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The Process: How a film is made

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Title: The Process: How a film is made


1
The Process How a film is made
  • Prof. P.V. Viswanath
  • EDHEC
  • June 2008

2
What are Studios today?
  • We start with the notion of a studio which is a
    primarily a service organization a clearing
    house.
  • It might contract with a producer to buy a
    produced film
  • It might act as a financial intermediary for the
    financing of the production of that film
  • It might arrange for advertising of the film and
    its distribution
  • It might enter into contracts with distribution
    companies or directly with exhibitors.
  • It usually outsources the actual production and
    financing of films to corporations.
  • Revenues flow into the studio and are paid out to
    the various participants

3
The Studio System
  • Before todays studios, there was a studio
    system.
  • The studio system refers to a means of film
    production and distribution dominant in Hollywood
    from the early 1920s through the early 1950s.
  • Under this system, large motion picture studios
  • produced movies primarily on their own filmmaking
    lots
  • with creative personnel under often long-term
    contract and
  • pursued vertical integration through ownership or
    effective control of distributors and movie
    theaters, guaranteeing additional sales of films
    through manipulative booking techniques.
  • The Paramount case, a federal anti-trust case
    essentially ended the studio system in 1948.

4
The Six Studios
  • Today there are six major studios
  • Paramount Pictures owned by Viacom
  • 20th Century Fox, owned by News Corporation
  • Universal Studios owned by NBC Universal, which
    is owned jointly by General Electric and Vivendi
  • Warner Bros. Pictures owned by Time Warner
  • Columbia Pictures owned by Sony, and
  • Walt Disney Pictures owned by the Walt Disney
    Company

5
Genesis
  • A movie starts with one or more of the following
  • An Idea
  • A book
  • A magazine article
  • An original story that could be adapted
  • An old movie or play that could be remade

6
The pitch
  • Most ideas that eventually become films are
    presented to studio executives orally in what is
    called a pitch.
  • Studio chiefs look for
  • Suspense, Laughter, Violence, Hope
  • Heart, Nudity, Sex, Happy endings
  • They look for what is likely to attract/repel
  • Equity partners/financiers
  • Merchandisers, Video chain stores
  • Foreign pay-TV outlets, toy licensees

7
Developing an idea into a film
  • This is the realm of producers.
  • Though these producers may be independent,
    studios often give them
  • Offices on their lot
  • Money to hire writers
  • Money to option books
  • To cover other expenses
  • In 2002, the six studios had 2500 ideas in some
    stage of development

8
The Script
  • If an idea is sufficiently distinctive and
    attractive, it must be converted into an
    acceptable script.
  • The script is the blueprint for the making of a
    movie.
  • The script is written, revised, polished and
    sometimes, completely reconceived this is
    called development.
  • If the script is acceptable to all parties, it
    gets green-lighted, i.e. it moves into
    pre-production.

9
More about conversion to a script
  • Projects that fail to get green-lighted get put
    into turnaround this gives the producer the
    right to sell them to another studio
  • Screenwriters work in teams and produce a script
    on speculation or spec.
  • They get paid in stages
  • Some portion on signing a contract
  • Some portion on the completion of the first and
    second drafts
  • The balance contingent on the story being
    actually filmed as a movie.

10
Green-Lighting
  • In order to get green-lighted, it must be
    acceptable to a director, who will then be
    willing to commit to it.
  • To do this, they have to have some control over
    the script.
  • Often they get credit as the author or coauthor.
  • They often modify the script to suit their own
    directorial strengths.
  • Often producers may need to get one or more top
    stars to act in the film in order to get the
    script green-lighted.

11
What Green-Lighting means
  • Green-lighting is a big commitment
  • Directors and stars usually have pay or play
    clauses to pay their full fixed compensation,
    once a film is green-lit, even if it is then
    abandoned.
  • The average commitment for a studio green light
    in 2003 was about 130 million.

12
The Budget
  • Before green-lighting, the producer has to
    develop a tentative budget based on a
    shot-by-shot breakdown of the script.
  • It specifies the total days of shooting and
    estimates all expenses.
  • The above-the-line costs include agreed-upon
    payments for buying rights, developing the script
    and compensating starts, directors, producers and
    writers.
  • The below-the-line expenditures include all the
    daily expenses during the actual production and
    postproduction periods.

13
Above the line with Terminator 3
  • 70.5m in above-the-line expenses
  • 19.6m for the story
  • 29.25m for Arnold Schwarzenegger
  • 5m for the director, Jonathan Mostow
  • 10m for four producers
  • The remaining for supporting actors and perk
    packages for the star and director

14
Above the line with Terminator 3
  • 57.4m in below-the line expenses to account for
    100 days of shooting for the actors unit and 67
    days for the second units.
  • Second units shoot scenes not requiring the
    appearance of the major actors.
  • Stunts are usually filmed by second units.
  • They photograph backgrounds for shots in which
    actors are later added by the lab
  • They film landmarks, crowds, traffic and other
    scenery that show the audience what the
    characters are supposed to be looking at.

15
Below-the-line budget
  • 12.1m for constructing, dressing, operating sets
  • 7.7 for special effects
  • 2.6 for lighting the sets
  • 2.4 for the camera crew
  • 359,000 for sound
  • 566,000 for make-up
  • 1.6m for wardrobe
  • 5.4 m for second units
  • 4.4m for locations

16
More below-the-line
  • 3.9 for transportation
  • 1.5m for stunts
  • 2m for the production staff
  • 395,000 for extras
  • 1.6m for the art department
  • 1.2m for buying and processing the film
  • 1.9m for renting studio space
  • 28m for 200 days of post-production work
    digital effects, editing, dubbing, music and for
    the opening and end titles.

17
General Expenses and Insurance
  • The general part of the budget was 13.4m.
  • 2.4m for the completion bond
  • 2m for cast insurance
  • 2m for legal and accounting expenses
  • 7m for unforeseen contingencies
  • 5m for 3600 prints
  • 45m for advertising and publicity

18
Other cashflows
  • Major merchandise tie-in partners also help with
    advertising.
  • For example, the James Bond film Die Another Day
    had 120m in merchandiser advertising.
  • Merchandisers could have long-term contractual
    agreements with studios, as well.
  • In addition, box-office revenues, video revenues,
    merchandising revenues all have to be forecast.

19
On to the actual movie making
  • Once a film is green-lighted, the studios
    executes contracts with the producers,
    co-financiers, directors and other principals in
    the production
  • The initial installment of funds is deposited in
    a bank account set up for the production.
  • A team of executives is assigned to complete the
    film.
  • The film is set up as a separate corporation and
    hires hundreds of temporary employees including
    actors, artists, technicians, constructions
    workers, drivers, caterers and personal
    assistants.

20
Producer hierarchy
  • The line producer or production manager who, on a
    day-to-day basis ensures that the director has
    what he needs to make the movie.
  • The first assistant director (AD) who schedules
    the arrivals and departures of actors and
    technicians on the set so that the director can
    efficiently shoot the movie.
  • A director of photography (DP) who supervises the
    camera and lighting crew

21
Further down the hierarchy
  • A production designer responsible for creating
    the visual illusion on sets and locations.
  • A wardrobe head responsible for outfitting all
    the actors
  • A location manager responsible for the logistics
    of all the shooting done outside the studio
  • A unit manager, whose staff tracks the
    expenditures, keeps the books and makes sure the
    bills are paid.

22
Shooting Schedules
  • A detailed shooting schedule is established,
    taking into account the stars schedules and the
    most efficient use of expensive locations and
    other time-sensitive resources.
  • Stars limit their availability to a specific
    number of weeks, called the guaranteed period
    after which they get paid a huge increment.
  • All scenes in a given location are shot at the
    same time, regardless of when they take place in
    the story.

23
Storyboards
  • The first step in the pre-production process
    (prep) is storyboarding.
  • A film storyboard is a large comic of the film or
    some section of the film produced beforehand to
    help film directors visualize the scenes and find
    potential problems before they occur.
  • Often storyboards include arrows or instructions
    that indicate movement.
  • A storyboard provides a visual layout of events
    as they are to be seen through the camera lens.
  • Storyboards allow visual thinking, planning and
    experimenting, particularly when working in
    groups.

24
Casting
  • The next step is casting the speaking roles.
  • A casting director is used who acts as a
    specialized consultant in suggesting actors for
    movie parts.
  • Sometimes directors want to work with specific
    actors whom theyve worked with successfully
    previously.
  • If a director believes that an actor will
    contribute to the success of the film, the script
    may even be rewritten to suit the actor.
  • After a screen test, the selected actors are
    offered contracts specifying the periods they
    will be available for principal shooting and then
    for dubbing and reshooting.

25
Creating the Setting
  • The third step is creating the setting in which
    the story takes place.
  • The production designer designs the sets, props
    and clothing for every scene.
  • These are incorporated into the storyboards.
  • Engineers, carpenters and other specialists then
    create the necessary ingredients to transform
    these designs into three-dimensional full-scale
    reality.

26
Technical Details and Logistics
  • Technicians must simultaneously be hired for the
    camera manipulation, for sound and for lighting
  • The producer needs to hire hairdressers, makeup
    artists and wardrobe dressers.
  • Location scouts find locations that fit into the
    production design
  • Then logistical arrangements must be made for the
    arrival of the technicians and actors.

27
Shooting the film
  • Every day of shooting is expensive the average
    daily running cost of a film in 2000 was
    165,000.
  • Directors depend on their first assistant
    directors to act as their executive officers.
  • After actors take their place on the scene (a
    given camera position is called a setup) and the
    director of photography (DP) is satisfied, the
    scene is shot this is called a take.
  • The director views a digital version of the take
    and if he is dissatisfied will do several more
    takes.
  • Sound engineers and DPs may also request
    re-takes.
  • After a successful take, the director moves on to
    the next setup.

28
Continuation of the Shooting
  • At the end of a day, the director, the AD, the
    producers, the DP, the production designer and
    editor go into a projection room to watch the
    unedited dailies from the days shooting .
  • The director determines whether he has the shots
    necessary for the film.
  • The studio executives also look at the dailies
    and make their own comments.
  • The unit managers send lists of each days
    expenditures to the head of physical production,
    who keeps costs from exceeding budget.
  • When the last take is completed, principal
    photography is over.
  • At this point, computer graphics are added and
    missing sounds (such as crowd sounds) are
    inserted.

29
Editing and Film Completion
  • Finally the film is edited by the editor.
  • The director closely supervises the editing,
    which can, sometimes, drastically change the
    nature of a film.
  • This procedure is done on a computer.
  • Once the editing decisions are all made, the
    directors cut is produced.
  • The studio usually has final control of the film
    before the final cut is made.
  • At this point, the accountants come up with the
    final computation of the negative cost.
  • The film goes into inventory awaiting a decision
    as to when it will be released.
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