The Pre-Production Process

Requirements for a Moving Image Production

There are many type of media forms that we know about, for example the television, the radio and the computers. Withing these forms we can find all sorts of moving images media product. Well what types of moving image media product are there? For what I know there are so many; for example:

• Animation
• Feature Film
• Short Film
• Television Programs ( these would be things like news & adverts)
• Music Videos

Distribution Method 

These are the ways media forms are shown to the audience so then it becomes successful and makes money. They can be released at a:

• Film festival
• DVDs & Blue Rays
• Torrent Websites
• Streaming websites for example Hulu & Netflix   

Finance and sources of funding

1. Crow funding
2. Private financing
3. Bank
4. Euro-savings
5. Millionaires (Megan Ellison)
6. Lottery organisations (creative England)

Requirements in any organisation production
Obviously in a media production we do require quite a lot of equipment in order to produce film. The things needed to do this are mostly obvious but important. Here is a list of things normally used in a movie creation:

• Cameras (this may sound stupid but its obvious a camera is needed for the recording)
• Props and Costumes (each actor will be different and have a different character so different costumes and props are need.
• Transport (these are obviously needed to take the actors where ever they need to go for the recording)
• Accommodation (the actors, directors and the rest of the crew will obvious need a place to stay if they are recording in a stranger place so accommodation needs to be provided)
• Food and drink (again if we are taken the crew away from home we must ensure that we have supplies to keep them going.)
• Location (If the filming is going to be in a strange place obviously you will need to hire that location for that period of time)
• Others ( there are many more things needed such as lights, studio, actors, editing programs and editors)

Of course these things are not always needed for every film making, most of them are only needed on a high budget film as in a low budget film you would only use a few of them.

Requirements on our short film
Since our film was a short low budget film we hardly necessitated any of those things above. All we used for our film making was:

• 
  
• A HD camera.
• Students as actors in which we did not had to hire
• Computers with editing programs, in this case Premiere Pro C6 was used.
• Classroom and Corridors of the college was used as our location.
• All our data/recordings was stored on a SD card and on the computer as backup in case anything was damaged.
• Tripod to hold the camera still for a better quality image.

Personnel
These are the production team meaning everyone that is involved in a film making that works in a media production.

1. A low budget short- Our film was a short low budget film and to be honest our personnel was really low as we was consisted of a group of three. This means that each individual in our group had a variety of role. For example, I did some of the recording and editing, others where actors and directors and also editors. Meaning that in a low budget film a person has more than one role and are not very experienced people. 
2. A television programmer- For a television programmer the crew is much bigger than a low budget film. Sometimes this is because it is shown live or it is a series of episodes which will be shown many times and to keep the audience they have to ensure it looks good. The actors normally are famous people with experience. They can be seen as professionals, and sometimes they have more than one role. There are also advisers and legal team in a television programmer. Also in some programmers they have crowds where applause and cheer are involved. For example the X-Factor. 
3. Hollywood feature film- In a Hollywood film making the personnel are much more experienced and seen as professionals. There are a lot more personnel in here and most of them only have one role each. There are extra people such as the advisers and the legal team to make the film available for the public. There would be drivers to drive them to different locations as the film is recorded in many different places for a high budget film.

Time
During my short film making we where giving a deadline for the film to be made however this deadline was broken by most group in the class. The reason for this is simply because we started to record our film a day before we went on holidays. After a week and a few days we came back and most of the groups found themselves recording some of the footage they had already recorded before the break simply because they did not have the same props and costumes. However we did not do too bad on time as our video was ready three days after the deadline.

What would happen if you don't meet the deadlines in the professional media industry?
In a professional media deadlines are strict because if they are not met the industry would start building up problems. If a film is not made on time the cost for this film will increase leading to a bit of a loss in the industry. Also the reputation of that industry might go down as the film was delayed and might not be re-leased.
Equipment/Facilities
This is simply the equipment we used to make our short film in which i already wrote about. In here im going to focus more on how and where did we obtain our equipment and how and where do industries obtain their equipment for a professional moving image production.

In our short film we had a budget allocation of £5 in which we did not use as we had all we needed in college. We gathered all our props and costumes such as the mask used in the film, from the college studio room. We also borrowed the camera and the tripods from the college. And the SD card we already had it from the start of the year.
Has in a movie making industry the equipment needed are a lot more and way more expensive. For a film to be made obviously the necessary equipment have to be used and these are normally bought or hired.
Most of the big companies will find all they need in a Facility house.
Locations
For our short film we decided to film in the college classroom and corridors meaning we did not have to fill in any form to have legal permission. Normally in any other public area a location recces and location releases would have to be involved in order to have a legal permission to record in that area.

Location recces- This is where you have to ensure you research and find all the information about the area you are intending to film in. The word recce is shorten for reconnaissance. By having a location recce it is more likely that your shots will be much more successful (1).

Location releases- These are forms that must be signed by the filmmaker and the owner of a specific property. By signing these forms the owners are giving legal permission for the filmmakers to shoot there.

Of course during this preparation for our short film we knew that we would have to face some issues and risk. For example one of our issue was while recording a student from the college be misbehaving and getting his face in front of the camera when we don't want him there. A risk was while recording especially the tracking scene, the camera man might not see that there is a spilled drink or something of that kind and slip on it leading to an injury. There were many more risks and issues we had to deal with. In order to prevent and decrease the changes of these we made a risk assessment during our plan. We was able to prevent all the problems and if any problem had occurred because of the risk assessment we knew how to deal with it.

Materials
Either than the crew and cast other materials are used to make a moving image film. For example the microphone and a few editing programs is used to make a sound track or a sound effect. for a good quality sound microphones are normally positioned differently according to its environment; outside, inside or in the studio. Most of the times the audio, sound track and the dialogue for a moving image is recorded a different time from the actual video than it is added later on.

Contributors 
Contributors are a big part of media and film production. The reason being is simply because they are the ones who contributes money for the media production to be done. They ensure everything is done well by the end of the production by assisting the film makers with some cash.

Legal Issues
Either than the location recce and location releases there are other legal considerations that we need to take during a media production. For example Copyright.

Copyright- This gives owners legal protection and rights to control ways people can use their materials. The rights are given to a person as soon as the material is recorded in any way and it would prevent any copying, adapting or distributing.
This type of issue did not affect our media production because we did not intended to use any soundtrack that had already been recorded. We used a default soundtrack from the media and we also made our own soundtracks by using a program called Garage band.

Issues:
Clearance- This is when you must ensure that you are given legal permission to use a copyright material or you can do various research to ensure the media you are using for your video has no owner ship.

Public liability insurance- Accidents happen all the time, and in a creation of a moving image film your company is responsible for any accident to the public and worst injury, they can easily take charge against you for compensations. A public liability insurance is there to help you protect your business against any complains from accidents made.

Completion guarantee/insurance- This is another legal contract that has to be signed by the producer to guarantee that the film will be complete and delivered at the date they have agreed to. This is done to prevent any loss of money in case the film is not completed or its completed with delay in which there would be money loss.

Regulation
Regulatory bodies are organisations set up by the government. These have the responsibility to monitor, guide and control many industries sectors with interest of protecting consumers.

OF-COM simply stands for office of communication. This is the UK's communications regulator. It runs under the communication act 2003, and what it does is ensure citizens are protected from scams and sharp practices and get the best from communication services while using things like mobile phones and internet.

Not everything is regulated by the OF-COM, for example the BBC is regulated by the BBC Trust. BBC is shorten for British Broadcasting Corporation. The fact the BBC is regulated by the BBC Trust makes it an independent corporation.

BBFC- This simply stands for British Board of Film Classification. The BBFC are responsible for what people watch. The BBFC are the ones who give out age ratings on films to ensure minors are not watching what they shouldn't. However there is an independent body which has also being giving out age ratings since 1984.

Trade Unions and trade associations.
A trade Union is an organisation of workers who have got together to achieve similar objectives such as "protecting the integrity of its trade, achieving higher pay, increasing the number of employees an employer hires, and better working condition". This means that they will have to ensure working condition is good and workers are doing a good job by maintaining or improving good employment conditions. To do this wage, rules, complaint procedures, workplace safety and policies and many more would have to be taken in consideration.

BECTU- (Broadcasting, Entertainment, Cinematography and Theater Union).This is the UK entertainment union that covers a few important things like:

• Broadcasting
• Film
• Theater and art 
• Independent Production

This union has around 25,000 members and these are all voluntary. However they aim to increase their members as the union is financed from the subscription from its members. They also have other aims such as helping in the improvement of payment at places like pensions.

PACT 

This is very similar to BECTU, however they are an UK trade association. 

What do they do? They are "representing and promoting the commercial interests of independent feature film, television, digital, children's and animation media companies". When it comes to legal and businesses affairs PACT are there to offer some support.

Trade association- These are organisations that creates "means for businesses involved in a given industry to interact to the mutual benefit of all concern". They are also known as an "industry trade group, business association or sector association". The are responsible for participating in public relations activities. For example:

• Advertising
• Education
• Political Donations
• Lobbying
• Publishing

However the trade association focus a lot on collaboration between companies or standardization.