Requirements for production

For this project, we had to produce a 90 second short film Internet piece for a  website called depicT! Jonny Hinsley, and Matthew Muscat, this short was about a man walking down the high street when he receives a phone call from his brother asking him to take his nephew to the park for him. This prompts a flashback of all the terrible things a babysitter goes through, then it comes back to the phone conversation where the character agrees to do this and when the baby starts to cry at the park, he throws it in a fit of rage.

There are many types of media forms existing today that broaden the demographic for nowadays society, there is a range of different products to fit any ones needs, these include
TV and radio which have been around since around the 1920's are quite old formats, but unlike the VCR, they have yet to die out due to the fact that it has no stealthy competition, the only thing that would come close to replacing the TV would be the Internet, which i am going to cover now. The Internet has been widely publicized since the 1990's and is still one of the main sources of viral media, for example, websites like YouTube, Facebook, and many more notable examples. Back before television, people were constantly going to the cinema, or the theater  but now with the invention of the internet, there is an increase in websites like lovefilm and Netflix there is now a decline in places like the cinema and blockbusters.

The sources of film making that exist are very specified and contain many groups and companies that aid film makers in achieving their goals, but today we are going to look at a few, these include private, high net worth families like Megan Ellison who has funded many films and even produced one of the terminator movies. but we are not just talking about free-lance investors, we will also go in depth on groups of people, obviously there are loans that the bank can set up for you, but there is also the BFI and the national lottery/UK film council that fund films one example of a film funded by them is the hit movie the kings speech starring Colin firth, the reason for this is because if they think the film has potential and could be a hit then the invest in it so that if it does make a profit, the company is going to make some serious cash. another way of raising money is to go to websites like kick-starter to raise money, a notable example of this is for Freddie Wong’s YouTube series video game high school this was very popular online and has had many donations, as i am writing this the total money raised was $273,725. another website to go to for raising money is indiegogo, an example for this is eddsworld legacy, this was made after British animator and creator of eddsworld, Edd Gould died of leukemia in march this year and his best friend Tom Ridgewell (also known as tomska) took on the role of making more episodes (or eddisodes), but he needs money to make them, so he made this fund to raise money to make the episodes and the left over money goes to cancer research. as i am typing this now the total amount of money raised is at $83,211. one more way of making money is companies will sponsor the film if you put their product into the movie at some point, this is also known as product placement, this was banned on television programs until last year, now if there is any product placement during the show, a banner has to appear as the show is starting and they have to apply to Ofcom’s rules. here are ten examples of product placement in film.

If I were to make a movie, i found out this week that you would need to spend money on other things and not just a camera and props, these things include;
Equipment, which is essentially every item that will aid in camera effects, stabilizing the camera, etc. so this could be the tripod, dolly zoom, and many more.
Clearances, this includes copyrighted material, get releases to prove that you have permission to use their product or place in case it turns into a legal battle.
Talent, the actors and actresses that will portray your onscreen protagonist, not only that but it also includes the side characters, extras, voice actors, and many more.
Crew/Teamsters, these people are the ones who work on all the behind the camera stuff, setting up props or rigs and in some cases the also work on the pyrotechnics and explosions.
Props, any inanimate object that is used in the scene, this can be a phone, or a weapon of some kind.
Transportation, if your movie is filmed in two different countries, or you need to get the actors and teamsters to a certain location then you would need a lot of transportation, an example of this is during the filming of the lord of the rings, they had to fly all the actors to New Zealand.
Facility hire, if you are hiring out something for a scene, you need to make sure you have the money to hire it out for the specified amount of time and if your time runs past then you will need to pay extra to use the facility.

A good way to manage your time is to create a time frame that will even out your time between shots and it will avoid having to pay extra for talent/teamsters/hire.

we were given 3 weeks to complete this task, this included, doing the post-production things, signing releases, and also the actual film itself, we also needed to finish the work set after the film was made including this blog post as well. we all worked together to meet the deadline and we succeeded with the post-production work and the filming but at the minute we are working a little over our deadline to get this piece finished. if you do not meet deadlines in a professional media industry, it could have a lot of complications, for example, if you do not finish filming on time then you might have to pay extra to keep the talent there and the crew there as well. the equipment available to us expanded on a wide range of things, for example, we went to a charity shop and bought a baby doll there for about £3 and we also had to buy some yogurt for the vomit scene, which was about £1, the camera and the equipment like the tripod was borrowed from the school and was given back in neat and proper order. to obtain equipment in the professional industry, you might have to rent it out or buy it or possibly even beg for it, it all depends on what item you are trying to posses. we could only use me, Jonny, and Matthew for the film, any more people helping and it would be far too many, this project was hard for casting because the only people we needed were the main character, and the voice on the other side of the phone.

We were working in a group of three consisting of me, Jonny Hinsley, and Matthew Muscat, this was the perfect amount of people because, like i said before, it was very hard to cast other people in this short film. i performed the role of the main character, i have had 4 years of drama experience, and i had also made a short film while in high school, Jonny, who was the camera man, and Matt, who was the voice on the other side of the phone. the amount of skill a person has achieved in the course of so many years really decides what role you will be given, for example, if you were the highest graded student in your acting class, you were more likely to be given a main role other than someone who has had a year experience in an acting class who will probably receive a bit part or be an extra. looking after the talent is another way cost can be affected, this could mean accommodation, if your film is set in a foreign country and you need a hotel/trailer to live in during filming, catering is another one, the actor cant expect to be brought to a foreign place and not expect to have food served there. i was going to supply the group with a toy baby, but due to complications we had to buy one instead. if you are doing a full budget Hollywood film, then to decide who to use in the production, you would have to have auditions, call backs ,etc. but since we are doing a short film we all just pick who would be best suitable for the role of the main character. to ensure the availability of the talent, you will need to be supplied with his/her phone number to call to make sure that they have agreed to do this, a written release saying you have agreed to film this and have agreed to have it shown in the cinema/TV/internet.

The equipment that was needed for this task were the props, for example the baby and the fake vomit, camera, the talent, the crew behind the camera, etc. for post production, we needed to make sure that we had the right equipment, for example, we needed to make sure we had the correct software and that it was installed on the device we were using to edit the footage, we needed machinery, like the macs or a PC  and most importantly, we needed this footage to actually edit using the software on the mac's/PC's. facility houses and studios are used to get props and film or edit footage that you have done. outsourcing means you use outside help to get the job done, like employing freelance workers, 89% of people who work in UK film are freelance workers. the financial considerations that exist when securing facilities are that you need to insure the facility encase of an accident, and also the length of hiring the facility is also taken into mind. the availability of the facilities also needs to be thought of when securing it.

A location recce is essentially finding places of interest to film in, taking a picture of these locations, and finally looking over them to see which ones would be best suited for the film. a location release is a legal document that expresses permission from the land owner/owners. for our locations we did choose the high street but we decided to instead film by the shops to the left of the college because it was much closer than the high street was, we also chose the college for the flash back scenes because we needed a place that looked like a room in a house and since none of us lived close by, we decided that the college was the next best thing. and we finally chose the park for the last scene because i felt that the only way we could get that extreme long shot we wanted, we needed to go somewhere that had a lot of open space.

The only limitation i could think of was that if we were disturbing the public, we noticed this because when we were filming, someone said "if that camera comes near me i'm going to bash your teeth in" we added this problem to the risk assessment form and to avoid it, we made sure no one other than us were in the shot, and if someone who didn't want to be in the shot was filmed then we would delete that recording and done it again, but it never came to that.

the various types of materials available to film makers are;
original materials
archive and library materials
sound library materials
recorded music
effects library's
internet scripts
photo library materials
interviews
props
costumes

Before using any materials in a media product, i must make sure that i have clearance to do so, and that i have a written form of a contract in case of any legal battles then you would have proof that you signed a contract.

a financial consideration that existed when using someone else's material would be that you have to pay a fee for it, for example there are many royalty free sites that you have to buy the song from, but once you have bought it, its yours to do what you want with it.


Here is a list of people that may contribute to the production of a media text:
Specialists - head of field
Experts - people who have had a lot of experience with this type of product
Talent - the actors and actresses may also provide costumes and occasionally props
Public - people might also contribute old clothes or use their garage as a shelter from rain
Extras - people also volunteer to be an extra just for the sheer fact of being in a movie.

A contributors biography gives information on a persons skills, it is kind of like a CV.

The meaning of term clearance is if you want to add copyrighted material in your movie or TV program, such as original materials, archive and library materials, sound library materials, recorded music, etc. you must have the right to do so in the form of a transfer or a licence of the copyright from the owner of these rights.

What you might require a clearance for is basically all the media materials you can obtain that you did not make yourself, so this would include archive and library materials, sound library materials, recorded music, effects library's, internet scripts, photo library materials, interviews, props, and costumes.

If you do not get clearance on all aspects of the production, you could risk being taken to court for copyright infringement, or you could receive a seize and desist letter.

copyright can affect a media production drastically, for example, if you use a copyrighted song and had not received permission to do so you can receive a letter asking to stop using that soundtrack, this, as we had learnt in the first few weeks of college, can affect how your products comes out, like it wont sound right without that song. we didn't get affected by copyrights, but we were worried that the doll we used was branded, but as we soon found out it was just a generic doll.


Public liability insurance is essentially if you injure or kill someone whilst filming, then you would have to pay insurance to the person or their family, an example of this was the death of Vic morrow and two children during the filming of the twilight zone movie when the helicopter span out of control and decapitated him and the two children, killing them instantly.

Completion insurance, often referred to as delayed completion, covers income loss or specified additional expenses that result from a delay in the completion of a construction project when the delay is caused by covered property damage.

Ofcom is an independent regulator and competition authority for the UK communications industries, they protect the public and impose requirements, restrictions and conditions, aswell as setting standards in relation to any activity.

The PCC is the press complaints commission and they handle the complaints coming in from the public, this can be about advertising, things on the TV and pretty much anything else media related.

The ASA, also known as the advertising standards agency, regulate what goes onto the TV before the water shed.

PEGI, or pan European game information, is a European video game content regulating system to keep parents informed on the severity of the game.

The BBFC, or the british board of film classification, is a non-governmental organisation, funded by the film industry and responsible for the national classification and censorship of films within the United Kingdom.

These organisations can relate to our depict videos because, if our video contains swearing, drugs, nudity, etc. then we would have to inform the audience before they watch the video to avoid legal battles.

a trade union is a labour union of workers in a particular trade, in this case, this could mean a union specifically trading in costumes, props, equipment, they exist to help film makers with finding the equipment they need to make the films.

The PACT/BECTU freelance production agreement helps in engaging freelance workers.  

 An industry trade association participates in public relations activities such as advertising, education, political donations, lobbying and publishing, but its main focus is collaboration between companies, or standardization. Associations may offer other services, such as producing conferences, networking or charitable events or offering classes or educational materials. Many associations are non-profit organizations governed by bylaws and directed by officers who are also members.

BIMA, (the british interactive media association) ELSPA, (The Entertainment and Leisure Software Publishers Association) and TIGA  (the independent games association) are all  trade associations that all work on political campaigning, and profile raising.

Sources: http://www.wikipedia.org/