Pre-Production Requirements€¦ · Web viewTripods: £9 - £105. Monitors: £25 - £125. Lighting: £10 - £125. Audio: £12 - £65. Grips: £2 - £285. Accessories: £2 - £300

Victoria Clarke

Pre-Production Requirements

unIT 4 – PRE-PRODUCTION PORTFOLIO

Clarke, Victoria

Victoria ClarkeCreative Digital Media Project – Unit 4Haberdashers’ Abraham Darby - 29105

Introduction:In this essay, I will be writing about the requirements that have to be met in the pre-production stage, to ensure that the quality & efficiency of the work in the production stage is at the highest of standards.

In this particular case we will be focusing on a new project called ‘Educating Telford’, as a branch of the popular TV series ‘Educating […]’ on Channel 4. We will be discussing the pre-production requirements for the show and how to make sure it is displayed effectively.

These requirements that should be met include the management of finance, Hiring, Health & safety etc.

All aspects I discuss in this essay are all vital needs that need to be met to ensure the smooth production and post-production. Especially in a show such as ‘Educating Telford’, as a documentary show, that is non-fictional.

Pre-Production:Pre – production is the before stage of media production, it is also known as the “planning” stage. This is where everything must be strategized before any filming can take place, this consists of things such as getting overall confirmation from the schools, and research into the best sounding system to enhance the audio

This stage helps the crew working behind these sections are bale to pre-plan themselves and establish where in the particular area they can get the best shots.

https://www.studiobinder.com/blog/the-complete-pre-production-process/

The table above shows an effective pre-production workflow that should be followed in order to ensure all pre-production requirements are completed:

https://www.studiobinder.com/blog/the-complete-pre-production-process/


The stages are:

1. Set up company- Create a business to produce the project, a name needs to be behind the product and for the success of it.

2. Prelim Budget and Schedule- organise a plan, make sure it describes each step of the pre-production all the way to the end of post-production. Also configuring a budget, and calculating the overall predicted costs.

3. Hire key department heads- People who are hired to lead the project and production.4. Creative planning begins- Start creative thinking, considering the pre-production

directions.5. Refine Budget and Schedule- Now more factors have been considered, he budget

and schedule should be revaluated, and re-planned.6. Secure rentals, props, permits, locations etc. - ensuring all equipment is checked to

be safe and that all props are secured and ready for production. In the case of ‘Educating Telford’, school checks and DBS checks on staff taking part.

7. Hire crew and audition talent- Selecting a group of people from auditions to play roles within the project and hire the crew to help produce the film.

8. Rehearse and Final prep- Final checks take place and they test all the equipment to ensure they are ready to use.

Each stage must happen in this order for pre-production to run smoothly. If one of these needs are not met then there will be a failure within the pre-production process.

Financing:When producing a product in the digital media industry there are many costs that have to be considered before the actual production can begin, such as the cost of equipment and labour. Also the revenue gained from the project after its release is important to calculate pre-production to determine the products success.


Sources of Financing:All of these areas vary in costs both high and low. The financing for these can come from a few different sources, however the company have to condense costs as much as possible to be able to gain any recognition with their idea. Sources of finance may include:

Private funding – a form of funds that are gained through non-ban assets, usually large corporations that are persuaded by producers that their project is worth investing in, the other businesses do this to make profits from the project.

Public funding – where money is collected for public purposely, in terms of media, to fund public / community projects they usually are aiming to spread a message. This form of funding can usually be raised from public treasury, such as tax payments as companies can appeal to government corporations for help in funding.

Joint financing – This is simply where 2 or more parties agree to combine their resources to accomplish a task, usually a called a collaboration.

Bank financing – Taking out a bank loan, paying it back with revenue gained from the project.

There are also some more generic ways to raise enough capital to fund the project, these include:

Grant Funding- Where companies are able to pitch their project idea to a private company to receive enough funding for their project, only if the company like their idea. The good thing about this is that it is non-repayable, you don’t have to pay it


back, so is useful for the project makers, as it leaves them in no debt and less pressure to make a huge profit on the project to pay off the debt. However are hard to obtain and rarely just given away unless the company has full faith in the idea.

British film institute- A charitable organisation that advertises and funds television making in the UK, it allows smaller UK companies gain recognition. Not much funding can be gained from this, in terms of media.

British council- The British council promotes educational and cultural opportunities throughout the world. In terms of media this could be funding an education-based programme or a cultural world exploring programme. This allows companies to get their message across, however working alongside the government will lead to a loss in creative control. If your project isn’t delivering a message the likely hood of their project being funded is slim.

Crowd Funding- This is where a project can be funded through charitable donations from the public, where small amounts are donated by the public towards the production of a project. This method is quick and easy and can simply be done online.

Investment for movie production studios- Where many different companies put their money into a move production studio, so they can possibly benefit from a profit. These companies will usually ask for a certain percentage of the profit made.

TV(Publicly funded)- This is funding from public treasury, such as tax payments, TV companies will usually fund the project if it is community informing, or cultural informing.

TV(Advertising revenue)- Where money is raised by a TV company through advertisement, and projects makes money from advertising their products, or put as a sponsorship. It is a useful way to earn money, but if the project is unsuccessful can lead to a small income.

Subscription revenue- This is where people can subscribe to a company and a service that they offer. In the media industry this can be a subscription to watch certain films and TV series, such as ‘Netflix’. Normally subscriptions like this are payed by the customer monthly, this generates a regular and growing income for the company. Normally customers are able to use the platform without having the subscription, however those with the subscription are given benefits; such as new episodes a week early, bonus features and using the service offline. However this is only useful is enough people subscribe.

For a show like ‘Educating Telford’ the most useful methods of funding would be ‘public funding’ and ‘grant funding’, because the show is somewhat portraying a message, it would be addressing issues with the school systems, but allows people to see what actually happens in their schools that their children attend.

Requirements of finance:The requirements of finance focus on the necessities of production that need financial backing, such as things that need to be bought. These requirements include:

Equipment:

Equipment is required for the overall production, it is the physical items that are needed to record, store and edit the project. The equipment is crucial because it is impossible to complete the production of the project without it. The equipment can be bought, however


depending on the duration in which they are needed for, it may be more cost effective to rent the equipment. The cost of renting however does vary:

Cameras: £45 - £850 Lenses: £15 - £550 Tripods: £9 - £105 Monitors: £25 - £125 Lighting: £10 - £125 Audio: £12 - £65 Grips: £2 - £285 Accessories: £2 - £300 Stills Equipment: £7 - £175 Vision Control: £10 - £125 DIT & Playback: £10- £125 Shooting Kits: £120 - £850 Consumables: £4 - £10

Crew:The crew are the staff required to actually help produce the film. They’re anyone who is working in the production of the project. The number of jobs is endless and there are so many different jobs required for each different production.

Even though there are over 100 job possibilities, but when it comes to a series such as ‘Educating Telford’, the main parts of the crew can be separated into sub-groups/roles:

Director. Production. Camera and Lighting. Production Sound. Art Department. Special effects.

The crew are the people who work throughout the whole project. In terms of the pre-production crew, the roles will vary, such as script writer and the board to select the actors used. Also the crew needed to set-up and test the equipment.

Transport:

This could refer to the transportation of the equipment and the crew. This can be moving it to a set, or from venue to venue if filming outside or across multiple studios. Also the transport of the rented equipment from the place of rental.

Similarly, the crew and actors are transported between sets and locations, using larger cars and mini vans.

Transport is required to actually move the equipment to start the production of the project. Pre-production is when the main part of transport happens such as getting all the script writer together and choosing sets and outdoor areas to film. Transport can be costly depending on how much equipment there is to move and how big the crew is.

Materials:


This refers to the scripts, the script that has to be written for both fictional and non-fictional purposes.

An official script and idea around the script must be discussed between script writers and board of directors.

The producer will come up with some ideas based on what he or she wants to be generally portrayed in the project. The group will then take notes and develop an overall script, and develop and add ideas towards the project. They should discuss whether they are appropriate and fitting for the particular idea and aim.

This is one of the most important parts of pre-production as it forms the way in which the project will be filmed.

This process isn’t particularly expensive, but is time consuming and has to be perfected before production can go ahead.

Clearances:

This refers to the legal side of pre-production, it is about the security of the material and usage of the resources that are to be used in production.

The staff that work in this sector and in charge of ensuring all materials that are used are being credited for their work and also ensuring that the company has full right to use certain pieces of media in the filming and editing of their project. This can be the use of a soundtrack.

The idea and concept of it is so that a business is not going to be sued if they use material that isn’t theirs.

This is things such as location, making sure they have permission if filming in an outdoor area other than a hired studio. They will need permission from other business owners and government permission depending on where they are filming. Using real life areas creates them recognition, especially if it is small businesses, such as cafes.

But if the company does not sort a clearance for a certain area, location or soundtrack, they could have to pay huge fines towards other businesses and can lead to failure of the overall project. So clearances are usually not expensive, however if not completed properly can lead to huge financial cost.

Talent:

This department is just the people in which are on camera. For ‘Educating Telford’, it would be the teachers, students and other school staff.

These are the people who represent the visual side of the project. They become the face of the project and company.

The talent is usually hired and can earn up to huge amounts of money. In this particular case, the school is supplying the talent and that is therefore who would be paid for it. The role of the talent is to follow the script produced by the writers.

The different types of actors used will generate different costs. Such as a new actor in the industry who hasn’t had much work can be paid less than someone who is very well-known by the public.


When choosing the talent you have to decide on what the main goal of the project is, if you are trying to be more cost effective then you would go with the actor who isn’t known as well, but if you are going for popularity you would hire the well-known actor.

However in this case the main talent is very unlikely to be paid anyway, as they are just going to be going with their normal day. The company will need permission from the parents for their children to be included in the documentary.

Facility Hire:

This refers to the hiring of locations, land or buildings where production and post-production will be taking place.

Choosing an area to film is important because it will part of the main setting and portray the overall tone and mood of the film or show. The setting is to sell to the audience the reality of the film.

This could also the hiring warehouses where sets can be made that are used regularly throughout the film and a breakdown set that can be changed regularly to fit different scenarios.

Facility hire would be expensive depending on the size of the project. Regrading ‘Educating Telford’, facility hire wouldn’t be necessary because I would be filmed in the school and wouldn’t require any sets or outdoor locations. The school might require some financial backing, but the show is a documentary show and therefore big sound stages will not be needed.

LogisticsLogistics are the detailed organisation and implementation of the complex operation. This is the planning stage of the production, where all things that must happen throughout production, will be individually planned out and structure. If this is not done, it can lead to waste of time and could lead to an issue in the quality of the project. These factors are all labelled under logistics, as they are the things that need to be though and planned logically.

TimeTime is the duration of time required to carry out the production of the overall project, and how long each stage will take.

Deadlines:

Deadlines are the set final dates for when something should be completed by. They are often used as a guide of how long something should take during production.

Deadlines are used by the company to plan out their time efficiently, and to ensure all aspects of the project are completed properly. Deadlines help them understand how long to rent equipment or how long crew will be required and helps calculate pay.

Deadlines however can be negotiated, but usually companies will try to stick to the deadlines, especially if the project is being funded by another company.

Availability of Equipment: This is the duration in which the equipment can be used for.


This period of time will be determined by the company. If the equipment is being rented the company then they have to plan when they will need each item, because if you rent it for the whole time then it will be a huge financial burden on the business.

It is important to work out exactly how long each piece of equipment will be used for, then the company can determine their budget and how much they will be spending on the equipment. They also need to plan because the company in which they rent the equipment from will be entitled to have it back on the date agreed even if you haven’t finished with it.

This ensures that production company is able to hire the equipment for the time period in which they need it.

Availability of personnel: This is the same concept of availability of equipment, but refers to the crew and the talent.

This is essentially how long the crew will be required for. This affects how long the contracts need to be set and help calculate how much overall that they will be paid.

This also is the same for the talent, this is because if they have other upcoming jobs they will need to know how long they are required for. This is also needed information for the business because they may not need them all of the time.

However every person has a right to choose when they work, as long as it is acceptable and within their contract. This should be discussed between the production company, the talent and the organisation that is representing the talent.

It is important for the production company to set clear schedules for all members of the crew and cast taking part in the production, to avoid people standing around with nothing to do.

Timescales:

This is an overall look of the timescale as a whole that the production company has to complete the project.

Timescales are the set periods of time that something has the potential to be completed over. This could be the timescale in which something can be recorded. Timescales are an important factor to planning as a whole and have to be considered before the renting of equipment and buildings. This helps the company with their budget and organisation of the other time factors.

FacilitiesFacilities are the locations where all stages of the production will occur, however this factor of logistics takes up a lot of time and planning, is very important in the pre-production stage.

Each facility involved in each stage of production is chose carefully and so that each requirement for the production can be met.

Production Equipment: In terms of facilities, production equipment determines whether the facility chosen is suitable for the equipment.

Things to consider are:

Is the facility big enough to store and operate the equipment? Does the facility include the necessary equipment?


Is the facility suitable for the operation of expensive equipment?

If the location doesn’t meet the criteria above, it most likely isn’t cost effective and will most likely cause issues throughout most of the production. It is important for the company to know before renting out a building what features will be inside, as it may either benefit or affect their production process.

If the facility isn’t suitable then the company should continue looking for a facility that fits all of the criteria before starting the project as it may lead to slow production and unprepared obstacles during the main production and after in the post production if the facility hired has for example bad acoustics, it could potentially affect the overall sound. In terms of ‘Educating Telford’, they will have the facility of the school, so visiting the school before the purchase or renting of sound equipment would be useful to ensure they are working cost effectively.

Post-Production Equipment:

This is the after stage of production stage, this is the period of time after all the filming and sound recording has concluded and the talent has fulfilled their contracts and are no longer needed.

Before the overall project is finished it has to be brought together, edited and discussed between the production company. To complete this step the crew will need the correct equipment in a suitable environment.

However during this stage they will not require large studios and sound stages, or outdoor locations. they just need an area that fits the editing requirements.

Facility Houses:

This is simply the location where production and/or post-production happens, with post-production it is normally the location of the company’s headquarters.

During the production stage, these facilities are usually rentals such as large sound stages, and very open for the crew to make sets and are laid out pretty much the same for all types of production.

They usually have green screens, room for camera (maybe even have their own already there), sound technologies, also they are usually very spacious and developed for the exact reason of filming.

In post-production, they are usually small areas, and a large amount of space is rarely required to complete this stage of the production process. Despite this while editing equipment is still required, a lot of which wasn’t needed in pre-production and the actual production, such as editing software and sound editing equipment, unless they are already fitted, the company will have to invest into the rental of these as well.

Usually the facilities used within the production are used throughout and are often adapted to fit each shot and setting.

Prop Houses:


Props are the objects that are used in production to add a sense of reality on the film. Sometimes the whole film and story line may be based around a singular prop. Prop houses are the houses used within the film to establish a particular genre and overall setting.

Unlike a facility, used to establish many different scenes all under one roof, a prop house is often used as a specific intention to create a certain type of atmosphere. A prop house can be anywhere on the spectrum of a suburb house to empire state building. The shots of the building on the outside are probably real, but he scenes are built on interpretation and representation and re probably built as a set in the facilities.

Overall a prop house is just a house that is used for the establishment of setting and discovering the genre.

Sourcing and Cost of Facility:

This is the beginning when considering facilities. Finding the best place for production to take place. This factor is finding the best place for production and the cost and rental of this area.

The crew must all asses the area before any final decisions can be made. They have to carry out health and safety checks. They also have to make sure they are able to get every shot that they plan to. The number of sets is also key making sure that there is enough room to film everything. Also some facilities provide their own equipment so seeing what there is if there is anything that they do not need to get. Also the cost comparison is important, the company need to avoid being over charged and that they are not wasting costs ineffectively.

A quality check must be carried out before choosing a facility, as it could lead to an overall set issue or sound issue at the end of production if not carried out properly.

LocationsThis refers to the areas in which the stages of production take place. It is simply what is predicted, it is just the places in which all stages of production take place.

Identification:

This type of identification refers to the specified locations of the project.

This would focus on the identification of the location that is being used, it is what defines it as a unique place to other locations in which the company could have chosen.

This is simply needed for documentation and to efficiently plan where the production will occur and plan how the production will be able to get to the location.

Recces: This basically means pre-filming.

To expand, pre-filling means to visit the locations and evaluate the suitability for filming and this makes direct reference to the quality of the facility, access to necessary facilities, assessment of the lighting and sound quality etc.

This can be using cameras in the area to grasp an understanding of the availability of certain shots, and other shots that would be available. This step is important because the production team need to know their options when it comes to the filming of the project.


It also allows them to predict how the staging will occur during the shooting, it helps generate a vision for the producer on how they want it to be presented through the camera and the sound. It enables them to analyse their approach to filming.

Limitations and Risks:

This refers to the issues that the production team may face while filming. When choosing a facility they have to assess the limitations of the facility in terms of the filming, and the risks that could possibly breech the health and safety laws.

This includes checks on all sets, that they are sturdy and any props in the background will not cause obstruction during a scene. It also is checking the overall hazards within the facility. This could be broken floor boards and broken tables. Also making sure the lighting work and there is enough room and scaffolding to set up sets.

This section evaluates all the possible obstacles that the company may possibly have to overcome during the pre-production and production.

PersonnelThis refers to anyone working on the project, specifically on the se and behind the scenes.

They are an important part during production, as this includes the actors, the crew and the director, as well as special effects and the editing team for post-production.

Technical Crew:

These are the people who work behind the cameras. These are the people who both create and clear the props, the people in charge of lighting and sound.

Anyone who is directly involved in the production and digital side of the project. The people other than the talent who contribute to making of the film.

These people are very important because without them the project could not go ahead because there would not be anyone to control the camera and sound, but most importantly no one to direct the film and would be unorganised.

Actors/Talent:

These are the people who work on camera. They are the faces of the project, people will recognise the film from the actors, not the behind-the-scenes crew. So these people play a very crucial part in the film and its overall success, they are put with the job to interpret the characters and make them their own and apply it to a scene.

They are the people who bring the whole storyline and the characters to life. They play an important part as they have to portray the writer’s vision across. Therefore the actors must be chosen carefully, as they need to portray the intended genre and personality of the characters. Some actors are specialised when it comes to particular genres, therefore aiming at them will make the whole process a lot easier.

Extras:

These are the personnel who do similar work to the actors, however their work isn’t as main screen as the actors.


These are the people who make the scene seem more real, most commonly in the back and fill the empty space in the scene. Extras have few lines and are not paid as much as the actors. For example if the scene is of a street, people walking around in the background, just casually walking around, to emphasise the reality of the situation.

The main part of planning of extras is ensuring that enough of them are hired. Normally extras do not require experience or any qualifications, however experience in such a field is useful for the production company, this allows a smoother run of production.

Contributors:

This is usually someone who may have no worked on set, but has made a financial contribution towards the production of the project. This could be another company who made an investment, in the case of ‘Educating Telford’, this could be the government, if financed with a grant.

The term is rather broad and unspecific, because the number of people who have contributed to the project this way could be lengthy is financed through crowd funding, or a company who donated a small piece of equipment, to a company who has invested over a million pounds.

Either way, the role of a contributor would simply be to contribute anything necessary to the production.

Materials (Type)This section refers to the script of the production, the areas that have been created to better the project.

The script can be sourced in many different ways, such as:

Original Material:

This material that can be used as copyright free, this is material that the company has made totally off their own accord. The ideas cannot be influenced by another media project.

This is usually used with a new project or a genre that is explored and produced less in the film industry. It is often described as ‘unique material’. It can be inspired by other material, but exact ideas cannot be taken.

This is a good way to create a script because the team who create the script will have a better idea of how they want it to look on screen, it makes the production and post-production faster and more efficient. This is also a good method to use if you have a low budget as no copyright fees would need to be paid.

Archive and Library Materials:

This is a collection are materials that are ‘ready-made’, this essentially means they are created by other people and re-proposed for the use of another project.

This is a method used simply by collecting ideas or sections of scripts to save both time and money during the production process. It is a lot easier initially using this than making your own material, because that is very time consuming.

This method is good if the filming is part of a series or a re-creation or a sequel of a film. As it uses materials that have already been created specifically for this idea to begin with. This


could also be useful if creating a book into a film interpretation, using iconic lines from the book in the film and highlighting huge turning points. This also allows the structure of dialogue to be pre-decided.

This is useful for planning because it becomes easier to organise the script with the other materials and allows them to generate a simple structure.

Photo-Library Materials:

This is the section of phots and screen shots used within the film and the scenes produced. This can also be the pictures used in terms of advertising the film.

This is the visual material used within a film. This can both be original material and archived material. If the company takes pictures of an area themselves, or if they just take one of the place via the internet.

They are often used for the use of green screens, if the project requires a scene that is too difficult and expensive to create a set of, they may use a green screen, or if they are trying to give the impression of someone flying, they may use this to make it look more realistic.

The photo library must consist of photos of high quality, if not this will cause the film to look poorly produced, especially if the photos are being used for a green screen and/or trailer.

Taking photos is useful when planning the film after choosing a genre, because it helps the writers gain a better understanding of the sets and the areas in which they are able to utilise throughout the shooting.

In terms of ‘Educating Telford’, pictures of the school hallways and the classrooms, allows the company to configure where they can shoot from and what will give them the best angles.

Sound-Library Materials:

Another non-physical media form required in terms of materials is the sound. This refers to music used within the film as well as sound effects and the collection of original sound through mics during the filming.

Sound that is required during films can either be royalty free music, music that is copyrighted or original music performed and recorded by a hired artist. In terms of sound effects, there may already be a sound similar, however the company can create and record their own sound effects too.

When coming to sound it is important in media to make sure that it sound realistic, such as the fighting scenes, the sound of the punch needs to be realistic and not be too obvious that it is faked.

Internet:

The term internet here is used vastly. This can be searching anything online to help towards the project.

This could be the collect ion of photos and sound of the internet. Or the research of information and contextual knowledge to use in filming, if regarding a certain time period.

The internet if an efficient way to gain knowledge quickly of something that can be useful towards production. It’s a simple way to collect data quickly, the company is normally free to


use whatever they want, as long as they make reference and give credit to the owner/ source of the information.

Assets: An asset is something that a business owns. In terms of media it refers to the materials that the production company has gained the right to use.

This an effective way of gaining any type of material for a project without filing in forms and it can be simply be found and downloaded from the internet.

This is both cost and time efficient, this will allow the crew to focus on other aspects of the film as these can be done quickly at the start of pre-production.

Audio:

Audio is anything to do with the sound within the film and anything that can be heard, sometimes this is referred to as ‘Foley’.

Audio is the art of creating sound, it is important to a project as it helps put emphasis on certain scenes. If sound isn’t considered carefully it could lead to a general misinterpretation from the audience.

It is important to plan out what type of message you are trying to get across, this is because this helps determine what audio should be used, and it also allows room for experiments with the audio.

Script:

In media, the script it written to form the overall project, it is written for reference of the crew, cast and director.

The creation of the script is a huge part in terms of the shaping of the film and it allows the script writing crew to be creative as well as allowing them to develop the characters more, and build more of a character profile.

The overall purpose and idea of a script is place down a base line for the crew and actors to follow. This could be the use of stage directions for the crew, that could be things such as getting props ready to go on and the lighting.

Animatics:

An animatic is putting the sound to the storyboard and is usually made into a trailer.

It gives people an idea of the film before its release, it creates a primary audience and is normally aimed at their particular target audience. This is a good way to get people talking about the film before its release in the hope of further publicity.

It can be a trailer only seen by the company, so they can predetermine whether they personally believe that the project will be a success or not.

Graphics:

This refers to the quality of the visuals used within the project.

This is all down to the quality of the equipment and the editing if using a green screen, making sure the graphics of the green screen look realistic..


The equipment needs to be of a good quality, and it needs to be ensured that it is able to shoot at the best resolution, and at a professional resolution.

Interviews:Interviews can be used as a reference resource for the project.

These can be interviews with other companies who have produced similar projects. This gives them an idea of what they should be aiming for in terms of filming and content, and can learn from their mistakes.

It may be an interview that is filmed and used within the project, by interviewing someone regarding the topic of the project, especially if it is a documentary.

Costumes:

Costumes act as build upon the characters and help bring their personalities to life. They also can become highlight pieces of the film.

Costumes help the audience identify a character, it helps show their personality and can become a crucial part of a character. It is a creative platform for the designers to add their own to the characters, it can help display the genre of the film.

It helps the audience connect with the characters and gain an understanding of their background.

Storyboards:

A storyboard is used to visually plan out the project, in terms of a film it is usually a sketch of each scene and what will be included in that scene, such as the lighting and characters, also the duration.

In terms of ‘Educating Telford’ a storyboard would not be necessary because when doing documentaries a storyboard wouldn’t be beneficial as its not following a storyline, but is a reality style project.

Adherence to codes of practice and regulation:This is the legal requirements of pre-production and going over all the legal documents and requirements before the filming and release of the project.

It is so the business do not get fined for using any content that isn’t heirs and that they are insured for any equipment and locations.

Clearances:This refers to the security of the material used in production. It is what gives the company the right to use any of the content in their production by gaining consent from the owner or double checking that content is royalty free.

Clearance management (MCPS and PRS):The Mechanical Copyright Protection society and the Performing Right Society.

These two companies work together to protect the rights of musical works and the people involved with the music. They bring together all the correct legal documents and copyright terms and conditions to a given piece of music.


They here use clearance management, they help businesses be granted the right to use a piece of material, most likely music within their project.

This is an important part of the process because it ensures the production company are covered legally to use any material that they choose to within the production of their project.

LegalThe term legal is referring to the law that would be held against the company if they do not follow rules and regulations correctly. This is important it stops the business from being compromised at all and any fines.

Copyright

Copyright is a legal act to protect someone’s work. It ties that piece of work to the creator and only the creator has the right to use it how they please and can only allow other people use it. It gives them exclusive rights to the content over anyone else.

Production companies will have a team that focus on the legal side of the project and checking for copyright issues. This department can research into the copyright of different pieces that the director wants to use and then look into the terms and conditions of the piece which is required for the production, this research allows them to budget better as some will cost different amounts than others.

Health and Safety

The production company not only has to produce the project, but they have to consider certain factors while they film, one of these is the health and safety of the workers and talent on and off set.

Following the general Health and Safety act of 2014, the production company must ensure that all areas of the work place are safe and that all employees are treated under the regulations under this act, such as if a worker is actively working more than 4 hours at one time they are entitled to a 15-minute break. If a production company does not follow this law, if something happens because of it , there may be fines for the company to pay.

RegulationsRegulations are a form of rules, there are a specific set of regulations designed for the media industry.

These regulations are both configured by and enforced by the government. All production companies are obliged to follow these regulations and can have serious issues.

Ofcom:

This abbreviated for Office of Communications, they’re a company dedicated to supervising the communications industry.

These communications including broadcasting, telecommunications and postal industries. Ofcom are given a wide-ranged ability over communication forms such as television and radio, all to ensure that the public are protected from harmful and offensive material.

IPSO:

The Independent Press Standards Organisation, a regulator of a large amount of written media in the UK.


Companies like this are entitled to authority over all types of written media, for different reasons such as avoiding the transfer of inappropriate and offensive content through the UK.

They asses all media such as news papers and magazines and check that their content is appropriate for publishing.

ASA:

The Advertising Standards Authority, a regulatory of advertising in the UK.

This exists to ensure that the appropriate needs are met during an advert, that they are viewable by all audiences.

They are assed based on a criteria, especially children’s adverts, as the age is important in getting across a message.

Trade Unions and Professional BodiesA trade union is an organisation that associates with protecting the rights of workers. Many different trade unions specialise in certain job sectors.

These are professional organisations, that employees can sign up to. It helps them secure job security and that all their basic human and working rights are met and followed. Also ensuring they are given an affair pay for the work in which they are completing.

PACT:

PACT is an association that represents the commercial interest of UK specific media companies.

They act to ensure that the regulatory and legislative rights regarding the working environment are followed to allow production to grow. They offer support to these companies to help them to meet these requirements.

NUJ:

National union of journalists, a trade organisation for journalists in the UK, striving to improve wages and condition for its supporters.

Journalism plays a crucial role within media today; however it can be unreliable due to fake news and bias articles.

NUJ support both well-known and new starting journalists to ensure that they are publishing the right content and that they are presenting it in a sensitive way.

BECTU:

A trade union for media and entertainment in the UK.

BECTU aim to ensure that staff and freelance workers are represented in the world of media and entertainment. They are useful to smaller companies who may struggle with a large workload when working on a project.

They give companies a chance to present their views and opinions. It allows them to exclaim their right to use certain content.


MU:

An organisation that works to benefit musicians working in the media and entertainment industry.

They protect all the rights for musicians within the industry whether they are on screen or off. It makes sure that they are not under paid or mistreated within the work place.

This is an example of a trade union who specialises in a certain job sector. They are educated in a certain sector, this allows them to run more effectively.

After a pay cut was introduced this union created a movement as new members joined, and the organisation grew rapidly in such a short amount of time.

Established Industry Formats for Presenting Pre-Production Work:The way in which things are appointed within media and how an organisation is to go around delegating tasks.

Templates for Scripts:

A template is a guide which can be used to follow to stick to a generic model of something. In terms of scripts, this could be following the basic general storyline.

It is often used to ensure a script is successful and are often based off successful scripts, as these have already made a good impression to an audience.

It allows the company to stay on track when producing a script, to make sure they are not trailing off into something unrelated and something that might just prolong the story line as an unnecessary asset.

Written:

This represents the physical written evidence of what has occurred during production and pre-production, often can be used as a checklist to ensure the company has completed everything in order for them to produce the project legally.

Dialogue:

A spoken form of arrangement in pre-production, this is where somebody who works within the business presents the ideas and what had happened upfront to the crew and cast. This normally brief, but normally includes important information.

Written or Visual Storyboards:

Instead of storyboards giving an idea of the look of the product, storylines are dedicated to how the story should look.

It gives the producer a chance to see what their project is going to be carried through the story and how things will develop and how they should look. It also gives them the opportunity to make any changes if something did not turn out how they expected or it just doesn’t fit well within the format.


Page Mock-Ups:

A mock-up is a model/design of something, in terms of pre-production its is a way of presenting what will happen throughout the whole production of the project.

This is very simply creating a practice production, giving a representation of the project before the production to ensure that everything is to the producer liking before any problems.

This is an efficient way to figure out how production can be improved to run more smoothly and to make it easier, without taking shortcuts.

Revising and Discounting Ideas:

This is where all the ideas tat have been thought of are brought together and they production company decide on which ones they want to keep and which ones they will be using during production.

This is important because it allow them to filter out the ideas that do not contribute to the general themes of the project.

They have to ensure that all the ideas chosen to be used within the project are able to be incorporated into the same the same plotline.

Visualising Content:

This is when any content that is considered for the production is put into stage testing to ensure that it can actually be done with the resources the production team has access to.

It is a way of presenting and testing the content before the production begins this allows the producers to asses it and make changes.

Establishing Feasibility

Feasibility is a term that defines the degree of something being easily or conveniently done.

In this section the difficulty of the factors in production will be evaluated, these factors in particular are considerably difficult to regulate:

Expertise: This refers to the skill of the people who work on set. This is can be a difficult subject since every person who works on set will have to have experience & / or knowledge in their field. Finding the most fitting people can be challenging for production company as there are very low chances that they’ll find the perfect candidate, but also because they may have to settle with someone who may have limitations towards the criteria.

Costs: This is the required funding that will compensate for the resources needed in production.A good production will always have its extensive costs, therefore it’s up to the production company to monitor & plan their spending before & during production. This can be difficult however, as funding can be quite unpredictable, for instance, a couple of cameras may need to be rented for another few days. Considering this, this factor must be taken care of with a skilled team with considerable expertise, or the difficultly of managing this will be notably high.


Timescales: These are the periods of time that are dedicated to deciding how long it would take to complete sections of production.This is a very important part of production, it determines & documents how long it would take for a process to occur, or how long something can / should run for. This is very difficult, once again because it can be unpredictable to determine how long something should / will take.

Logistics: This is the planning & implementation of actions in production.Applying everything that has been planned in pre-production is a very complex & fragile thing to do as one slip-up in the plan can cause the whole idea to fall apart, therefore, it’s important that the logistics are managed well & by the right people. This can be very difficult since a number of experienced people will be needed to ensure that the production sticks to the specified plan consistently while implementing all parts of the production.

Adherence to Codes of practice and Regulation:

This refers to the commitment to all legal aspects of production.

The ability to follow the law and complete regulations is important for the company to avoid fines and issues during production, such as injury.

Administrative Requirements:

This is the requirements that must be met to ensure that the company have the ability to continue running during this time of production.

These are the fundamentals of running the company during production:

Record keeping:

This is where the actions that are carried out by the company are all noted down to give reference of any activity that they’re both directly & partially responsible for those actions.

Sharing of information:

This is clearly the communication of the company’s actions being shared with any authorities that require notification of activity of the company, or any participating / contributing companies that share responsibility for the same actions.

Relevant Parties:

These are all the other contributing companies towards the project/ they must be acknowledged within the production for their works and help towards the project.

Especially financing supporting companies who can be paid back with profit based on the success of the finished project.

Auditing Compliance:

Auditing is the overall verification of a process. This section will simply inspect the level of compliance/acceptance of the processes that are a part of the production.


These processes have to be carried out with the upmost care, so this section is dedicated specially to ensuring any activity that occurs within production is up to the minimum standard.

Resources:https://www.wikipedia.org/

https://www.dictionary.com/browse/clearance

https://www.mediadoghire.com/

https://www.bbc.co.uk/safety/resources/aztopics/events-recce-checklist-indoor.html

http://www.hse.gov.uk/

https://www.ofcom.org.uk/

https://www.prsformusic.com/

https://www.bectu.org.uk/home

Documents

Pre-Production Requirements€¦ · Web viewTripods: £9 - £105. Monitors: £25 - £125. Lighting: £10 - £125. Audio: £12 - £65. Grips: £2 - £285. Accessories: £2 - £300