Film Production Process

The idea:

To have an idea of a film you need a source of inspiration, like a remake of a film, creating a film from a brand of toys or even an original idea that no one has thought of before. Then the producer is that decides whether the idea is good or not to produce and makes the investment to make it a film. Then the director will work with the producer to make the idea file-worthy and direct everything in the film. The written is informed of the film idea and defines the idea, the plot and the characters. The writer will then write a treatment which is a one page description of the main story and the characters of the film. Then from this a pitch is created which contains all the information that the producer needs to sell the idea to financiers to commission a script.

Development Finance:

The producer pitches the project by using the treatment and pitch with their powers of persuasion to get the money needed to develop a script. Once the project has been given the money needed to make idea into a film the producer can approach film company's for development in money but sometimes film company's have films to develop them self's. The producer can also offer future sales and broadcast in return for money to develop the script as well as apple to a public funding body like the UK Film Council for a development grant or even pitch the film to private investors in hope they will support or pay for the project to happen. Then with the money developed the producer can die the writer down to commit to delivering a number of drafts of the script in return for financial benefits.

Script Development:
The writer produces a synopsis which is a brief of the film and with the producer agree or not agree on key scenes and events in the film. The writer then creates a step outline to plan the script which once happy the draft is sent to the financiers which will have their own ideas to the draft. When all agree with the script it is locked off and becomes a finial draft which is when writer is paid. Final stage of script development is the creation of a sales treatment.

Packaging:
This is when the producer and director must package the script into a full commercial proposition, ready for financing. To make the project more commercial is by attaching well known starts to the script. Then well known commercially successful heads of department such as the editor, production design and director of photography carry considerable clout with knowledgeable financiers. Then the producer must know how much it will all really cost to make the film to know the proper business proposition. The producer will then need to show a plan to the potential investors to how they plan to raise the money and how they will pay them back. Once the package is then complete the film is a viable commercial proposition its them shown to the people.

Financing:
The producer must travel to find a financier to make the market. The producers lawyer draws up contracts to the deals with production companies, public bodies and private individuals. The producer can also raise money from the pre-sales, selling the right to the film before it has even been made. The producer can get investments or even loans from certain departments of banks that specialise in film finance but most financiers insist that a completion bond is in place before they agree to invest, which is insurance for the production. Once all the essential funding and insurance is secured, the film gets the 'green light' and the film can be made.

Pre-production:
The kick-off meeting begins and all the heads of department are hired and the shooting script is circulated and preproduction begins in earnest. Then the casting director with the director and producer begins the process of identifying and casting the actors. The storyboards are the blueprints of the film created by the directer, storyboard artist and the director of photography where every shot is planned in advanced. The production designer plans every aspect of how the film will look and hires people such as a art director, location manager and construction manager to design and build each part. Effects shots are planned in much more detail to normal shots and take a while to design and build by visual effects supervisor and special physical effects people. The first assistant director, line producer and production manager make up the key logistic triangle of the production.

The shoot:
The first day of principal photography is where the shooting begins, funding is released. The camera department is responsible for getting all the footage that the director and editor need to tell the story. Then once the lighting and sound are set up and hair and makeup have been check the shooting can begin. The acting can begin but the actors must create an emotional world and draw the audience into it. Every special effect is carefully constructed and must be filmed with minimum risk of injury to cast and crew. The chain of command are the assistant directors, runners and the line producer make sure film productions are run with military precision, if they fall behind schedule the financiers and insurers may step in.

Post Production:
As the processed footage comes in the editor assembles it into scenes and creates a narrative sequence of the film called a rough cut. Once the picture is locked, the sound department works on the audio track laying, creating and editing every sound. Digital effects are added by specialist effects compositors and titles and credits are added in a compositing suite. The final stage of the picture edit is to adjust the colour and establish the fine aesthetic of the film. After picture lock, the rough sound mix goes to a dubbing theatre where the sound mixer sets the finial levels. After the finial cut the film reachers full lock, it is now finished and ready for duplication.

Sales:
When selling the product to distributors the producer secures the services of a sales agent, a specialist in film sales. To help sell the film, a trailer is made to show busy film buyers the most marketable aspects of the film. The producer and the sales agent collect everything they will need to sell the film such as the trailer, sales pack and sales report. The market is a saturated with films, so the producer must go to great lengths to attract attention for the film. A high profile screening at one of the top film festivals can be great for creating the heat around  the film. The producer now has a hot product and can negotiate good deals with distributors around the world.

Marketing:
Then the film goes to a marketing team who specialist in marketing the film to the public. Knowing the audience is essential; and the marketing team runs test screenings to see how the film is received. The potential audience for the film is targeted with posters, cinema trailers, TV spots and other marketing materials. Television, radio, newspapers and magazines can all help create positive word of mouth about the film. The internet can also help promote the film as it floods the world with information and also makes niche marketing possible. In order to get the film to audiences the distributor must negotiate a deal with the cinemas to screen it.

Exhibition:
A high profile, star studded premiere is used to launch the film to the public with and explosion of media coverage. The UK has more than 3,500 cinema screens and some are not british owned or show british films. Distributors supple the exhibitors with prints of the film, the more screens the film is shown on the more prints are needed. The box office performance is when the data of the film attendance is collected and then form that data they decide weather the film gets canceled or prolonged. The exhibitors take their share of the box office receipts, after which the distributors recoup their marketing costs. Once the distributors have been paid the financiers can recover their investments as laid out in the recoupment schedule.

Other Windows:
Hospitality sales for hotel channels and in flight entertainment can bring millions in additional revenue. UK audiences spend more on DVDS than on cinema tickets so success on DVD can compensate for box office failure. Television is the final source of revenue, rights are sold separately for pay-tv showings and terrestrial broadcasts. Rights for computer games and other reproduces licenses can be extremely lucrative sources of additional revenue. Once the film has made a profit, the producer and key creative people can reap their rewards. The finial income from a film is never known. Distributors continue in perpetuity, and the film may even be re-released in the future.