Unit 1 Pre-Production Report (Final)

Introduction

As the production manager of Eyewatch industries, I have been asked to product a pre-production report for my 1 minute short film. 

Type of Production

I will be producing a short film called One After Another. I will last for 1 minute and the genre of this film is a Thriller. It will be filmed in one location and it will involve two actors. It will be filmed using single-camera. A script, storyboard, one location, and fake blood will be needed to produce my short film. It is about a criminal who takes the identity of the victims he kills but is caught by a detective and has to escape before he is caught and brought to justice.

Finance

Having a budget is essential because it is needed for renting a location, buying transport (trains), camera equipment, camera crew, star power, and the editing suite. The equipment is borrowed from our college which is Christ The King in the Sidcup site which means that we don't have to spend any money. The budget for my short film will be £20-£40.

If I was to produce a film in the media industry, then I would have to use kick-starter to produce my short film. In order to do so I must sign up and inform them on what I am doing for my project so that I can produce it as long as I have supporters in the form of backers according to kick-starter. The supporters will contribute by donating money towards my project which will go towards talent, food such as pizza, and equipment etc. 

Locations

I will only need one location to shoot my short film. The locations will be sourced from doing a recce which is a quick scout of the location and pictures are taken and permission is required in order to film there. So in summary, the costs are covered by the college and any footage used to produce my short film is under the ownership of the college. I have decided the location for my short film which is Downham Way. I need to contact the council in order to request permission to use their location through email or the Bromley film office. I just need to email an enquiry saying that we are students willing to use their location to shoot our short film but they might charge us to use their location. A risk assessment will be done in place which outlines the hazardous risks when shooting on the site. I may not always be guaranteed the location.

Contributors

How we are going to search for star power is that I will contact my peers from outside of college using my phone to see if they are available and willing to act in my short film for the following days. In the media industry, major companies would have to pay for famous actors or celebrities who are willing to take part in films for a reasonable price to include famous actors to star in your show. However, I will be looking for young actors who are willing to work for free.


Facilities and Equipment

In the film industry you would have to pay in order to transport your equipment it would cost around £1350 if you paid for bikes and taxis as a form of transport for your equipment. However, we will be using public transport and it is free as long as we have our oyster cards to prevent us from paying for bus passes. But however the oyster cards are not free as I had to pay £10 to purchase a new Oyster card as my old one expired.

The props I will be using for my short film is a mask, someone's wallet showing ID. It usually costs around £500 for real life props but I already have the props needed for, I won't be spending any money on props. I plan to finish my project before the deadline so we can use the time to deal with surplus footage in the editing suite. 

Timescale

In order to achieve the objectives set, I must organise a timetable in advance and inform my crew so that they know when to attend. This will be done using call sheets, shot lists and shooting schedules which tell the filmmakers when they should be filming and the location they should be filming in and also what they will be filming. According to post-production, the date will be organised and everyone will need to be early so that we can make changes to the footage and simultaneously working at a moderate pace. It would normally cost £550 for editing in the editing suite or studio or more depending on how long they spend editing their footage. However, we are using the computers in the college to edit our footage meaning that we don't have to pay a thing.

Crew and Personnel
According to the size of my team, there will be a maximum of three people and they will have their own production roles which consist of the director, producer, and the production assistant  but each person in our group will support roles others in the form of assistants.

Materials

We will be using royalty-free music for our short film. Whereas in the media industry majors would have to pay clearance which involves paying money to whoever owns the song in order to use it in their movie, However since I am producing a short film, I will be using royalty-free music. Also, story boarding and script templates that are actually used in the media industry will be provided online for us to use to form the basis of our short film. 

Codes of Practice and Regulations

The BBFC is the British board of film classification. They are a non-profit organisation and they certify films shown in the UK with age stickers e.g. U PG 12 12A 15 18 R18. The BBFC would have to regulate our short film in order to be shown in cinemas. However we will be distributing our short film onto YouTube and given that it is an international organisation, the BBFC can not certify our short film. In order to use the location chosen for my 1 minute short film, then I would have email the council to request permission to use the location then I would have to fill out a risk assessment form of all the possible risks that could occur when shooting in that location and I would need to fill out a location permission form in order to use the location chosen. In the media industry, If you were to shoot a film using weapons then you will be supervised by the police on the location. Clearance like I mentioned before is what will be needed to use music from artists just to prevent violating the copyright law. Public liability will protect those who have suffered and injury or collateral damage. One camera and one tripod will be booked from the media office in college.

Conclusion

The only limitation that we might encounter is that not everyone will be comfortable with the times assigned which may lead to poor attendance. Given that we have a small crew and free equipment and a low budget, our priority will be getting the script done first, storyboarding and shot lists done first within the first week and for the second week the shots will be looked at and they will be rated on whether it was a good or a bad take so It is easier when it comes to editing so that we can spend less time in the editing suite to put the footage together.

Bibliography

http://bromleyfilmoffice.co.uk/

http://www.simplybusiness.co.uk/insurance/public-liability/

http://www.bbfc.co.uk/what-classification/how-does-classification-work

http://ctkmedial3shortfilm.blogspot.co.uk/2015/09/18-codes-of-practice-and-regulation.html

http://ctkmedial3shortfilm.blogspot.co.uk/2015/09/unit-12-timescale.html

http://raindancefestival.org/submissions-2016/

Producer Documentation Team LSD (SlideShare)

Producer documentation team lsd (Updated) from Daniel Akintayo

Pitch

Producer Documentation Team LSD (Raw Copy)

After going out with my production team to gather shots for storyboarding in the chosen location I decided to research the name of the location which was called Lesnes Abbey Woods and I found their email in their contact details so I decided to email them. 

This is the email I sent them but I have been checking for a while and still no reply so I decided to email the London Borough of Bexley in order to borrow Lesnes Abbey Woods to shoot our 1 minute short film.

After emailing the council requesting permission to use our location to shoot our 1 minute short film this is the response I received. Hopefully I will receive a response within five working days and I will keep them informed of when we are going to shoot our short film.

I filled out the risk assessment form of all the possible risks of filming in Lesnes Abbey Woods because we are able to know what to do in advance if these risks DO occur when we are actually filming the media industry this would prevent casualties but since we are doing a 1 minute short film the risks are not as dire.

Notes for Today's lesson

USP

Reassure the investors that your film is unique

Trend

Popularity

USP becomes a trend and no longer becomes unique because it will be copied

Narrative

Character Types > Stereotypes
Genre > Locations
Structure/ Storyline /Plot
Theme> Central Idea

Distinction think about themes

Hunger Games

Stereotypes

Teenage man and a teenage woman
Teenagers violent fight to death
Antagonists R

Divergent

Teenage woman is being tested in order to discover her true identity
Teenagers want to be free
Adults are the antagonists
Women are just as potent as men

The Maze Runner

Brave males and only one female. Relationship

Theme

Back up what we talked about

Notes on mastering shot sequences

The Secret of Sequencing

Sequencing shots are shots strung together to tell the story. Sequencing is the foundation of storytelling. The purpose of sequencing shots is to propel the audience through your story. Sequencing shots is common in films because it simply involves compressing time by compressing the action. There is a 4 second rule which means that if the audience has to look at the same shot twice, then they will decide to either leave due to boredom or they will stay to see what happens next. Each shot gives the viewer detail of the situation and they will understand why shot sequencing is used.

When shooting your sequence you need to:

• Plan your shots (what will your establishing shot be? etc.) 
• Positioning
• Action

Do's and Don'ts of shot sequence

• Shoot a wide variety of shots- Medium shot, Wide shot, Close-up
• 6-10 seconds shots 
• Action/Reaction Shot for Cause and effect
• Shoot 3 tight or medium shots for every one wide shot

Shooting Sequences for the edit

Overlap and coverage are important in making sequences work. Multiple takes of one action to decide which one to use. Cover the action and tell the story. Begin with a wide shot or a master shot to give the audience orientation and establish the location. Taking a master shot means you have a safety in the can before you can move on to other shots. Mid shot is similar to how we naturally see people. Then close ups towards what is happening towards the sequence. The take should be long enough so that there is plenty of overlap between each of the shots for you to cut in and out of. Continuity must be maintained in order to make sense to the audience. Close ups in sequences create the mood. Picking up additional shots outside of your sequence can add colour to your story.

Fundamentals of Shooting Visual Sequences 

Visual sequences involve compressing time by compressing the action, it satisfies the audience's needs to provide context and detail. Sequencing reinforces the narratives. Keep the viewer focused on the reality your film is trying to create, use establishing shots of the action to provide context. Include medium shots to give the audience a variety of perspectives. Shoot as many close ups or medium shots necessary to produce the detail to satisfy the audience's desire for detail. Close ups prevents jump cuts as they disorient the viewer and break continuity. To prevent jump cuts in your visual sequence make sure that the character leaves the scene before cutting to another location or a showing them doing something else. Panning and zooming disrupt the flow of the story. Keep the camera steady so that the action can flow within the frame.

How to shoot a Sequence

Sequences are shot because they give editors more options, producers prefer multiple shots and they portray simple stories and you get profit. The basic shots  needed to constitute a sequence is the Establishing , Close-up, Medium, Long, and Extreme Close-up.