Digital Envisions

It has frequently been said that if you do not have a plan for success, then you have a plan for failure and this is very pertinent to the procedure of filmmaking as well. Think about it; a producer gets a script that he or she likes, then what? Top actors may be booked up for years as can all the top directors and technical staff.

So, whilst you are attempting to find backers for the film, you have to start co-ordinating all your key personnel. Let’s say that you would like a certain director, a couple of of the main technicians and you have five main character roles, for which you have preferences. First, you might have to wait for your favourite casting director to have time to help.

You get in touch with the director and he cannot start until the end of January. However, your first preferences for the leading five actors may not all become free for long enough to shoot the film until June,

However, some of them could spare a couple of days here and there before that. Now the leading man and the leading lady want to appoint executive directors to take care of their interests.

The script writer and a couple of the top investors also want to appoint executive directors in order to look after their interests too. Now you have what amounts to a board of directors with a chairman, every one with slightly different focuses, but all wanting the film to become a success.

Naturally, the financiers would like to know exactly how much the film will be and the actors will need to know when their agents may book their next film role.

This means that time and money has to be allocated to each scene. So someone has to cost each scene and make allowances for weather, illness, breakdowns and delays.

If the producer wants to begin before everyone can get to the set, he can arrange to shoot scenes as and when actors get a free day or two and this involves a lot of co-ordination by the continuity staff.

It might also mean hardship with visas if shooting abroad, where permission to film will also have to be acquired. This may mean a license or corruption.

If the film is an epic, they might require thousands of extras and maybe none of them will be able to speak English, so you will need interpreters and the script may have to become translated in part. And that translation has to be proven to be accurate

Customs and local habits have to be followed, so first you have to know what they are and you need to make sure the actors and technicians understand them. If you are shooting some scenes on location and others at home, you need to take the local seasons into account.

Some countries just have a couple of hours daylight at some times of the year, while other areas vary from 15 hours to five hours. What if you need a monsoon, you have taken your cast to Thailand and hired 600 extras and the monsoon comes four weeks late? Your insurance will have to be very detailed and precise to cover every contingency.

Making a film is a huge task and frighteningly expensive, so if you do not plan, you will fail and the more detailed the plan you have, the more control you have and the more likelihood of success.

Related posts

• What Is The Best Method To Get Into Filmmaking? (0)
• What You Should Know Before You buy A Digital Camera (0)
• Some Basic Terms Concerning The Digital Camera (0)
• Six Ways To Make Money Using Your Digital Camera (0)
• More Basic Terminology Concerning The Digital Camera (0)

Comments are closed.