Pre-Production

Pre-production is the stage of producing a media product that comes before the actual filming (if it is a live action movie), shooting (if it is for photography) or drawing (if it is an animation). How the pre-production of a product is handled and what is included in it shall largely depend on the type of thing being created (e.g. live action movie, animation, photo or music) and the amount of work put into the pre-production shall largely depend on the team creating it. For example, the pre-production of a multimillion dollar blockbuster such as Avengers Assemble, The Great Gatsby or Life of Pi shall largely differ to that of a school student’s media studies film. The multimillion dollar productions will have enormous teams, incredibly detailed storyboards, professionally written scripts, thousands of actors to audition and choose from and massive budgets to pay for it all. Whereas the student’s production will likely have four or less team members, vague storyboards with room left for improvisation, possibly no script, only a few actors to choose from (are likely to act in their own films) and often no budget. As the product which I am soon to be tasked with shall be a live action trailer, not an animation, photograph or piece of music, below are some of the key points of pre-production of films.

Film:

Location scouting – the director or a team of people shall travel to a variety of different places so as to find a location which fits into the planned setting. The scouts will take picture of the locations and then later decide on their favourite area. This is vital as having a suitable location vastly adds to the believability of a film. For example, it would be far more suitable to film a horror movie scene in a dark forest then in a busy town centre. I myself have collected a set of pictures taken in the locations that I may potentially use in the trailer I am going to be working to produce, so far they have been extremely helpful as they have allowed to select the most fitting location for my work.

Prop and wardrobe identification and preparation – in films props and clothing choices are vital. Characters need costumes which fit with the setting and time period of the movie. For example, a medieval themed movie would be completely ruined if one of the actors were to be wearing Nike shoes and a modern hat; therefore planning needs to go into the designs of each persons outfits (even the extras, many of whom shall receive very little screen time). Also, props are needed to enhance the scenes and bring a film to life. For example, a battle scene in a world war setting would feel empty if there were no props (e.g. guns, knifes, vehicles, etc). However if the props are of a poor standard the film can lose credibility and overall quality (e.g. giving a cowboy a water pistol and a cheap plastic sheriff badge for a serious western standoff scene… unless the film were a comedy).

Special effects identification – It is necessary to identify what special effects are needed in a film before the scenes are shot as it allow the special effects teams to prepare themselves and decide whether or not it shall be possible to achieve.

Production schedule – Production schedules guide the crew as to when each section of the film is to be made and whether they are achieving their targeted dates. This is very important as it gives an indication as to when the movie shall be ready for release and when to publish trailers and other promotional materials.

Script – Scripts are one of the most important elements of films. Script tells the actors exactly what to say, when to say it and give them various stage directions. They are absolutely essential unless the film has been made to be improvised (for example Jackass and Borat). However a lot of contain short moments of improvisation, a brilliant example of this is the iconic line from the Shining in which Jack Nicholson shouts “Here’s Johnny” (a line made up on the spot whilst filming).