Requirements for a Moving Image Production
Type of moving image production:
In this brief we were required to produce a short film that could be no longer than 90 seconds. The reason it could only be 90 seconds was due to the fact that we were making it for Depict which is an Internet competition that showcases 90 second clips.
Like all media productions our film must be Distributed which means the marketing side of the film which normally happens when the film has finished film or even during the final days of filming. The whole idea is to create a product alongside the actual film to try and gain interest and to sell the film. In terms of marketing the 2018 Film Ready Player One, directed by Stephen Spielberg set new levels with its experimental promotions. They created posters which was released just before comic con the posters were very basic but still allowed a hint to eagle eyed viewers . The minimal design allows people to speculate what it could mean which allows the viewers to be involved with the release of the film due to them guessing and putting in their input. Making the revenue of the film rise due to the viewers being hooked on finding out what happens. The Distributors and artists also created a set of posters that promoted the different release formats. Release formats are what the physical film will be on an example IMAX which was developed in the early 1970s and requires a screen that is 80 feet high and the 70mm film is projected horizontally. This is usually the technology used in cinemas. The posters that were advertising the formats are all unique to that format so each design is different which makes them in a sense a collectors item which fans of the film can collect this not only gets the fans excited and on board it also spreads the word which again allows sales to increase and profits to be made before the film is even fully released.
Another way we could and have distribute our film is on Youtube. Youtube has a massive following of 1.9 billion monthly users who watch over 1 billion hours of videos daily . This alone helps as there becomes a slim chance at our video won't be seen by anyone. YouTube runs on a view system which allows users to like or dislike the videos they see but also each video has its own hyperlink which allows people to share on multiple platforms like Facebook social media. But also allows people to embed videos on to their own website which is effective as then the more people view their websites we are also getting revenue to them paying us for the right to use our video. Social media is a massive part of youtube as it creates a sense of community due to the comment section. We could use the comment section to keep people updated on the production of our next video or even to engage and take criticisms which allows people to be more involved in the film and also youtube pays for creators to put their videos on youtube after a certain amount of views so the sharing of our video will help us gain revenue.
In today's society we are surrounded by moving image media products and until we really think about it we don't even realise due to today's society being so technology based. A Name we all know is the streaming service called Netflix. Netflix shows a mixture of feature films and television programs and even shows a couple of in house films. Netflix is a subscription based streaming service with 3 payment packages that people can select which have different perks. The most expensive one is £11.99 which is their premium package which allows up to 4 screens playing at one time and the other two packages range from £8 to £5 a month.
Films must be pitched to Netflix in order to be put on the streaming device. But due to the high volume of monthly users there is always a chance for fresh movies. However, getting your film on netflix is a long game to play. It took filmmakers Creative North 4 years to get their film on netflix. They started the process by self funding a short film and then emailed and got in contact with someone from Netflix to start the process. It took months to eventually get a meeting to pitch their idea due to lack of communication. They then got a bid for a film after travelling there film around film festivals to try and get there film known.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gHWVu6E3uQA https
Netflix appear at random festivals so they saw there film then asked to buy it for global promotion. This is called putting down a bid.Generally in order to get your film on netflix you must first enter their database which contains a list of filmmakers like you who want to get on netflix. Then you must work with an independent film distributor to get your film known and then you must get an audience who likes your movie on netflix can see that your film is going to do well.
Going back on to Youtube.Youtube is great platform for distributing media products that people have created. These could be things like game Walkthroughs, Music videos and short films to name a Few. Youtube is great for starting careers. For example Irish youtuber, Seán William McLoughlin (Known as Jacksepticeye) Started back in November 2012 and creates lets plays and comedy sketches. McLoughlin also is popular due to his regular charity streams and live show tours. His channel is full of positivity and energy which attracts people who maybe needs a little bit of a pick up. Due to McLoughlin creating mainly gaming content his audience is normally other gamers or people who enjoy watching walkthroughs. Youtube is a platform that can be viewed on many devices like laptops, tvs and event game consoles like the nintendo switch. Making it easier to distribute a product due to being able to watch it everywhere.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCYzPXprvl5Y-Sf0g4vX-m6g
Finance and sources of funding:
Films can cost a lot to make and promote. With it costing over £180m to advertise a movie in 2017. The film industry is a very costly job to be in. In order to make it you must have the funds. This can be done in a number of ways. Independent film makers may use Self Funding this is where no companies give funds its purely all raised by the directors. An example of a self funded film is The Shadows ,1959. The director John Cassavetes took up small acting jobs to fund his films. This not only funded his films it also gave him an insight of how a film is produced which he took on board when filming The Shadows .
Another example of a self Funded film would be the 2005 production Brick. Where director Rian Johnson asked friends and family to fund the film and in return he would give them executive producer credits in return. They in the end donated $200k out of the $450k it took to make. He also saved money on the film by his cousin Nathan composing music for the film.
Another source of Funding could be though development funds . This is the total you need to invest your idea until it is good enough to present. You may present to investors must be capable of getting production financing. This development money will pay the people involved with getting your film started. These people could be the screenplay writers, location scouters and the producers due to them travelling to film markets to arrange sales of your film . A way to get this sort of money could be government finance (if your in the UK) this is though BFI Film Fund. The BFI supports and promotes the art of film. They are a charity funded by government. In order to gain access to this funding you must meet their five core priorities; Talent development and progression, impact on community, risk, perspective and must want to create your film outside of London.
An other example of funding is kickstarter. This a website where people can share their ideas for latest projects then ask for general public to support their ideas. The good thing about kickstarter is that the creators have 100% control on what happens. No last minute changes. Kickstarter is a very successful way to get your project out there with over 181,931 projected being funded since they launched in 2009 and 15 of those were nominated for an oscar. What we don't realize is that some of the best movies that we see where either fully or partly funded. An example of this would be the 2014 horror film The Babadook. This film was already partly funded however they needed to raise some money for the special effect and too pay for an art department. Normal protocol to get donations is to give the donors something in return this could be tickets to premiere or exclusive set photos. The Babadook directors gave out exclusive set photos and and exclusive look at a previous film she had directed. If you give an incentive then people are more likely to fund your film.
Requirements for production:
Requirements for production mean what they will have to spend money on in order to create the final film. This could be anything from props to set design. Set design is quite possibly the most important thing in a film as if it wasn't for the set the scene wouldn't be set due to the audience not having a visual representation of the place that the film is set in. For example, the 2018 installation in the Fantastic Beasts franchise. Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald mixes both the use of CGI and real life locations. Computer Generated Imagery(CGI) consists of 3D computer graphics to create scenes that are not able to be man made due to budget or that they can't get the same level as detail as they can on the computer. With 24 frames costing up to $500k CGI can consume half of the budget of a film purely due to the amount of people you need to create the CGI but also its the cost for the technology and software. In the fantastic beasts it took a year just to create the Zouwu which is a chinese feline beast that can travel 1000 miles in a day. Due to this they had to make sure they showed how the zouwu bent time.
All films have an element of requirements no matter how big or small they are. Within our Depict entry we needed costumes, cameras and editing software. In a way we were lucky and saved a lot of money due to this being a college project. However, if college didn't make the investments to get us the highest tech we wouldn't be able to make our depicts as well. In college we have a centre called skills where we can go hire cameras for as long as we need as long as we have our student card. Our costumes also came from college but if we couldn't get the costume off college we would've spent £15 which isn't expensive however we could use that money to put towards distribution costs or paying actors if this was a proper paid job.
Personnel:
A low budget short will have less people working on it then a Hollywood feature film. This is mainly due to budget the more people you have the more you have to pay. A low budget short may only consist of 3 people and may rely on multitasking. So for instance the director may also be the cameraman as well while the other two people are actors. By multitasking it allows more money to go on the film and not paying lots of people. When doing research on short films I stumbled across an independent Filmmaker called Scott Danzig who directed the short film Sky paradise. Danzig was the director and watched the actors and even used the cameras. He also had a Cinematographer. A Cinematographer who are also known as Director of photography (DP). Within a low budget film they will operate the camera as well as designing the set and ensuring lighting is good enough. A DP will also bring along an assistant camera (AC) and a gaffer. The AC`s job is to ensure the camera is working and that its got enough battery to record and also ensuring that the SD card has enough space on it to film the shots.
For our production, we only had a small group which meant we had to multitask., at times I was an actor and also the director. I decided to put my name down to be an actor as I had previous experience in high school so I knew how to engage an audience. Jody was the cameraman along with Nathan and Morgan ensured that the corridors where free while we were filming as we were using a very busy corridor which led to multiple people walking through the shots. In terms of experience we are all fairly new to film and how to work a camera. So for us this was a massive learning curve.
There is a lot of people that work behind the scenes away from operating cameras a directing. So for example there has to be catering on site to feed the crew as an average day can be up to 12hrs long. If there was no food there actors energy would go down resulting in poor acting. Another vital role within the film industry is the accountants as if it wasn't for the accountants films can easily go over budget and can cause massive lost in profits when the flim eventually hits cinemas. An example of a big loss would be the flim The Lone Ranger which out of the $225 million it cost to make took a $98 million loss which shows that it is very important to ensure that budgets are stuck too as the Lone Ranger over ran budget massively which led to the flim nearly being cancelled.This is why its really important for accountants to be around so they can keep an eye on things and ensure that the budget is stuck to.
Time: Our final depict could only be 90 seconds. However in terms of filming and editing we had a 4 week time frame to film and editing so we set 2 weeks filming and 2 weeks editing. To plan the 4 weeks we used a Production schedule which we planned every session and what scenes we where recording that day. On the production schedule we also included what days people would be unavailable and then we figured out and moved scenes that didn't require them people that day so we didn't lose any days. We faced some issues when it came to meeting deadlines unfortunately it was something that was out of our control. Every time we went to film in the afternoon the vending machines got restocked and instead of waiting for us to finishing filming they just bombarded our shot meaning we missed the initial deadline. If we where in the Professional media industry we properly would of got sacked due to the competitive industry and everyone fighting for a successful film.
Equipment/Facilities: In order to make a Film you need the correct equipment. In order to get this equipment you Can go to a professional media facility house where you could get all the equipment that is required for your film. An example of a local Media facility house would be Epic Studios. Epic Studios is based in Norwich and offers filmmakers the chance to hire their studio for events and broadcasting but they also allow people to hire out top of the range Film equipment stocking top brands like Sony. For our depict we use Skills at college to get our equipment. For us as students this is the best thing for us due to no paying anything out for the equipment unless we break the equipment. The only thing we need is our student card to get the cameras out. College are always updating the cameras and tripod so we can work with industry standard equipment. Also we have access to Adobe Premiere Pro which is what we used to edit our depicts. Having access to this is really beneficial for us as this is the software that most of the Hollywood films are edited on. So by being able to practise on this software allows us to be ready for when we eventually get into the industry.
Locations: A location recces is where you visit potential locations to see how you can use the space to film and how the lighting can be used within the location. This is normally carried out by the Director of Photography. When the right location has been found a location Release must be signed. This is a contract between the director and the owner of the location that's required. For our Depict we used the glass corridor near the sports hall. We chose this location as we wanted to show how the clown was trapped in a glass box. This location was perfect due to all of it being glass which meant we didn't have to find glass panels or change our story a tiny bit. We thought this location would be perfect with minimum issues however we had 2 days where we couldn't film due to stacks of paper being directly in in the middle of our shot when going to ask to see if the paper could be moved the owner of the location basically said they wouldn't move the paper which delayed us. Also the corridor is the most popular corridor in college due to it being the way to the gym but also their is two vending machines that everyone goes to. So in order to overcome these hurdles we still set up and waited for the people to stop filling up the vending machines up. Then when they finished we instantly started filming so we didn't lose anymore time.
Materials:
Within films there may be a need for music that produced by artists. This is mainly in feature films as they will work with a big artist to make the soundtrack in order to attract the audience. An example of this could be the 1994 classic Pulp fiction. In one of the scenes the song " Girl, you`ll be a woman soon" which was originally released by Neil Diamond but was recreated for the film by a rock band called Urge Overkill created a very iconic scene (https://youtu.be/iiAUmsl6OHU) . In this scene we can see Mia ( Uma Thurman) dancing around her room, singing and taking drugs and eventually passing away. The music within this scene creates a fun feel to what ends up being a depressive scene.
However, this comes at a cost. When planning a budget its good to put 10-15% aside for music rights. This is only a rough guide though as it depends on the copyright owner of that song. So if you are using copyrighted music is a small independent film the price is more likely to massively increase due to the owner thinking that the music may be more valuable to the film.
Legal issues: Throughout the whole process of making and distributing films there will always be legal issues. An example would be when it comes to Filming people. when filming you should always get direct consent from the actor and background people if possible. If you cant get consent from the background people and see that they are either vulnerable or underage then blurring or not using the clip should be considered. As under the Human Rights act 1998 everyone has the right to respect for private and family life. So within a film privacy must be considered. If it Is a person in the background then it Is unlikely that there will be any issues depending on who they are. But if they are the main starring actor then permission must be obtained before any filming happens. Another legal issue that may come into place when filming people is " Defamation" this is where a statement is made to lower a person's reputation. This can be via Direct Statement or though Manipulation of an image. An example being having someone walking though a normal neighbourhood but putting in a documentary about gangs and drugs. Another issue could be filming buildings. Under the Designs and Patents Act 1988 you are allowed to photograph or film a building which means you don't infringe its copyright.
However if you will need to get permission from landowners of you need to go on their land to film the building you require. However this could lead to certain things you can not film due to breaching copyright and permission. The biggest legal issue is Copyright. The idea of copyright is too protect your work from being used without your permission. The good thing about copyright Is that as soon as you produce a piece of work you are automatically covered without paying for it. You don't even need to mark your work with the copyright symbol for it to be protected however this may make things easier and clearer. Copyright is very useful as it means people cannot distribute copies of your work no matter If they are making profit or not. It also prevents people from performing or showing your work in public. This is good as it can stop them from claiming your work as their own. Copyright for films can last up to 70 years after the director, screenplay author and composer has died. Allowing films to keep being protected and not recreated/adapted.
For our depict we managed to avoid copyright breaches. We did this by ensuring our location didn't have any logos or slogans in which meant we would have to peruse permission. We also used a general clown costume. As if we had a clown costume that ever so slightly linked to clowns like IT! or Glock. we would of been slammed with copyright as these clowns all have their own individual pieces of costume that's copyrighted to them. In terms of music we used a free Music site called Ben sound. Which Is a royalty free music site which we can use under the creative commons license which allows us to use their music for free.
In terms of Film, clearance means getting the permission needed to produce the film. This can be things like sets, actors, music and more. This is necessary as if not you face copyright and trademark issues. Clearance generally falls under 3 categories; Property, people and locations. Property clearance is material that's created by people that are not filmmakers. So this means music,books etc. Musical clearance is where you obtain the licenses to use certain tracks in their film. People clearance is where you get releases from all people appearing In the film and the form should allow the producer to make changes If necessary. Releases should also be signed by the crew just in case behind the scenes are used. Location clearance is obtaining the right film permits hat allows you to film on the locations. When getting permits prove of insurance must be shown and there may be an additional charge if you are filming in a public area. Public Liability insurance covers the cost of claims that are made against a company by a client or member of public. This should be valid from the earliest stages of pre-production. This insurance is the most important thing within the film making process as it covers your production if you cause injury to others and damage the property. However this can be taken off you if you don't adhere with health and safety. Completion Guarantee is insurance offered by a completion guarantor company. They do this for percentage fee from the movie based on the budget.
Moving image products distributed online are harder to regulate due to anyone being able to upload things to the Internet. However there is on demand services that are regulated by Association for television on Demand. Sites like YouTube doesn't allow things like Pornography so in order to ensure videos like this don't end up on the platform there is systems that flag videos like this and then they are taken down. Online videos at the moment legally do not have to state what the age rating is however Netflix still decides to show age ratings by choice so their audience can pick an choose films or TV series that are suitable for them.
Trade Unions and Trade associations: A Trade Union is where a group of employees join together to improve and maintain their conditions of employment. Typical topics are better pay, improvement of public services etc. There are nearly 7m people in a trade unions from all sorts of jobs. Trade unions are important as they make work a safer place with unions having your back when you run into problems. They are also important as they work with political views from the poor and the rich which creates equality. PACT means that a formal agreement has been made between individual or parties. BECTU stands for Broadcasting, entertainment, cinematography and theatre union. BECTU represents over 40,000 workers in the media and entertainment industries. They can help with kick starting your journey in the creative industries or even help you to get a promotion. Trade Association is an organisation founded and funded by Businesses within a specific industry. AN example for a trade association within the film industry would be Screenskils. Screenskills provide insight, career development in order to create an "inclusive workforce". Working in television,VFX, animation and games to ensure that talent and skills are always available. They work with businesses and industry demands to ensure that the industry leads they do this by patterning with organisations like Royal Television Society and BAFTA.
In simpler terms. If an actor or a graphic designer is facing issues with the higher up people within a production they can go to their union and report it then the union will go into the legal side and explore the options the person can take. These issues can be small or large. An example of a time and actor may of had to go to the union and also the police would be if they were affected by Harvey Weinstein who asked for actors to send him dirty messages and videos for a return of a good career. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-41594672. The actors involved would of course go to the police however they may of gone to a union to see how they could help. A union in the filmmaking industry has the same sort of aims as the NHS union has.
References:
https://cinematicslant.com/2018/03/28/ready-player-one-marketing-recap/ https://www.depict.org/about/ https://www.oberlo.com/blog/youtube-statistics https://www.netflix.com/signup/planform https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gHWVu6E3uQA https://www.nyfa.edu/student-resources/get-your-independent-movie-on-netflix/ https://stephenfollows.com/how-much-does-it-cost-to-release-a-film/ https://momofilmfest.com/10-best-films-funded-director/ http://talesfromtheargo.com/learn-how-famous-directors-funded-for-their-debut-movies-funding-your-film/ https://www.raindance.org/5-tips-on-clearing-music-for-your-film/ https://www.bfi.org.uk/supporting-uk-film/film-fund https://www.atlasofwonders.com/2018/11/fantastic-beasts-2-grindelwald-filming-locations.html https://youtu.be/iHp7zEaZNu4 https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/RED-ADULT-CIRCUS-DOTTED-CLOWN-WHITE-POLKA-DOTS-FANCY-DRESS-UP-HALLOWEEN-COSTUME-/281621268430 https://www.quora.com/What-equipment-crew-is-needed-for-a-low-budget-film https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Big_Bang_Theory https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/disneys-lone-ranger-could-lead-581503 https://epic-tv.com/ https://www.rollingstone.com/movies/movie-lists/the-25-greatest-soundtracks-of-all-time-41108/rushmore-1999-223114/ http://filmlondon.org.uk/legal
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