Film Making

So you have decided you are going to create a film. You have this great story or concept for a film. You have decided it will be in the style of a comedy. You are ready to grab the camera and get started with the film making.

Just hang on a second.

Technology with cameras and film making has put making a film within the reach of nearly everyone today. You certainly can grab a camera and start film making. If you are serious about making a quality film that could be shown in your local theatre, you need to be aware that between the idea and the releasing and distribution of a film there are 3 distinct stages.

First is stage of film making is the pre-production or planning stage.

This is where you should expect to spend approximately one/third of your total time.It is where you create the planning paperwork. Assemble your production team, map out your story board and find and choose locations. It is also where you decide on, and hire cast and crew, deal with the legal paperwork, create the budget and do the accounting for rentals and services.

Pre-Production

Booking equipment and engaging of the post-production facilities for editing is also set up here.

The success of the “production” phase is in the film making is reliant on effective planning here in pre-production.

The production stage or the shooting of the film is next.

Now we are doing the real film making, right?

Most budding filmmakers would think this. The thoughts are this is where most time is spent and where the creativity happens. After all this is where you get the images for your film.

There is the excitement and you are film making. The reality is, if you have been thorough in your “pre-planning” you should only expect to spend only about one sixth of your time here.

This is where you get the required footage, check you have the planned clips and re-shoot if needed. It is also where you recording the location sound.

As this the most expensive stage, it is important that it runs smoothly. All the locations, cast and resources should have been set up and scheduled in “pre-production”. The shots, angles and vision should also be already be mapped on a story board. It should be a matter of turning up and getting the required shots in the “can”.

The final phase of post-production or the cutting and editing stage.

This is where you will expect to spend at least half of your total time and this is where the film making actually happens. This is a highly creative stage. You screen and log all the footage shot, record the music and add and record voice and sound effects.

Production Meeting

Depending on the type of film it is also where you create animations and do the illustrations and text graphics. You will also be editing and mixing the visuals and soundtracks. Deciding and adding transitions and effects. Doing the colour correction and creating your time coded copies for preview. You will be viewing the edits and re-editing until you have it just right. Finally you will create the masters / sub-masters for distribution.

As you can see film making is not just about grabbing a camera and shooting. Your stages may vary slightly in time to the break up here as each production is different. This is a guide to the average break up of time allocation you can expect.

In conclusion remember at the heart of professional film making is the planning. It ensures that your film making runs smoothly and is cost effective.