The pre- production process
The type of media product that i produced for the assignment was a short film/document, based around the topics of refugees, which is why the film is called ''Refugee''. The film shows the viewer the opinions of the ''refugee crisis'' that is currently undergoing in the UK, from the viewpoint of different ages. For example, the people we had interviewed had completely different opinions. The reason that we created this film, is because we (The group i worked with) wanted to enter the Depict competition, that is currently undergoing, in order to have a chance of winning the £1200 cash prize, that would be announced when the competition ends in June 2016. Once created, the film was distributed onto you tube for Depict to see, and for anyone that was interested in Refugee's to watch. This also enhanced the chances for our film to go viral. ''Refugee'' would also be uploaded to the Depict website for all of the contestants to view, but this would only be if we were going too, or were close to winning, which we're hope we are.
There are also many other types of moving image media products. A moving image is more or less a video, and here are some examples: TV shows/ TV series, Web series and Adverts. All of these count as moving images and all of them are known to many different people. There are also many different ways that these media products can be distributed, so that they can be viewed by millions of different people. Some ways that the short films can be distributed are as followed:
Blu-ray, movies, DVD, TV, Cinema, YouTube, Social Media and CD's.. All of these ways of distribution are known by most people, which is why these are the main choices for producers to distribute their films. The biggest way of distribution in my opinion would be the cinema. If a film that you create is shown in the cinema, there's a bigger chance that your film will be more viewed, and become more popular. This will also let you know that the film you've created as a big success, as only successful movies are shown in the cinema.
When creating a film, there are many different sources of finance that you can use, to help you budget and have the money to buy the resources that you need for your film. An example is sponsors. Sponsoring is one of the most popular ways that film companies get the money they need to create the film they want. However, it can be hard to get a sponsor, as they'll only give you the money if they feel like you can make them money at the same time, by promoting there product, or company. Another example of funding for a film, are bank loans. If you decide to get the money for your film by loaning money from the bank, it can go two ways. Either your film comes successful and you can happily pay the bank back for the money that you've borrowed, or your film won't be successful and you'll have to pay the bank money you don't have, after all the money you take out will probably be doubled because of interest. Although the disadvantage of this is big, many film directors loan money from banks, and can happily pay it back as there film becomes successful. A third example of funding is if you self fund the film yourselves. This is probably the most ethical way to fund your film, especially if you're not certain that your film will be 100% successful, or if you're new to directing a film. This is because you're less likely to be sponsored, or get money from any other source, because you're new to the business of film making, or professional film making.. A final example of funding is crowd funding. Crowd funding is where other people help out the funding your film by giving you money themselves. The people that give you the money would normally be random people who just want to help out, kind of like a charity. A website that helps with this is ''Kick starter''. On kick starter you put up a video about the film you want to create, set a target for the amount of money you want to try reach, and if you reach the target you get the money, If you don't reach the target, you don't get the money, and this is the disadvantage of the website. An example of a film that got there funding from kick starter is blackout. This film was recently posted on kick starter and has a $30,000 aim to get within 27 days. The film is already at $26,000 because people are interested in the idea of the film, and want to donate so they can help out. An example of a film that didn't meet it's funding target is ''Montreal street art''. This film had a $600,000 aim, but only managed to get 1% of that target. This means that the director of the film wouldn't get the money to help with the film, as he didn't reach all of the money that was needed. Sometimes it's possible for the studios where you're recording your film, to help you with the money you need to make your film, although they may not be able to give you all of the money you need to make the film. However this will still help you be able to purchase some equipment and some actors.
When you're creating your own production, whether it's a TV series, a film or a documentary, there are many different requirements and equipment pieces that you need to successfully make your film. Cameras is the most important piece of equipment that you need, as without it, it's impossible to make a production, as you'd have nothing to help you record the production. Cameras can be quite expensive depending on what camera you want, which is decided by choosing how good of quality that you want. For example, a low quality camera like a Nikon D3300 is £200, where a higher quality camera like a Nikon DS4 costs around £4,000. Aside from cameras, there are many different pieces of equipment that you need to. This includes stage set, directors, make-up, editing software, cast, props and the copyright documents too stop your production from being stolen by anyone else, who may want to use it as there own. All of these can add up, and it's what makes the production as expensive as it is. However, you don't always have to by the equipment for your film, as there's ways to rent it out. A website that lets you do this is hireacamera.com and dcodeuk. If you decide to use these websites, you're likely to be charged by the hour so it's best that you plan out what you're going to film before you hire them, so you won't have to spend as long, or spend as much money. Although this method of obtaining equipment can be expensive, it's much cheaper than buying a camera for £1000s.Creating a film for depict didn't require us to use as much equipment, or to spend any of our own money. The equipment that we used was rented from the ''AV'' room inside our college. However if we broke any of the equipment (Which we didn't) we'd have to pay a lot of money to replace it. The equipment that we used to create our short film was Cameras, recorders (that record the audio) and an SD card that stored our movie on. Overall it was easy to obtain the equipment that we needed, and create our film.
The talent (actors) that work in media are an important part when creating a production as they're the people that actually create it. Each type of moving image created, whether it's a television programme, or a hollywood film requires actors, however different amounts of actors are needed for different productions. A low budget film would require the least amount of crew, as the film would generally be shorter than a hollywood film or television programme, and there wouldn't be as much money to spend on it. A short budget film would normally require a few actors, a couple low quality cameras, and someone to edit all of the footage and help put it together. This editor may also help direct the film, and will know if anything else is needed to be recorded. A television programme is another example of a moving image that uses crew, and would require a lot more crew than a low budget film would. The crew that a television programme would require would be a director, a lot of actors and background extras, editors, photographers, lighting crew, filming crew and make-up artists. This shows that a television programme would require a lot of crew, and the longer the programme series goes on the for, the more crew that is needed. A Hollywood film would probably use the same crew members as a TV series would, however they'd require more of each crew member, for example more editors and a lot of more actors. When we created our short film, we had 2 editors, 1 camera guy and 4 actors that gave there opinions on the topic of Refugees. In our group of three, we decided who would do each role, by how much experience we all had in a role. Carwyn did the question asking and some of the editing, Connor did some question asking, some editing and some filming, and I did some editing. We decided it was best to let them film and ask the questions, as they both had more experience with using a camera than me, and had more confidence that i did. This means that the questions they ask would be more clearer with them asking, as they wouldn't stutter like i'd have done. We decided to agree as a group with who would be doing each role, because if one person decided, there might be some arguments and that's not what we wanted. If we'd have argued a lot, people might not have done there jobs properly as they'd just have been in a sulk, and may not have wanted to try there best. This would have then affected all of the grades that our group got.
There are many different materials that you may need to do a production. Some materials that you need can include Paper (For jotting down different pieces of information that can help you with film ideas) Software (For editing and designing the film) Sounds effects and the Set design (Which will help give the film more effect and to be more entertaining for the viewers of it. As well as types of materials, there are also many different financial considerations that you need to take. For example, copyright and paying for different permissions for your film is a consideration. The copyright is important because you don't want people copying your ideas for there own film, as they'll be taking credit for something you've produced Most, if not all films are copyrighted to prevent this. Permissions is another important thing, and this can include paying the owner of some land so that you can film on it, or the owner of a building so you can film in it. Most films that have shop or public building scenes would have needed to pay or ask for permissions to film there. Branding is another thing that you may need to use money for. Popular films often have merchandise such as shirts, hats and household based items that have photos, or are designed to look like something in the film. They often sell very well so it's a good idea try branding when creating a film. More obvious things such as filming equiptment will also need to be brought. If you don't want to fully purchase a camera you can rent one out which will be much cheaper, but still quite expensive. Lastly money will need to be spent on props for the film, and the wages for the actors of the film. This means that it's a good idea to not overflow your film of actors unless you have the money to pay them all. Sometimes actors will work for free for university credit.
Legal Issues
Legal issues also need to be taken into consideration when designing and creating a film. Copyright is the main one. If you happen to use something for example music or you copy another film so it's almost identical, the owner of that music or film that you're copying from would have the right to sue you. This won't just make you lose money, but it will look bad on your company that you're trying to copy someone elses idea for your own film. To avoid this issue, it's best to check what music you're using or filming, and if anything is copyrighted you should get permission to use it. Sometimes you may have to pay for the permissions but at least you gain from it. Copyright affected my groups Depict production because we wanted to use pre-recorded youtube videos and music. However, we were able to get permission for this so there was no real harm, although it took us a while to get reply from the owners of the pre-recorded clips.
Clearance: Clearance is when you have permission to use something in the way you want to use it. For example, if you have permission to use a certain piece of music at the end of your film, you have clearance to use the music. Another example is if you have clearance to film in a certain area.
Public Liability Insurance: This is the insurance that covers film makers. This is incase they get injured or sued
Completion guarantee/insurance: This insurance is a contact that says the direction of the film will finish the film by the date they say they'll finish. This is to make sure that they're not using actors more than they're supposed too, and the actors are getting payed correctly for the time that they're working.
OFCOM is a communications regulator that is based in the UK. They're function is too regulate the TV and Radio sector, fixed line telecoms, mobiles, postal services and air waves over wireless devices.
Apart from OFCOM, the BBC is also regulated by the OFC (Office of fair trading). This is different from OFCOM because the OFC only regulates competitions, and OFCOM regulates everything apart from competitions.
BBFC which stands for British Board of Film Classification is another company that regulates films and videos. They're responsible for choosing the age ratings of films for example ''U'' and ''PG''. They also do ages rating for online material.
Trade Unions:
A trade union is an organised association of workers in a trade, group of trades or profession formed to protect and further their rights and interests. There are also many reasons for why trade unions are important. For example They provide the advice and support to ensure that the differences of opinion do not turn into major conflicts Another reason for why they're important is that They also play an important role in organizing courses for their members on a wide range of matters.
When you're creating your own production, whether it's a TV series, a film or a documentary, there are many different requirements and equipment pieces that you need to successfully make your film. Cameras is the most important piece of equipment that you need, as without it, it's impossible to make a production, as you'd have nothing to help you record the production. Cameras can be quite expensive depending on what camera you want, which is decided by choosing how good of quality that you want. For example, a low quality camera like a Nikon D3300 is £200, where a higher quality camera like a Nikon DS4 costs around £4,000. Aside from cameras, there are many different pieces of equipment that you need to. This includes stage set, directors, make-up, editing software, cast, props and the copyright documents too stop your production from being stolen by anyone else, who may want to use it as there own. All of these can add up, and it's what makes the production as expensive as it is. However, you don't always have to by the equipment for your film, as there's ways to rent it out. A website that lets you do this is hireacamera.com and dcodeuk. If you decide to use these websites, you're likely to be charged by the hour so it's best that you plan out what you're going to film before you hire them, so you won't have to spend as long, or spend as much money. Although this method of obtaining equipment can be expensive, it's much cheaper than buying a camera for £1000s.Creating a film for depict didn't require us to use as much equipment, or to spend any of our own money. The equipment that we used was rented from the ''AV'' room inside our college. However if we broke any of the equipment (Which we didn't) we'd have to pay a lot of money to replace it. The equipment that we used to create our short film was Cameras, recorders (that record the audio) and an SD card that stored our movie on. Overall it was easy to obtain the equipment that we needed, and create our film.
The talent (actors) that work in media are an important part when creating a production as they're the people that actually create it. Each type of moving image created, whether it's a television programme, or a hollywood film requires actors, however different amounts of actors are needed for different productions. A low budget film would require the least amount of crew, as the film would generally be shorter than a hollywood film or television programme, and there wouldn't be as much money to spend on it. A short budget film would normally require a few actors, a couple low quality cameras, and someone to edit all of the footage and help put it together. This editor may also help direct the film, and will know if anything else is needed to be recorded. A television programme is another example of a moving image that uses crew, and would require a lot more crew than a low budget film would. The crew that a television programme would require would be a director, a lot of actors and background extras, editors, photographers, lighting crew, filming crew and make-up artists. This shows that a television programme would require a lot of crew, and the longer the programme series goes on the for, the more crew that is needed. A Hollywood film would probably use the same crew members as a TV series would, however they'd require more of each crew member, for example more editors and a lot of more actors. When we created our short film, we had 2 editors, 1 camera guy and 4 actors that gave there opinions on the topic of Refugees. In our group of three, we decided who would do each role, by how much experience we all had in a role. Carwyn did the question asking and some of the editing, Connor did some question asking, some editing and some filming, and I did some editing. We decided it was best to let them film and ask the questions, as they both had more experience with using a camera than me, and had more confidence that i did. This means that the questions they ask would be more clearer with them asking, as they wouldn't stutter like i'd have done. We decided to agree as a group with who would be doing each role, because if one person decided, there might be some arguments and that's not what we wanted. If we'd have argued a lot, people might not have done there jobs properly as they'd just have been in a sulk, and may not have wanted to try there best. This would have then affected all of the grades that our group got.
There are many different materials that you may need to do a production. Some materials that you need can include Paper (For jotting down different pieces of information that can help you with film ideas) Software (For editing and designing the film) Sounds effects and the Set design (Which will help give the film more effect and to be more entertaining for the viewers of it. As well as types of materials, there are also many different financial considerations that you need to take. For example, copyright and paying for different permissions for your film is a consideration. The copyright is important because you don't want people copying your ideas for there own film, as they'll be taking credit for something you've produced Most, if not all films are copyrighted to prevent this. Permissions is another important thing, and this can include paying the owner of some land so that you can film on it, or the owner of a building so you can film in it. Most films that have shop or public building scenes would have needed to pay or ask for permissions to film there. Branding is another thing that you may need to use money for. Popular films often have merchandise such as shirts, hats and household based items that have photos, or are designed to look like something in the film. They often sell very well so it's a good idea try branding when creating a film. More obvious things such as filming equiptment will also need to be brought. If you don't want to fully purchase a camera you can rent one out which will be much cheaper, but still quite expensive. Lastly money will need to be spent on props for the film, and the wages for the actors of the film. This means that it's a good idea to not overflow your film of actors unless you have the money to pay them all. Sometimes actors will work for free for university credit.
Legal Issues
Legal issues also need to be taken into consideration when designing and creating a film. Copyright is the main one. If you happen to use something for example music or you copy another film so it's almost identical, the owner of that music or film that you're copying from would have the right to sue you. This won't just make you lose money, but it will look bad on your company that you're trying to copy someone elses idea for your own film. To avoid this issue, it's best to check what music you're using or filming, and if anything is copyrighted you should get permission to use it. Sometimes you may have to pay for the permissions but at least you gain from it. Copyright affected my groups Depict production because we wanted to use pre-recorded youtube videos and music. However, we were able to get permission for this so there was no real harm, although it took us a while to get reply from the owners of the pre-recorded clips.
Clearance: Clearance is when you have permission to use something in the way you want to use it. For example, if you have permission to use a certain piece of music at the end of your film, you have clearance to use the music. Another example is if you have clearance to film in a certain area.
Public Liability Insurance: This is the insurance that covers film makers. This is incase they get injured or sued
Completion guarantee/insurance: This insurance is a contact that says the direction of the film will finish the film by the date they say they'll finish. This is to make sure that they're not using actors more than they're supposed too, and the actors are getting payed correctly for the time that they're working.
OFCOM is a communications regulator that is based in the UK. They're function is too regulate the TV and Radio sector, fixed line telecoms, mobiles, postal services and air waves over wireless devices.
Apart from OFCOM, the BBC is also regulated by the OFC (Office of fair trading). This is different from OFCOM because the OFC only regulates competitions, and OFCOM regulates everything apart from competitions.
BBFC which stands for British Board of Film Classification is another company that regulates films and videos. They're responsible for choosing the age ratings of films for example ''U'' and ''PG''. They also do ages rating for online material.
Trade Unions:
A trade union is an organised association of workers in a trade, group of trades or profession formed to protect and further their rights and interests. There are also many reasons for why trade unions are important. For example They provide the advice and support to ensure that the differences of opinion do not turn into major conflicts Another reason for why they're important is that They also play an important role in organizing courses for their members on a wide range of matters.
PACT stands for Producers Alliance for Cinema and Television.Pact helps to shape the best possible regulatory and legislative environment for the independent production sector to grow domestically and internationally – the association has a strong record of success in campaigning for producers’ rights.
BECTU stands for Broadcasting, Entertainment, Cinematograph and Theatre union. They're a trade union so they'll do what i listed above. However BECTU is one of the most popular trade unions as it has over 25,000 members.
A trade association is an organisation funded and founded by different businesses that operate in a specific industry.
You have outlined requirements and sources of requirements for a specific media production.
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