3.1&2 Pre-production Research Resources

Starter:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=8siQB_2h48s

Worksheet: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1-e0QXekRlBnzon5EBFSk-AIAsYTNv-uyqMDyTX-ILXE/edit?usp=docslist_api

Level3 btec production requirements for webseries from ctkmedia

Case Study VGHS budget and requirements resources

http://www.rocketjump.com/blog/how-much-webseries-cost 

Resources:
Cost of a webseries - VGHS case study
http://www.rocketjump.com/blog/how-much-webseries-cost 

All students teams Begin here for outline:

http://thecamerahirecompany.com/blog/how-much-does-a-video-production-cost/

Film crew roles

http://creativeskillset.org/creative_industries/film/job_roles

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=0ea2OJRkl1E

http://www.quora.com/What-equipment-crew-is-needed-for-a-low-budget-film

Pre-production plan for Short Films (overview of procedure preproduction process & requirements)

http://youtu.be/sUIZVzElDzc How to line your script

http://people.ucsc.edu/~ilusztig/172/handouts/preproduction.pdf 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/filmnetwork/filmmaking/guide/production/links-production 

Budgeting and scheduling

http://www.bbc.co.uk/filmnetwork/filmmaking/guide/production/budget-and-schedule 

Film funding & crowdsourcing

http://film.britishcouncil.org/resources/funding

http://www.bbc.co.uk/filmnetwork/filmmaking/guide/before-you-start/funding

Sourcing Film Equipment and Hire

http://www.bbc.co.uk/filmnetwork/filmmaking/guide/production/equipment

https://www.kays.co.uk

Edit facility hire

http://www.fact.co.uk/services-venue-hire/editing-suite-hire.aspx

Location permission to shoot

http://filmlondon.org.uk/get-permission-film

Kent film office http://kentfilmoffice.co.uk

http://www.britishfilmcommission.org.uk/crew-facilities/locations/filming-in-public-spaces/

How to do a recce 

http://youtu.be/Kbun8QHWCD4

How to complete a recce report 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/academy/production/article/art20130702112136038 

Crew rates & unions

http://www.productionguild.com

www.bectu.org.uk

Sourcing locations

http://www.britishfilmcommission.org.uk/crew-facilities/locations/finding-locations/

Agencies:

- The Knowledge

- KFTV

- Kays

Copyright and clearances

http://www.bbc.co.uk/filmnetwork/filmmaking/guide/before-you-start/content-clearances

Outline of UK copyright & Creative Commons 

http://www.ict4lt.org/en/en_copyright.htm

Missing deadlines (scroll down to see replies to question)

http://sound.stackexchange.com/questions/3886/is-there-much-of-a-penalty-for-missing-deadlines

Agency to manage clearances

http://allrightsclearance.co.uk/index.php/about/

Insurance (public liability, missing deadline, equipment)

http://www.filminsurance.co.uk/production-insurance.html

3.1&2 Pre-production Techniques Prep Lesson Case Study in VHGS

Objective: to understand preproduction requirements for film and TV production 

Starter: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=7T2nnqFruNA

Using your worksheets Make notes on finance, auditions and time

What roles are mentioned and what do they do?
Who works in the production office?
What are the 3 stages of production?
What is clearance?
What is the total budget per episode of a BBC drama?

Task: For homework you will be producing a 700 word multimedia (embedded videos and images) Blog report on Pre-production requirements and processes. 

This lesson you will be compiling and sharing the information you collected on Pre-production requirements for VGHS. Complete the research write up your section of the worksheets in your sub-teams of 3.

Now return to your Teams of 7 and complete the whole worksheet together, sharing your understanding of each section. Make sure you have full information on the following

• What is required (ie what is needed)?
• What procedures, costs or activity is involved? 
• How do production managers organise and source what is required? 

Group 1. Finance: 

sources of finance; Kick starter, BFI, Private finance, Investors, National Lottery 

Budget requirements, equipment, transport, talent (cast/actors), crew (production), materials, facility hire (studio or edit suite)

Group 2. Time: 

Schedules: Pre-production, Production & Post-production activities to be scheduled

deadlines (importance of in the industry and production scheduling - release or broadcast deadline and insurance), 

availability of equipment (booking system in college), 

availability of personnel (call sheets how you plan to organise your crew and cast)

Group 3. Crew and Personnel: 

size of team (no budget production vs VGHS); roles, skills and experience; resourcing (Mandy.com); availability; costs (Union rate cards vs no budget)

Group 4. Resources (Facilities, Materials & Contributors): 

production equipment (kit list cams, lights, gels, reflectors, lenses, tripods, dolly, stabilisers), post-production equipment (edit suite, final cut x) 

availability & costs (hire of kit and edit suite in industry vs college resources)

original materials (produced by yourself soundtrack, foley, b-roll footage etc) archive and library materials (use of shutterstock for stock footage & costs) 

sound library materials (what is copyright free music or sound effects and how you would source this vs costs for paying for clearance)

costs & clearances (how much to use non-original materials and where from?)
talent (cast actors and extras sourcing these from actor websites, magazines or agencies)

Group 6. Locations: 

identification; (scouting, resources to find suitable locations and permissions) recces (on site visual inspection report) limitations and risks: distance, access (able to transport crew and equipment to site, cost (what do owners charge for filming), weather & lighting, background sound, public usage

Group 7. Codes of practice and regulation: 

clearances, Mechanical Copyright Protection Society-Performing Rights Society Alliance (MCPS-PRS),

location permissions; (local council - Kent film licence)

legal, eg copyright (music, archive or stock footage, using pre-existing intellectual property), 

health and safety; (having police aware of filming, risk assessments)

insurance, (public liability insurance)

regulatory bodies:

British Board of Film Classification (BBFC); (yours is a web-broadcast compared to cinema or UK territory release/broadcast)

trade unions:

Producers’ Alliance for Cinema and Television (PACT), 

Broadcasting Entertainment, Cinematograph and Theatre Union (BECTU) (rate cards and working conditions, overtime etc)

Assessment Task:

Once you have completed the research, return to your groups of 7. 

Use Google Docs to create a collaborative presentation, where you will edit live the document under your allocated section, using the information you have discovered.

Here are instructions on how you do this: https://support.google.com/docs/answer/2494891?hl=en 

Your individual section ought to include:

1. Description of what is involved (for example time requires scheduling of Pre, Production and Post - what is involved in each of these stages)
2. How this is sourced, managed or organised (for example storyboard or hired from facilities house, funds are raised by who from where?) 
3. What processes are involved in managing this aspect (for example casting actors and auditions by the Casting Director)
4. Information on costs and reference to actual organisations or business or agencies that would be involved
5. A summative comment on each section on what was involved in organising the production of the episode of VGHS involving costs and processes.

YOU MAY REFER TO YOUR SPECIALIST SUB-TEAM ONCE TO HELP YOU COMPLETE YOUR TEAM's PRESENTATION

For Homework you will be applying what you learned here to the production of your Webisode

Resources/example of Merit standard:

http://benalexanderkippenbtec.blogspot.co.uk/2012/11/unit-1-pre-production-techniques-in.html?m=1 

Unit 22 Notes on Segmented Shooting (Sequences)

Notes taken from Chapter 18 of 'Television Production' (Millerson)

Millerson – Ch 18 Production Practices

Fully-scripted productions:

• Broken down into individual shots or scenes.
• Action shot methodically out of sequence for maximum economy and efficiency.
• Shooting schedule drawn up to plan for this based on camera positions – avoids having to constantly move the camera which saves time and money,

Single Camera Technique:

• The traditional method of filmmaking.
• Shooting out of sequence often requires actors to repeat their action for each change in camera viewpoint or shot length, which can lead to continuity problems.
• Action, gestures, expressions, costume, lighting etc. must match within the various intercut shots and relate to story development although they may have been filmed at different times.

Shooting Uncontrolled Action – unscripted (ie a Live Gig or Performance)

• Option 1: shoot from fixed position and just use zoom to provide variety of shots – very limiting
• Option 2: Move camera to a series of different vantage points, changing the angle and shot size to capture the main features of the event. – risk of losing coverage. Unless timed with lulls in action

GVs (General Views) – in this case you need to shoot plenty of general material that can be used as cutaways. These may be active (can only be used at a specific moment in the edit), e.g. cutaway of a clock showing time that events start or crowd’s reaction to something. Or passive (can be used at almost anytime), e.g. flags, sun through branches, etc.

Need to make the most of opportunities available – can plan, check route and camera angles in advance, may even be able to influence action a little, e.g. arranging for beauty queen to turn and smile in the direction of the camera as she passes, but there will not be any repeats – no multiple takes!

Shooting Controlled Action (e.g. interviews, drama)

• You can arrange the action, the camera setups, lighting, staging to fit each individual shot.
• You can repeat action to have a range of shots to cut together.(LS, MS, CUs)
• You have the option to change things to improve the story line, e.g. having a character lean over a bridge to improve the composition, waiting for the sun to come out, or pausing while a loud aircraft passes overhead.
• Take the shots in the most logical rational order not in storyline sequence – you can then edit them together afterwards into this sequence, e.g. series of shots of people on two sides of a river you would shoot all shots from one side first before moving the camera to do the shots from the otherside, but would then edit the shots together alternating between the two.
• Take care that there are no discrepancies that will spoil the continuity, e.g. bright sunshine when shooting on one side of the river but pouring with rain on the other side – these shots cut together would not be convincing.

Segmented Shooting

Controlled action is usally broken down into a series of camera setups or action segments. If part of the action adds nothing to the situation it may be left out altogether, other times, the action may be emphasized.

For example:

Someone walking down a street:

• Omit the walk altogether and only show what happen when they reach the destination
• Focus on the walk – to emphasise a hurt leg and every step is agony – focusing close detail like heavy footsteps hesitant walking stick and uneven pavement
• Story aim to intrigue the audience –

Why not shoot continuously? Why use these techniques? – continuous action would become boring and take too long – breaking action into continually varying angles creates a lively pace and maintains viewers interest.

Basic Shot Types





Complex Shot Types, e.g. THE CONTRA-ZOOM or DOLLY ZOOMA popular shot and highly effective when executed effectively and utilised appropriately. See the dedicated wiki page by clicking on the link above for more examples and how-to's.

Evolution of the Dolly Zoom from Vashi Nedomansky on Vimeo.



Lighting

Video on effective lighting with only one light:


And this one on Interview Lighting & Golden Hour:

And 'How to Light a Large Space at Night':




SHOOTING DAY FOR NIGHT

It is very difficult to shoot at night without losing picture quality. Use this technique instead. Step by Step written guides can be found on these two pages and demonstrations in the two video clips below:

Videomaker: Day for Night
Videomaker: Shooting Day for Night

Unit 1.15 Budget

Create a budget for your production

By now you will have worked out how long your production will take and who and what you will need to make it.

Create a table which shows how many days each person will be required and how much they will be paid per day.

Try and cost any props and materials you will need.

You are costing this as if you were making it professionally but on a low budget- don’t just assume everything is free as it is from the school. You can explain that you are budgeting this for a low budget professional film. 

To find out rates visit the Bectu site below. In the left hand column you will see a list of departments- you can click on these and download the relevant rate card from a tab on the top right.

http://www.bectu.org.uk/advice-resources/rates

e.g download the camera rate card and find the relevant section. Decide what roles you need filled and work out their rate and time. You may need to divide the rate by days to get the right amount- below is the rate card for various camera people on  a low budget film:

1.8 Codes of Practice and Regulation

1.18 Codes of Practice and Regulation 

One of the reasons that media companies undertake pre-production work is to make sure that what they are planning to produce adheres to the relevant codes of practice, laws and regulations that govern and control their industry.

We have already looked at some of the legal issues that you must consider during pre-production,including obtaining permission to use any copyright material, the health and safety considerations that you should be aware of before production can begin, and gaining permission from people who may appear in your work.

Research: 

London is the third busiest city in the world for filming and there is a film or TV crew on the streets almost every day of the year. The Film London website is an important source of information for companies in the pre-production stage who are looking to film in the capital and contains lots of invaluable information and links to support the planning process.

Task 1: Describe what Public Liability is and how it relates to film crews. Visit the Film London website using the link below for an explanation.

http://filmlondon.org.uk/filming_in_london/planning_your_shoot/legal

Public liability

Public liability is another legal requirement for companies and organisations who are involved in creative media production, particularly when they are recording on location where members of the public may be at risk from the production activities.

Because you are a learner, your school or college should already have public liability insurance for your production work, but you should check this out just to be sure. Commercial companies will also have a range of other forms of insurance to cover their employees,their equipment and even the products that they are working on.

Task 2: Explain some of the legal requirements, permissions and regulations effecting filming in London- these will apply to most urban centres. 

Although you are working on a small production yourself you need to show an understanding of the permissions and legal requirements for any production.

Write a short report outlining the clearances, permissions and legal requirements identified below

Visit the Film London website using the link below.

Read the first section of the Permissions and Boroughs section:

http://filmlondon.org.uk/filming_in_london/planning_your_shoot/permissions_and_boroughs

Sum up the points made there relating to local authorities and police (also look further down the page to the section referring to fake police or military vehicles).

In addition sum up the rules for street filming.

Lastly, sum up some of the considerations of  small film crews– these can be found at the bottom of the page.

Regulatory bodies, trade unions and trade associations

Task 3:-Research the relevant bodies as identified in the table and explain the restrictions and guidelines they might have on your production.

For the BBFC this might include how their guidelines would effect your rating and the content of your film.

For BECTU follow this link and outline the info and guidelines they could provide for you as a producer.

Write a short report outlining the relevant guidelines for those relevant bodies.

Table 1.1 shows some of the main regulatory bodies

that limit and control what a media sector can and

cannot produce. Table 1.2 lists some of the trade

unions and associations that represent people working

in media industries.

Unit 1.17 Locations and People

1.17 Locations

It is important to check out appropriate locations during the pre-production phase. This can save lots of time and money during the production stage.

Having crew, talent and equipment out on location can be very expensive and so you need to maximise the amount of material that you can produce in the shortest time possible.

Task 1- You also need to ensure that the locations are suitable for your purpose, that you can obtain permission, if necessary, to work at the location, and that you are aware of any risks and health and safety issues that may be present. You need a location release form for this.  Failure to get location release forms means that owners of a location could decide that they don’t want to let you use images of their location and this could have a serious effect on the product- scenes could have to be reshot or key scenes might have to be removed.

Explain what a location release form is and why it could be a problem if you did not get one.

Task 2-A location reconnaissance (or recce ) is a visit to a potential production location that is carried out during pre-production to ascertain its suitability.  

The information that you bring back from the recce will inform the production schedule as you will be able to find out about distance, access, power supply, potential problems over weather, health and safety issues and any costs associated with using that particular location.

Details from the recce should be recorded on a location visit sheet and attached to your production schedule so that all members of the production team are aware of the information that has been gathered.

The information that you bring back from the recce will inform the production schedule as you will be able to find out about distance, access, power supply, potential problems over weather, health and safety issues and any costs associated with using that particular location.

Details from the recce should be recorded on a location visit sheet and attached to your production schedule so that all members of the production team are aware of the information that has been gathered. You will need a location recce form for this.

Explain what a recce is and why you need one for the product you are planning to make? 

Unit 1.6 Contributors

1.16 Contributors

As well as needing a production team, you may also need other people to contribute to your project.

You might be able to acquire the services of actors, presenters or voice-over artists (referred to as talent ) to make your product look and sound more professional and might also include contributions from experts in the area that you are dealing with in your media production or the general public.

Remember that you will need to get permission from people who are featured or quoted in your media production and you should get them to sign a release and consent agreement form so that you have documentary evidence of their permission to be featured. You should also include a biography of the contributors in the supporting documentation that you produce.

Failure to get release forms means that a contributor could decide later that they don’t want to let you use their image and this could have a serious effect on the product- scenes could have to be reshot, faces could need to be blurred which might be a problem, key scenes might have to be removed. If you were making a film or TV programme this could also mean that your show or film would not be able to be broadcast or exhibited. 

1. Explain what release forms are and what their purpose is? (By signing the form the contributor or talent gives you permission to use their image/voice/contribution how ever you want. Read the example form below- this should further explain to you what it is. )

2. Why can it cause problems if you don’t have them?

3. Identify and list who you will need to get release forms from

Key term

Talent – the professional people who feature in a production

such as actors, presenters, dancers and voice-over artists.

Unit 1.5 Materials

1.15 Materials

All media products require raw material for the actual content and you can plan to gather and generate this raw material in various ways.

Some will be original material that you are planning to produce yourself. Undertaking a series of test shoots or recordings can help you further develop your ideas during the pre-production stage, help you to decide what original material you will be able to include in your final product and what is the best way to get the effect that you want.

You may also want to use some existing archive material, such as photographs or film footage, material from a sound or photographic library or sourced from the Internet, or some existing music or graphics. In all of these cases you will need to be aware of copyright . Copyright owners can choose to grant permission or license others to use their work, usually for a fee, while retaining ownership over the rights themselves. Like other forms of intellectual property, copyright can be bought and sold.

When you are developing your ideas, think about the permissions that you will need to get before the production process can begin. This might include clearing rights, agreeing royalties or paying fees for copyright material that you are planning to include. You will need to write to the copyright holder and ask for permission to use the material. You will often have to make a payment for the right to use the material.

You can find more information on copyright and other forms of intellectual property, such as logos andtrademarks, on the Intellectual Property Office website

(www.ipo.gov.uk ).

1. Explain what materials you will need for your project- include all video and film, photography, sound effects and music. Create a detailed and specific list.
2. What will you need to produce any specific effects? (e.g you might need to use a specific lens and camera such as a DSLR and 50mm lens)
3. Find the exisiting archive material and assess it for suitability. Check the sound effects that you need are available and suitable. Make sure you record this testing process- use a table or a report of your making. 
4. What is copyright and why is it important when producing media products?
5. What materials will you need copyright for for your project? Find out who you will write to and how much it would cost to use their material. 

Key term

Copyright – an automatic right that protects a piece of written or recorded work from being copied or used by anyone else without the copyright owner’s permission.

Did you know Performing rights royalties are paid to a writer, composer or publisher whenever their music is played or performed in a public space such as on television, radio, on the Internet, in a shop or restaurant, or at an event such as a concert or a football match.

Mechanical rights royalties are paid to a writer, composer or publisher when music is reproduced and used in a physical product or artefact such as a television programme 

Unit 1.4 Facilities and Equipment

1.14 Facilities and Equipment

Any creative media production will involve the use of production equipment and facilities to capture, record, edit and manipulate the raw material into the finished product.

Moving image, audio and photographic products will need equipment and perhaps studios to record and capture the sounds and images that you require.

Computer hardware and software is now at the heart of the production and post-production processes that are used to create all digital media products.Professional production companies will either use their own equipment and facilities or hire what they need for a specific production from facility houses. They might even outsource some of the work, such as post production special effects, to a specialist company.

1. What will you need for your own project? (List all the equipment and be as detailed as you can ie- specific makes of camera plus memory or tapes; tripods; lights etc; mics and sound recording equipment; playback device for a music video (e.g a stereo); specific computers and edit programmes)

2. What is available within your school or college? (It will suffice to acknowledge this in a sentence)

3. Do some research to find out what your local facility houses offer and what the costs are. Explain the costs of undertaking your project using local facilities houses. You might consider upgrading some of the equipment and you could present this info as a simple table or spreadsheet.

Production

http://vmi.tv/vmi-hire-ratecard.pdf

http://www.thehireco.co.uk/rc3-video_camera_production_equipment.html

Post production

http://www.thehireco.co.uk/pdfs/Post-Production.pdf

Unit 1.3 Personnel

1.13 Personnel

 Sourcing the right personnel for a media production is another important aspect of the pre-production process and you will need to ensure that your production team is the right size for the job and that each member has the right balance of knowledge,skills and experience to undertake the specific role that is needed.

1.Use the following link to identify roles and allocate roles to specfic team members before having a go at the skills audit. 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/filmnetwork/filmmaking/guide/production/cast-and-crew

In addition, for higher grades on this section of the unit it would be a good idea to:

Carry out a skills audit of your production team. To do this you need to:

*list all the equipment each member of the team already has experience of using

* identify the level of media production skills and techniques they already have for each item of equipment

* identify any gaps and any areas that you need to develop further.

*Draw up an action plan to further develop the team’s existing skills and to fill any gaps that you have identified.

*Try to use SMART targets in your action plan. This means the targets need to be Specific, Measurable, Achievable and Realistic, and carried out within an appropriate Timescale.

*You might wish to use a SWOT analysis when doing your initial skills audit. Here you identify your Strengths and Weaknesses, the Opportunities that are available to you (resources, workshops, support) and any Threats (barriers) that might get in the way.