Film Production Process

FILM PRODUCTION PROCESS
Production Phases
There are five phases of production common to most
professionally produced motion pictures. These are :
●Development
●Pre-production
●Production
●Postproduction
●Distribution
Preproduction Phase
In general, the preproduction phase encompasses all aspects of
preparation that are performed before the camera starts to roll.
Some aspects of preproduction include:
●Screenwriting ●Costume Design
●Storyboarding ●Location Scouting
●Funding ●Set Design
●Assembling a crew ●Properties (“props”)
●Casting ●Scheduling
Screenplay/Script:
The screenplay supplies the general plan for the production of a
film. There are two types
● The “spec” script
● The “shooting” script
The “Spec” (Speculation) Script is the version of a screenplay that

writers distribute to producers in the hope that it will be “optioned”
(i.e. considered for production). It primarily contains:
• Slug-Line (brief description of the setting, e.g. “INT. ROOM – DAY” which
means the interior of a room during the day)
• Business (descriptions of characters/action)
• Dialog (the lines intended to be spoken by the actors)
Format of
shooting
schedule
in FILM
Storyboarding:
A storyboard is a series of drawings intended to
represent how the film will be shot, including how
each frame will be composed and how subject and
camera motion will occur.
The storyboard articulates the mise-en-scene of the film.
• Mise-en-scene: All of the elements that compose
the shot.
Funding:
Films are generally expensive to produce. Even small
independent productions with unknown actors can cost
hundreds of thousands of dollars. Because of the level of
investment involved, most films rely on either production
companies (“Hollywood” films) or independent investors
(“Independent” films).
Assembling a Crew:
A crew is the group of workers on a film set
who are responsible for facilitating production
(as opposed to acting). Although large
productions may employ many crew members
in many different departments, there are only a
few basic positions which are detailed later in
the production phase.
Casting: Choosing actors to play roles.
Costume Design: Choosing or designing the
clothing/costumes that the actors wear.
Location Scouting: Choosing the locations where the
film will be shot.
Set Design: Constructing sets where the film will be
shot.
Properties (“Props”): Choosing the tools and objects used
in the film.
Scheduling: Coordinating all aspects necessary to the
production.
Production Phase
The production phase refers to the period of time when the film is
actually being shot.
Some aspects of production include:
• Direction
• Camera operation
• Lighting
• Sound recording
• Acting
Production Departments • Lighting
• Direction • Cinematographer (oversees lighting
• Director (oversees all aspects of the design)
production) • Gaffer & Electricians (control the
• Assistant Director (drives the set) lights)
• Second Assistant Director (works with • Key Grip & Grips (control the
the actors) shadows and do special rigging)
• Camera • Sound
• Cinematographer or DP (oversees • Sound Mixer (records the sound)
camera operation) • Boom operator (positions the
• Camera Operator (operates the camera) microphone)
• Camera Assistants (loads camera, pulls • Clapper (displays the clap slate for the
focus) camera)
• Clapper/Loader (loads film and slates • Talent
scenes) • Actors (perform before the camera)
All of the departments and positions described on the
last two slides serve one goal:
To capture the sound and image necessary
to tell the story. Although going into every
detail of production is far beyond the scope
of this course, let’s consider the “nuts and
bolts” that go into filmmaking
Sound Recording
●In traditional film production, sound is recorded
separately from the image. This is known as “double
system” sound recording. Generally speaking, there are
at least four soundtracks in any feature length narrative
film:
• 1– the dialog track.
• 2– the room tone track.
• 3– the music track.
• 4– the sound effects track.
Post Production Phase
The postproduction phase refers to the period of time after the film is shot, but before it is
released in its final form. OLD SCHOOL
Postproduction includes: • Conforming the original negative
• Adding optical effects and transitions
• Processing and printing of film • Creating release prints NEW SCHOOL
• • Film out & release prints
Transferring film to video
• Synchronizing picture and sound
NEW SCHOOL
• Paper edit (creating an EDL) • Film out & release prints
• Creating a rough cut Creating a online edit
• Final audio mix
Processing, Printing, and Transferring.
●The first few steps of postproduction are routine, requiring more
technical knowledge than creative decision making:
• Processing: Developing the camera negative.

• Printing: Creating dailies on DVD or a work print for the director and
crew to see
• Transferring: Film transfer or “Telecine” to video for editing
Synchronizing and Assembling
Synchronizing
• Information from the slate and recorded on the audio
tracks is stored at the beginning (“head”) of each take to
allow the scene/take to be easily identified.
• To synchronize picture with sound, the editor aligns the
beginning of the sound for a given scene/take with the
beginning of the picture for that take, using the sight
and sound of the slate as a reference point.
Assembling
• The footage is captured to the editing system
from the video tape or transferred from the hard
drives if it is a digital workflow
• Once the footage is captured, the editor
assembles a rough cut for timing and to make
sure all necessary footage is present
Creative License
Between the rough cut and the online edit is
where all of the creative decisions are made.
• Rough Cut: Places the film in rough sequence from
beginning to end according to the screenplay. Dialog is in
place, but sound effects, and music are incomplete.
• Online Edit: All of the final editing decisions and the
final soundtrack mix are complete. The film is ready
for final output.
Getting from Rough Cut to Online Edit.
●Editing is the arrangement of imagery and sounds into a
sequence that tells the story of the film.
●An editor may arrange based on different aesthetic styles
depending upon the needs of the story. For example:
• Invisible editing.
• Montage editing.
OLD SCHOOL - Conforming the negative
●Once all of the editing decisions have been made, the original “camera”
negative is brought to a “negative cutter” who uses cement splices and
A/B rolling in order to conform the negative based on the decisions of the
final cut of the workprint.
Creating a release print.
• Once the negative has been conformed to an A/ B roll, a married print is
created and joined with the final audio mix which is inscribed at the
edge of the film optically.
For the purposes of distribution, an “internegative” is then created from the
married print for the sake of striking positive “release” prints that are
shipped to theaters.
NEW SCHOOL
• Once the edit is “locked” or final, the footage is transferred back to film
in a process called a “film out”.
• For distribution, an “internegative” is then created from the “film
out” for the sake of striking positive “release” prints that are
shipped to theaters.
• As more theaters become able to project films digitally, film prints

will become obsolete and will be replaced with reusable hard drives
that are easily shipped from studio to theater.
• The hard drives can be pre-programmed only to play the film a
proscribed number of times saving the studios billions of dollars a
year in lost revenues and in film printing costs.
PCR
MULTISETUP PRODUCTION

Film Production Process

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Film Production Process

Uploaded by

Document Information

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Film Production Process

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

FILM PRODUCTION PROCESS

The “Spec” (Speculation) Script is the version of a screenplay that

• Processing: Developing the camera negative.

• As more theaters become able to project films digitally, film prints

You might also like

Pfad - The Proxy pFad of © 2024 Garber Painting. All rights reserved.