| The Script
Not every project will have a script, but especially in drama productions
the script contains a detailed scene breakdown and will fill in
the fine detail from which you can accurately assess the full requirements
of the project. This process of script analysis or breakdown will
then determine exactly how many days you will need to shoot, how
many locations will be needed, how many crew you will need, how
many edit days will be needed and so on. Likewise, the breakdown
of a very detailed treatment will determine how many days are necessary
to plan, design and produce your website, or to design your graphics,
draw your storyboards and animate your project.
Once the treatment and script breakdown are complete, you can begin
to build the schedule alongside your budget.
The Schedule
A schedule is a document that organises the shooting or production
days into a logical order and contains specific instructions, actions
and dates. Schedules need to be planned in great detail and should
incorporate an element of flexibility. They make the most efficient
use of resources available, should be easy to understand and like
budgets, should be adhered to as closely as possible.
Once complete, copies of the schedule should be given to all team
members involved in a project at the earliest opportunity to keep
everyone informed of what is going on.
The inefficient use of a schedule can result in financial loss.
If for example you hire an actor who is needed in several different
scenes at one location, it would make sense to record all his scenes
together in one visit if possible, so that he is not waiting around
for hours or days feeling bored and costing you money until his
next scene.
Constructing the Schedule
The way a schedule is built varies, but it is constructed in a
similar way to a budget, because initially you will need to allocate
a time scale to the project. In order to do this you need to know
how long must be spent in pre-production, production and post-production,
so you need to have certain budgeting information before this can
be done realistically. Ultimately your budget is your determining
factor.
Many things will determine your schedule such as location or crew
availability, whether the project is centred around a specific event,
or whether the client demands certain shooting requirements or a
certain delivery date at the outset.
As with budget construction, by analysing the treatment or script
you can begin to work out how long it will take to put the project
together, how much it might cost and what resources you will need.
This is usually done with the involvement of the director, the producer,
the production manager and possibly the researcher. If it is a drama
project the scriptwriter will also be involved.
Factors that determine how long a production will take from start
to finish are numerous. In the case of drama, look for the date
and year in which a production is set as this will have a major
impact on research, planning, resources and shoot days within your
budget and schedule, and find out how many story days there are,
ie. how many days, weeks or years the story line covers.
Once the breakdown is complete, the information you have pulled
out needs to be organised. Usually the two most expensive items
in the budget are cast and locations. Locations can be expensive
in terms of hire costs, dressing requirements, travelling distance
and overnight requirements. Actors may have limited availability
and high charges, so a good starting point for the schedule is to
find out how best to use the cast's time and the most efficient
way of utilising the locations. The other elements will then begin
to fit in around this scheduling.
Research
Research is vital on any project, both in determining the budget
and as the project develops in order to discover scheduling requirements.
If it is a documentary production the subject matter needs to be
studied in depth and appropriate interviewees and experts will need
to be recruited. If it is a drama production, further research may
be necessary into the characters and the type of props that they
will need and into the period in which it is set. This process may
be ongoing but it is necessary to undertake thorough research at
the ideas stage of your project in order to ensure that it will
work as a concept as well as for budgeting purposes.
For new media projects, animation and graphic design, research
needs to be done into which software would be most appropriate to
use, what its capabilities are and how best to make the most effective
use of your time and creativity.
Timescale
On any production you need to determine how much time you are allowed
within the budget to complete your project. This means working out
how much time can be invested into research and planning, casting,
set construction, travel, shooting or actual production days, the
edit, graphics and other post-production requirements.
It is sensible to budget and schedule for additional production
days in case the project is delayed for any reason. If you do not
allow extra days and you encounter serious production problems,
you may not be able to deliver on time.
Resources
Resources, namely cast, crew and equipment, form a large part of
the budget and must be calculated as accurately as possible. This
means identifying crew, staff and equipment requirements, as well
as allocating time for researching and securing these resources.
Ratecards are widely available and are usually a good guide to how
much equipment and freelance staff will cost when compiling your
budget.
Charges for locations or gas and electricity bills may also be
budgeted in under resources and are very important costs to calculate
at an early stage to avoid unpleasant surprises later on.
Tapestock and other software requirements should be built into
your budget at an early stage and there should be room for flexibility.
The end format of the project will be decided early on and therefore
any additional CDs, DVDs or cassette tapes to cover dubbing and
distribution should be accounted for.
Tapestock can be used very sparingly and efficiently if you are
organised. Remember to label all tapes as they are used to ensure
that your material does not get mixed up.
Equipment
Technological advances in digital equipment have meant that costs
are now falling and it is possible to shoot and edit material on
a digital format fairly inexpensively. However, the format on which
you shoot and deliver material will depend on the commissioner or
client.
Be resourceful where equipment is concerned and if you can come
up with a cheaper alternative for shooting a sequence to give the
same effect then this is worth considering. There are many ‘tricks'
that are used in production, for example shooting from a certain
angle so that you only need three walls instead of four in a room
set. With careful thought, costs can be cut considerably in this
way. Ensure that you do not compromise quality when trying to be
cost efficient.
The software and hardware you are going to use for your project
must be determined at the budgeting stage so that you don't end
up incurring additional costs. If you need equipment or software
that you do not currently own, for independents or freelancers it
may be worth purchasing rather than repeatedly hiring at a daily
rate. The costs of purchasing equipment can then be recouped over
a certain period and will be covered in each budget during that
period under overheads.
Design
The design of a project may take considerable time and therefore
it is essential to estimate as accurately as possible, the number
of days required to complete the necessary work. You must also take
into account rendering or modelling time. Any additional time spent
on design that is not accounted for will eat into profits, so it
is important to be realistic about what you are trying to achieve
within a specified time frame.
Storyboards
Storyboards are essential to most projects, whether new media,
drama, documentary or corporate. Many new media projects rely on
storyboards and some of these must be done very quickly on demand,
but adequate time must be budgeted into the pre-production of the
project for storyboarding if they are necessary.
Locations and Recces
Locations need to be chosen and secured early on in the production
process and permissions gained through location release forms. Recces
ensure that a thorough risk assessment can be carried out at each
location and give an opportunity to assess transport and travel
requirements, accommodation, access, parking, facilities, security,
lighting and set requirements and availability. All these elements
need to be taken into account when building the schedule. In addition
recces help the director to plan the shot list and assess the creative
capabilities.
Actors and Interviewees
It takes time to find the right actors and interviewees and there
are no set rules as to where you will find the people you are looking
for. The Internet is a very useful resource when researching a particular
subject (though it should be used with care) and may lead you to
the right people in your locality or at least give you a lead. Actors
and actresses also publicise their portfolios in the public domain,
but there are also Spotlight directories and various organisations
and agents who are willing to help you in your search for the right
people. Specialist newspapers and journals are available such as
PCR,
should you wish to place an advertisement for an actor or actress.
The actors' fees will have already been budgeted for so there should
be no surprises when it comes to pay day. Local interviewees who
may have been approached because of their connection to your documentary
subject will not generally charge fees as actors do, but expenses
and fees should be planned and budgeted for at the outset. When
casting actors/actresses, you must be aware of the fact that some
may be Equity
members and will therefore charge Equity fees. All participants
must sign a consent or release form to take part in your project
and will usually require a contract. Regardless of whether they
are a member of Equity, if the production in which they feature
is to be broadcast or shown in the public domain you will need their
permission to do this in writing and you may not be able to use
the footage you have if this is not obtained.
Crew
Your crew should be chosen very carefully and cost effectively.
It is essential that there is a strong commitment to the project
by the production team and it is necessary to ensure that each will
add a strong skill or element to the production. Working relationships
are vital when working under pressure and you need to be able to
rely on each other. There is a tendency to take on board crew that
have worked together effectively on previous projects and reputation
and track record counts for a lot.
It may be necessary to work with crew that you have never worked
with before, so if this is the case, take a look at their work and
ask around to see if anyone has heard about them or their work.
Also, spend time with them prior to the shoot as this will give
you an idea about their personality and whether they will work well
as a team player.
Props
Props are required in many productions and can be necessary in
documentary and new media projects. Be resourceful when searching
for props - it's amazing what you can find at car boot sales and
jumble sales, and if you're looking for something rare or specific
it is worth asking around or advertising. Props needn't be expensive.
A lot of the props that you need will be listed in the script,
but in drama many props will also come from the characters themselves
as they develop. The extra touches may make a huge difference to
your finished piece.
The Edit
When building the budget you should calculate how much editing
time will be needed to complete your project. The hiring of off-line
and on-line edit suites is becoming less frequent because digital
editing has revolutionised production. However, it is necessary
to budget according to the format you are using and the transferring
and viewing of rushes must be considered in the budget.
Graphics, archive footage and music may also be incorporated in
the edit and it may be necessary to allow additional edit time for
complicated rendering or graphics. Commentary is also added at the
post production stage and may be added in the edit or post-production
sound session.
Music
By the time you edit your programme or project, if you are to include
music it will have been composed or chosen, and it will either be
added at the editing stage or in post-production sound. Music clearances
are vital and you will not be able to use music unless you have
rights clearance to use it and pay for it as per an agreement. If
you do use music without permission you will find yourself in legal
difficulties (see Media Law section for more information about copyright
issues).
Music needs to be cleared by the Mechanical
Copyright Protection Society (MCPS), and they represent writers,
composers and music publishers. The society issues licences to those
wishing to use music written, composed or published by its members
and charges royalties on their behalf.
Blanket agreements with the MCPS are made with broadcasters such
as the BBC and
ITV companies,
but anyone without a blanket agreement must contact MCPS or The
Performing Rights Society (PRS) before using any music.
There are two categories of music which need to be cleared and
these are production music and non-production music. Production
music is also known as library music and is composed specifically
for use in television and film This is cheaper than using commercial
music. Non-production music must be cleared each time it is used
and there are no set rates. The MCPS has over 10,000 members and
they will give advice and paperwork if needed.
Musicians can also belong to the Musician's Union and as such will
require a contract and fee to enable you to use its members' musical
works or performances.
Consumables
Every budget should allow for `miscellaneous' expenses, which may
include postage, packing, items which are needed as the shoot or
project progresses or even catering for crew or cast. Consumables
are usually fairly small items. If it is a large scale project,
catering will usually have its own section in the budget, but on
small productions it can be accounted for under this heading. A
certain amount of money should be calculated into the budget for
consumables at the outset.
Marketing and Publicity
The marketing and publicity of your company or project will have
to be thought through carefully. Advertising can be expensive so
it is important to look at the available options of getting yourself
and your work known. It may be necessary to produce complementary
material, for example if producing a video it may be necessary to
also produce a CD Rom and leaflet to be distributed for marketing
purposes. Obviously the cost of producing a CD Rom will be built
into the budget at the start, but the cost of reproduction and distribution
of this and the leaflets, would fall into this category.
|
