The Film Industry Process

By Naomi Abraham

Producers
The Role of Producers The producer is the person that overall control on every aspect of a films production. They are the ones that approve the selection of the whole production team. Producers might be employed by a film studio or be independent, yet either way they helm the creative people as well as the accounting personnel. The main producer will appoint executive producers, line producers or unit production managers who represent the main producer's interests. Types of Producers Executive Producer - This producer enables and backs up the making of a commercial entertainment product. He or she is concerned with management accounting and possibly with associated legal issues (like copyrights or royalties). They also contribute to the film's budget, and do not work on set. Associate Producer - This producer carries the functions in the production or post production process . These responsibilities may range from helping to raise production finance at the beginning of the production process , to supervising the final stages of post production. Assistant Producer - The assistant producer provides administrative support to the producer and are involved in all stages of the production process from pre production to post production. Co Producer - The co producers responsibility depends on what kind of producer they are. However they always have less responsibility than the producer for the completion of the film.

Here is a list of Famous Film Producers

J.J Abram's Lost, Cloverfield, Alias, Mission: Impossible 3,Star Trek. Tim Burton The Nightmare before Christmas, Cabin Boy, James and the giant peach, 9. Mel Gibson Brave heart, The Passion of Christ. Tom Cruise Mission: Impossible, Vanilla Sky, Narc, The others, The Last Samurai, War of the Worlds, Shattered Glass. Judd Apatow The Cable Guy, Anchor Man, The 40 Year Old Virgin,, Knocked Up, Spiderman, X Men, Blade. Mel Brooks The Elephant Man, The Fly, Frances, Young Frankenstein. Dean Devlin Independence Day, Godzilla, The Patriot. Peter Jackson The Lord of the Rings Film Trilogy, King Kong, District 9,The Hobbit. Tom Hanks - Cast Away, Mamma Mia, My Big Fat Greek Wedding, Evan Almighty, The Polar Express, The Pacific.

Directors
The director is the link between the production, technical and creative teams. A director is responsible for translating the written script into actual images and sounds on to the big screen. The directors main duties are casting, script editing , shot composition, shot selection and editing. Directors must be aware of the films budget and schedule. Directors have to develop a vision for the finished film and define a practical route for achieving it. During pre - production the director has to make hard decisions such as selecting the right cast, crew and the locations for the film. Then the directors direct rehearsals and the performances of the actors once the film is in production Directors also deal with the technical aspects of the film such as: the camera, sound, lighting, design and the special effects department.

Here is a list of Famous Directors

Clint Eastwood Ang Lee Woody Allen Jackie Chan -

Marketing
Marketing is important in the film making process. The director and producer will get well known celebrities to star in their films. It is important to get well knows celebrities because fans of the celebrities will watch the film. The main target audience for producers and directors are 15 24 because it is a wide range of people

Budget
Film budgeting refers to the process by which a line producer, unit production manager or filmmaker prepares a budget for a film production. This document, which could be over 150 pages long, is used to secure financing for the film and lead to pre-production and production of the film. Multiple drafts of the budget may be required to whittle down costs. A budget is typically divided into four sections: above the line (creative talent), below the line (direct production costs), post-production (editing, visual effects, etc.), and other (insurance, completion bond, etc.). Film financing can be acquired from a private investor, sponsor, product placement, a film studio or entertainment company, or out of pocket funds.

Budget - (Continued)
Here is how much the producers, director's, cast, the production cost etc. all get paid in America. Story rights: The right to produce a film based on a play, novel, video game or as a remake or sequel can cost anything from a couple of thousand ( Leaving Las Vegas) to over $10 million (the video game Halo). An original screenplay by a Writers Guild of America member can cost from around $50,000 (Quentin Tarantino's True Romance) to $5 million (M. Night Shyamalan's Unbreakable . Screenplay: An A-list screenwriter can be paid 100,000 to 2 million to write a script, including $400,000 a week for each rewrite of a film in trouble, script doctors may be called upon to revise the final draft at $100,000 to $200,000 a week. Recently, Columbia Pictures has been offering the best screenwriters 2 percent of the gross profits (after the production and marketing budget has been deducted). Producers: Film producers and executive producers are often well-paid, with a top producer earning a seven-figure salary upfront as well as bonuses and a share of the profits. For Spider-Man, producer Laura Ziskin is estimated to have been paid over $30 million of the crew at about $500,000 to $1 million.

Budget - (Continued)
Director: The DGA minimum is about $16,800 a week, for a minimum of ten weeks' work. n A-list film director can command $5 to $10 million a film. Cast: While the bulk of the cast gets usually paid by the Actors Guild standard rate of about 2300 US$ per week, famous and bankable film stars can demand fees up to $30 million per film, plus perks (trailer, entourage, etc.) and possible gross participation. Sometimes an actor will accept a minimal fee in exchange for a more lucrative share of the profits. Union extras are paid around $130 per day (plus extra for overtime or if they provide their own wardrobe) but on a low-budget film non-union extras are paid less, sometimes nothing at all. Production costs: The cost of producing the film includes crew wages, production design, live set and studio costs, costumes, catering, accommodation and transportation. The director of photography is usually the highest paid member

Budget - (Continued)
Visual effects: The cost of Computer-generated imagery effects and other visual effect work in post-production depends largely on the amount of work, the desired quality, and the effects company involved (Industrial Light and Magic being the most prestigious and expensive); extensive effect work, as in Avatar or The Lord of the Rings can easily cost up to a hundred million dollars. Music: The top film composers can ask for a seven-figure salary to compose an hour or so of original film score. An original song by Christina Aguilera (Shark Tale) or Kanye West (Mission: Impossible III) could cost $1 million, and the right to use a song by David Bowie or The Beatles cost $300,000. (In addition, the artist may wish to see a screening of the film to see if it meets their approval; Bowie did so with the film Training Day giving the film a good amount of pre-release publicity.). More recently, the rights to have Led Zeppelin's "Whole Lotta Love" on the film Lords of Dogtown cost producers $3 million. Sometimes a film will turn to unknown or little-known artists willing to licence the rights to their song for a small fee in exchange for the publicity. Typically, the music budget of a major motion picture is about 8 per cent of the final total; Spider-Man s music budget was $4.5 million.

Film Promotion
Film promotion is the practice of promotion specifically in the film industry. As with all business it is an important part of any release because of the inherent high financial risk; film studios will invest in expensive marketing campaigns to maximize revenue early in the release cycle. Marketing budgets tend to equal anywhere between half or three times the production budget. Publicity is generally handled by the distributor and exhibitors. In Theatre's : Trailers are a mainstay of film promotion, because they are delivered directly to movie-goers. They screen in theatres before movie showings. Generally they tell the story of the movie in a highly condensed fashion compressing maximum appeal into two and half minutes. Film posters Slideshows - stills, trivia, and trivia games from the film, shown between movie show times. Standees (freestanding paperboard life-size images of figures from the film) Cardboard 3D displays, sometimes producing sound[

Pre Production
In filmmaking and video production, pre-production formally begins once a project has been green lit. At this stage, finalizing preparations for production go into effect. Financing will generally be confirmed and many of the key elements such as principal cast members, director and cinematographer are set. By the end of pre-production, the screenplay is hopefully finalized and satisfactory to all the financiers and other stakeholders. During pre-production, the script is broken down into individual scenes and all the locations, props, cast members, costumes, special effects and visual effects are identified. An extremely detailed schedule is produced and arrangements are made for the necessary elements to be available to the film-makers at the appropriate times. Sets are constructed, the crew is hired, financial arrangements are put in place and a start date for the beginning of principal photography is set. At some point in pre-production there will be a read-through of the script which is usually attended by all cast members with speaking parts, the director, all heads of departments, financiers, producers, and publicists. Even though the writer may still be working on it, the screenplay is generally page-locked and scene-numbered at the beginning of pre-production to avoid confusion. This means that even though additions and deletions may still be made, any particular scene will always fall on the same page and have the same scene number.

Production
In film and video, production refers to the part of the process in which footage is recorded. This is what most people imagine when they think of a film being made actors on sets, cameras rolling, etc. The production phase is also known as principal photography. In large feature films the beginning of the production phase marks the "point of no return", i.e. the point at which it is no longer financially viable to cancel the project. At this point it is almost always cheaper to continue until the project is finished than to deal with the financial fall-out of cancelling. The goal of principal photography is obviously to record all required shots, however it is fairly common to shoot "pick-up" shots in post-production. Pick-up shots may be required when a mistake is noticed, a script change is made (this is unusual), or even if a performance is deemed to be unsatisfactory. In music, production usually refers to the creative direction of a project. Unlike a film producer who is more of a manager, a music producer has a very hands-on role in the creative development.

Post Production
Post-production is the third and final major phase of the production process. It is often referred to simply as post, e.g. "We can sort that out in post". There are many things which can happen in post-production. Common tasks include: Editing video footage Editing the soundtrack, adding sound effects, music, etc. Adding titles and graphics Colour and exposure correction Adding special effects Re-shooting certain scenes if required ("pick-up" shots) In some cases post-production is relatively straightforward, consisting of choosing and arranging footage in the correct sequence. In most cases however, post-production is a time-consuming job taking longer than the actual production phase. See also: Stages of Production, Pre-production, Production

Film Criticism
Film criticism is the analysis and evaluation of films, individually and collectively. In general, this can be divided into journalistic criticism that appears regularly in newspapers, and other popular, mass-media outlets and academic criticism by film scholars that is informed by film theory and published in academic journals.