moving image industry have lead to an increase in different types of media. While the original forms, like feature films (which date back to the late nineteenth-early twentieth century), remain as popular as ever, newer forms of moving media (gifs, vlogs, etc.) have surfaced due to advancements in technology. The types of moving image production include:

•    Feature films

o   Live action

o   Animated

•    Short films
•   Television programs
•    Advertisements
•   Gifs
•  YouTube Videos

The ways of distributing media have also increased. When the film industry first started, the only way of distribution was through cinema or “movie theatres”. However, moving image productions are now more readily available through physical distribution (DVDs etc.) or digital (Amazon Prime, Netflix etc.).  There are even illegal distribution sites where copies of films or shows are available to be downloaded for free, however the majority of these sites have now been blocked throughout the United Kingdom due to a High Court order. As the internet developed, consumers of moving image media were allowed to become developers when YouTube was created in 2005, which allows anyone to post videos of their own creation, which resulted in the creation vlogging (video blog). 

Finances and Funding Sources

 It’s not just the ways of distributing media that have increased due to the advancements in technology and the Internet, but also the ways of funding them. For some films, funding is available from major global corporations, or methods like product placement can be used to get money from other companies. These corporations include Sony, which is behind films such as The Amazing Spiderman (2012) and Django Unchained (2012). However, crowdfunding sites such as Kickstarter, Indiegogo and GoFundMe are now available on the

Internet for independent films, such as Wish I Was Here (2014), which raised $3,105,473 through Kickstarter.

The company known as BFI (British Film Institute) has funded hundreds of films using the National Lottery, including Pride (2014), and Girl With a Pearl Earring (2003). 

Over the years, there have been many films that have gone over their original determined budget, like Hugo (2011) and Cleopatra (1963). A list of other films that went over budget can be found here. 

Funding isn't always essential, as we managed to create our 90 second short without a budget to work from. 

Requirements 

For any media text production there are necessities, which can be bought or rented. This includes cameras, movie making equipment, props, transport, locations, and editing software. It is likely that the cast and crew will also need a payment if they are unable to work for free.

We were lucky enough to not have to pay for any of these for our short film, as we made use of the cameras, equipment and locations made available to us. Our biggest challenge was finding props that would work with the idea behind our film, as we needed a rope that would look convincing as a hangman’s noose. We also needed props that would make the room we were filming in look like and office, such as a desk, a chair and stationary. Originally our film required more props, but as we faced some issues when finding a suitable location, we decided against using them, because of the location looking different to what we first had in mind. 

Time

It is important when working in the media industry to meet deadlines, because if you don’t, you would be very likely to lose your job. This could also threaten the future of your career, as you would be seen as unreliable in a fast paced working environment. In 2013, South Park (1997-) was forced to  postpone airing an episode after production was cut short by a power cut. This was the first time the show failed to meet a deadline, and luckily the Comedy Central channel, responsible for airing the show, decided to air an older episode and not take any further action.  While the When making our Depict! Short Film, we had four and a half weeks to finish our work. This gave us a week and a half each for pre-production, shooting and editing. We faced several issues when working, such as cast members being ill, so had to work around this to make sure we met the deadline. We managed to do so, after recruiting a new cast member and cutting out any shots we deemed unnecessary.

Personnel 

In media production, there are many different personnel that are needed. However, the types of job vary depending on the style of media text is being created. For example, the list of jobs for feature films are extensive, with hundreds of people needed both on set, in the pre-production process and post-production, and these are often broken down into departments. This includes:

• ·      Art department
• ·      Accounting
• ·      Editing
• ·      Set design
• ·      Distributors

It is similar when working in television, which requires similar roles as a feature film:

• ·      Actors
• ·      Casting director
• ·      On set assistants
• ·      Make up
• ·      Costume design
• ·      Best boy
• ·      Camera operator
• ·      Boom operator
• ·      (Executive) Producers
• ·      Composer

While these are necessities for larger productions, a film working on a low budget would have significantly less people in the creation process. For example, The Blair Witch Project (1999) was produced with a lower budget, some sources saying $60,000. It had a considerably lower number of cast and crew than Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014), for example, which had a budget of $170,000,000. However, both amassed a much larger profit in the box office. In comparison, the cast and crew for television shows like Appropriate Adult (2011) are very different. 

As we originally had three people working on our short film, we decided to share the work out as evenly as possible. We were all involved in creating the storyboards, filming and location recce. Having had writing and acting experience in the past, we decided it would be best if I wrote the script for our short, and had planned that I would play one of the two characters. However, we had to resort to getting another actor to replace me in this role. The other role in “Hangman” went to someone who also had previous acting experience and also felt comfortable being in front of the camera.

Equipment/Facilities

Filming equipment is available to buy and rent in stores or online. Hireacamera is a website that has various types of equipment available for hire. Prices vary, with GoPro cameras offered for £13< (excluding VAT) per day. Larger DSLR cameras can be hired for £35< (exc. VAT) per day, or can be bought for around £450< from sites such as Amazon. For our short film we were able to borrow filming equipment, a camera and a tripod, from the college for free.

Locations

A location “recce” is a reconnaissance in which you search for suitable locations to shoot in, a term borrowed from the military. They often include taking photographs of the location from several angles to see where the optimum film set is. When the recce is complete, a location release is needed in order to get permission to shoot, whether it’s from the owner of the location, or from the police to make sure the filming doesn’t disturb anyone. Originally, we picked an office to film in, having been on several scouting missions. We thought an office would work best for the plot of “Hangman”, but unfortunately we were unable to obtain a release for it so we used a studio in the college that we dressed up as an office. The only other location we used was the corridor outside the room in order to allow the plot to move forward in a way that made sense.

The state of the room we filmed in meant that we had to do a thorough risk assessment. One of the lights was faulty and the plastic covering was hanging off right over where we set up the desk. We had intended to tie the hope around the light, but as it was too dangerous we recruited someone to hold a boom microphone, which we tied the rope around. We also had to make sure the noose wasn’t too tight or that anyone was ever in a situation where they could get seriously injured by it, all of which we covered in our risk assessment.

Materials

Before you can start filming a media text, you need a written script to work from. While there was no dialogue within our piece, we still needed a script that we could refer to when creating the storyboards and filming. We decided against costumes, as it would unnecessarily take up time and our own clothes would work just fine. Once we had our footage, we also needed sound effects and music, which we gained from a website under the creative commons (CC) license. Before we used the materials from the website, we had to make sure there was no copyright, which would have caused issues if we used it, as we had no insurance. Not having a budget to work from was helpful, as we didn’t have to think about the cost of making the material.

Legal Issues

Insurance should be a requirement when creating a media text. As we were working from within the college in a small group, we were already covered. However, it’s different when working on a larger project, or a project outside of education. Public liability insurance is very useful for this as it covers the cost of any legal actions should any damage be done whilst filming. This is also why you should get clearance (permission) before filming in a public setting. As mentioned earlier, missing a deadline would have a negative affect on your work, but completion guarantee insurance is available in case a deadline can’t be met.

Copyright is a way of automatically protecting any original work, and prevents anyone from copying or using it without permission. Copyright is official whether or not the work is marked with "©". 

While our short film was an original piece, we did face copyright issues.  The music we used in the background was from incompetech, which states the sound effects and music were available for public use as long as the site was recognized in the end credits. Unfortunately, we forgot to do this before uploading our video to YouTube. In comparison to copyright cases that have gone to court, this is a fairly minor issue. An example of a copyright case within the media would be when Star Wars went against Battlestar Galactica, which was made well after the popular franchise. 20^th Century Fox sued Universal Studios after Fox decided the latter had taken the more than inspiration from Star Wars, claiming Battlestar Galactica had taken 34 ideas. Universal Studios responded by countersuing Fox, saying they stolen ideas from the 1972 movie Silent Running. More to read on this here. 


Regulations 

As there are many different types and genres of media available today, there must be regulators put in place to make sure media consumers are kept from anything harmful. OFCOM, for example, are the communication regulators within the United Kingdom. They are responsible for the regulations within the BBC and according to their website, their main duties are that:

"•       the UK has a wide range of electronic communications services, including high-speed services such as broadband;

      •       a wide range of high-quality television and radio programmes are provided, appealing to a range of tastes and interests;

      •       television and radio services are provided by a range of different organisations;

      •       people who watch television and listen to the radio are protected from harmful or offensive material;

      •       people are protected from being treated unfairly in television and radio programmes, and from having their privacy invaded;

      •       viewers of video on demand services are protected from harmful content;

      •       a universal postal service is provided in the UK - this means a six days a week, universally priced delivery and collection service across the country; and

•       the radio spectrum (the airwaves used by everyone from taxi firms and boat owners, to mobile-phone companies and broadcasters) is used in the most effective way."

The most well known regulations put in place in the media include the "watershed", in which the BBC has made 9pm the point in airing programmes that are unsuitable for children, with exceptional circumstances. Another regulation is the rating of a media text. The company behind the ratings for film and television is BBFC (British Board of Film Classification), which was established in 1912 by the film industry. The BBFC also is responsible for the censorship of films shown in cinema. It is necessary for the company to provide age ratings for physical distributions such as DVDs and videos, too. For example, the BBFC would have been behind the ratings of horror films such as The Woman in Black (2012) and The Omen (1976). While the two films are of the same genre, the content of the two made the former suitable for anyone over 12, but the latter only suitable for those over 15. 

The principles the BBFC operate under are:

•       to protect children and vulnerable adults from potentially harmful or otherwise unsuitable content

•           to empower consumers, particularly parents and those with responsibility for children, to make informed viewing decisions.

In comparison, there are no regulations in place when distributing media on the internet. It was suggested that this was changed, but the UK government argued against the idea, as it "did not want to stifle new media industries". This isn't to say, however, that their are no ways of regulating what is available for viewing, with parental blocks being available to prevent children getting on potentially harmful sites. Social media and YouTube also offer the option of "flagging" or reporting a video if it's content is unsuitable for all audience but not labelled as such. From this, I have learnt that our Depict! video would be deemed unsuitable for some audiences, as the plot revolves around someone being murdered. However, the way we filmed it means that the body is never seen and several different shots merely connote the ending, which means the age rating wouldn't be very high. But, as we posted it on the internet, there is nothing stopping anyone from viewing it. 

Trade unions and trade associations

A trade union is an association of employees in a profession, which is formed to protect the rights and interests of the workers. They prevent anyone working within the industry from getting exploited by the executives, and stop workers from being underpaid and undervalued. Within the media industry, there is a trade union known as BECTU (Broadcasting, Entertainment, Cinematograph and Theatre Union), who cover broadcasting, cinema, film, digital media, independent production, leisure, theatre and the arts, and currently has 25,000 members. According to BECTU’s website, the key aims are to:

•    Protect jobs
•         Increase membership
•        Win new recognition agreements
•      Improve pay and conditions of service, including pensions

 Similarly, PACT is a trade union for independent producers. 

Trade associations, however, are founded and funded by businesses within an industry which allows the collaboration between companies. Each company may provide services to the other, such as BIMA is a trade association company within the media, which states the benefits of joining as: extending your network, raising your profile, growing your business and attracting talent. 

advertising and networking.