Pre-production theory

Pre-production theory 

I shall be talking about what is done in the pre-production of a film and why it is important. I will be comparing professional scripts to amateur scripts and talking about the differences between the two. 

Things I will be talking about 

• Scripts
• Script breakdowns
• Budget
• Story-board
• Risk Assessment
• Clearances 
• Legal considerations

Scripts

A script is a written document which describes what your film is about, whats in it, who's in it and what location it is in. These scripts are made by a script writer who is the one who decides which characters are in the story and what they are doing. A script is used to tell a story and is used to tell the actors with dialogue that is written in the script. The script is also used to describes characters such as their appearance and their personality. In a script the writer should describe the locations, it could be either and exterior (EXT.) or a interior (INT.). The script is also used for explaining actions taken by the characters. There are some scripts which describe what kind of shots are to be used at which points in the story (Establishing shots, mid shots, close ups etc) however not all scripts are wrote like this. When a character is introduced his name should be in capitals and it should have his/her age in brackets. There should be a description of the character (what they are wearing, how tall they are and what colour and length of hair they have.)


http://leethomson.myzen.co.uk/Breaking_Bad/Breaking_Bad_3x01_-_No_Mas.pdf
This is a script for the show breaking bad. It has the cast list and all of the things mentioned above. It also has a set list detailing all of the exterior and interior mentioned in the script.

The cast list also mentions that one character doesn't speak.

As you can see it lists both interior and exterior.

The script that I did is a amateur script and has some differences and some similarities. My script has a description of the characters that have been mentioned so far in the story and my script has the basics of a script (describing a story with locations,characters and actions with some dialogue)  however my script is missing components like a set list and a cast list as well as just not being written as well. 

My script

Script breakdown

A script breakdown is when you go through your script and pick out all of the things you will need to make your script into a reality. You will need to pick out cast members, wardrobe, locations, props, sound effects and crew teams with the required equipment. This is used so that the producer and the director can get the things that they will need to make the project possible. It is part of a script writers job to make a script breakdown. A script breakdown must also include what sound effects are to be used and what kind of environment, such as the weather and the time of day that the scene should be shot in.

This is an example of a script breakdown. Its and amateur script breakdown. It has all of the basics of a script breakdown but it doesn't have a key to tell you what colour means what. They have put the location on the side of each section.
http://dannyfsantos.hubpages.com/hub/How-to-do-a-script-breakdown

Budget 

A budget is a recording of how much money is used and what it is spent on as well as how long the equipment is being payed for. The budget should take into account the costs of the cast and crew and depending on how many days you have them hired for. The budget should have the cost of rented equipment and how many days it is rented for. Depending on the location you may have to rent a location for private use, if you did then the budget would have to say how many days you would be using it for. A budget is important because it allows you to keep track of the individual costs and the overall cost of your project. It is a producers job to make and maintain the budget. It is also the producers job to make sure that the costs don't go over the spending money that they have, he has to solve this if it happens by reducing the amount of days or the amount of equipment used.

This is an example of a professional budget it has each individual cost of equipment, staff etc. It also has the total cost of the project. It also takes into account extra fees. What it doesn't tell you is how many days they are using the people and the equipment, they could be buying the equipment to keep but you still need the amount of days for the cast and crew.

This is my amateur script. It has the basics of a script including the costs of cast,crew, equipment, props and how many days they will be used for. It has both the sub total of each individual part of the project as well as the total cost of the project. However this doesn't take into account other fees such as damages and renting costs for locations. 

Story-boarding

A story board are drawn images of scenes put together to make a visual representation of the story. Story boards are used to show the director what camera angles they want for the film and what poses and actions the characters are doing. The story board will be made by a story boarder and it will be based off the script. A story board is important because it gives the director a general idea of what shots to take in what scene. 

http://uk.pinterest.com/pin/530228556

This is an example of a professional story board. As you can see it is extremely well drawn and it shows the angle of the shot and what kind of environment the script is talking about.

http://www.cinephiliabeyond.org/the-art-of-storyboarding/

This story board has instructions next to the image which makes it easier to interpret whats going on in the storyboard. This storyboard is a character description instead of a scenery drawing.

Risk assessment

A risk assessment is a form which determines what kind of issues could happen during the shooting of a film, it talks about what physical damage could happen to the people on set. A risk assessment also talks about the likelihood of one of these hazards happening. A risk assessment  is important because it evaluates the the hazards and how likely one of the cast or crew are to be harmed. A risk assessment should acknowledge all risks no matter how small and should evaluate the likelihood and damage done within realistic calculations of how likely they are to happen and how dangerous they are.

 http://rachaelrayner-portfolio.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/film-production-risk-assessments.html

This is a professional risk assessment and it shows who will be harmed by which risk and what equipment may be damaged, it also shows what should be done to solve the hazard. 

Clearances

Clearances are forms that allow you to use certain locations and to use certain props such as weaponry. Clearances are important because it allows you to legally use ares and props. If you didn't have a clearance for a location you would get in big legal trouble, if you didn't have a clearance to use guns on your set then an armed police response would be warranted. Clearances are usually handled by the producer but it can be handled by multiple people in the project.

This is an example of a professional clearance sheet. it has the date of when it was signed as well as the date that they will be using the location they are asking for, what location they want and everyones signature.

Legal considerations 

Legal considerations include things like copyright, creative commons and public domain. These things would be the responsibility of a team which would specialise in this area. You have to make sure that the material that you use isn't copyrighted because  they could claim your work and you would then make no money off of your project.  Creative commons is when you choose who can use your material and if they can  add stuff to it. examples of this is allowing parts of your work in commercials or in youtube videos. Public domain is when you no longer have copyright on your work and is available to anyone to use and edit. When a work is in the public domain it is considered to be a publics work and free to use without a license.
http://www.teachingcopyright.org/handout/public-domain-faq
https://creativecommons.org/about