Moving Image Arts
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Moving Image Arts Moving Image Arts Support Guides: PRODUCTION MANAGEMENT 1 Moving Image Arts DISCLAIMER External links are selected and reviewed when the page is published. However, CCEA is not responsible for the content of external websites. CCEA cannot guarantee the accuracy of the content in external sites. This is because: • CCEA does not produce them or maintain/update them; • CCEA cannot change them; and • they can be changed without CCEA’s knowledge or agreement. Some of our external links may be to websites which also offer commercial services, such as online purchases. The inclusion of a link to an external website from CCEA should not be understood to be an endorsement of that website or the site’s owners (or their products/services). Some of the content we link to on external sites is generated by members of the public (messageboards and photo-sharing sites for example). The views expressed are those of the public and unless specifically stated are not those of CCEA. 2 Moving Image Arts GCE Moving Image Arts Support Guides Production Management Contents INTRODUCTION 4 Production Design 5 Overview of Equipment 8 Visuals 8 Audio 9 Editing 10 Filming: Top 10 Tips 11 The Crew: Role and Responsibilities 14 Managing a Production: Top 10 Tips 21 Casting: The Audition Process 23 Scheduling 25 Storyboarding 27 Health and Safety: Risk Assessments 28 Support Material: Further Resources 29 Film Production Documents: Templates 31 3 Moving Image Arts INTRODUCTION Film production is a demanding, time-consuming and multi-faceted process. To succeed in producing your own films, you must show creativity, organisation, diligence, confidence, and be able to take care of equipment, think ahead and work well with others. This is a challenging but also very rewarding process if you are well organised. This guide has been written to help you to carefully consider each stage of the process in a way that will ensure that your productions can run as smoothly as possible. CCEA is aware of the time restrictions faced by many of you who are also studying for other qualifications alongside Moving Image Arts, as well as issues of access that you may face as you will mainly be under the age of eighteen when undertaking the course. This guide offers ideas, advice and shortcuts to help you to make the most of what you have. We are assuming that you will approach the development of your portfolios with a degree of commitment and enthusiasm. There is an emphasis throughout this guide on careful planning, clear communication, personal responsibility and other legal/organisational considerations that are the hallmarks of professionalism in a successful film-maker. You are encouraged to think of yourself as a ‘proper’ film-maker, and to take the production process seriously. This guide lays out in detail the many roles and skills a film production demands and outlines how you can negotiate these. Changes in filming and editing-related technology occur frequently and Moving Image Arts technical guides and workflow documents are updated to reflect this. Please check for updates regarding technical advice given here. For the most part, however, the material included in this guide is not time sensitive and should offer you tried-and-tested techniques and processes that will equip you to effectively tackle the challenges of your own film production. Please Note: CCEA makes every effort to ensure guidance is accurate, up-to-date and relevant. Due to the fast-changing nature of the technologies they cover, guidance documents such as this will be updated to reflect any substantial software or technical updates when necessary and the updated versions uploaded to the subject microsite. This edition dates from Autumn 2016. 4 Moving Image Arts Production Design The majority of decisions you make about your production design will be informed by your own artistic sensibilities and the setting, style and plot of your film. The ‘look’ of the piece will depend upon set design, props, hairstyles, make-up and costume as well as the lighting and cinematography. Paying particular attention to these aspects will really enhance the effectiveness of your film. Throughout both AS and A2 you will study a range of films and practitioners whose visual styles will help inform your own sense of what can be achieved with production design. The visual styles you will look at, including Realism and Formalism, can and should be used, at least in part, in your own production design ideas and notes. Any mood boards, models or mock-ups you create (or photographs of these) will make excellent additions to your Director’s Notebook and will be invaluable to you when formulating your own visual style for your film. The following hints and tips may not apply to your particular film, but should still give you an idea of ways in which you can circumvent problems, avoid common pitfalls, and create convincing cost-effective mock- ups of more complicated or large-scale items. • FAKE BLOOD – If your film requires fake blood, do not be tempted to use ketchup or similar – it will not look right on camera. There are various effective ‘recipes’ online; those based on thinned syrup mixed with food colouring (red with a small amount of blue to darken it) are particularly effective and not unpleasant if actors need to put some in their mouths. Be aware that any fake blood recipe can stain fabric and even hard surfaces like tables, and ensure you protect these accordingly or use only old/ cheap substitutes. • SCHOOL LOCATIONS – Student film-makers are somewhat notorious for using the classrooms and corridors of their school as shooting locations. Avoid this wherever possible – in almost every case your school really won’t look like anything but a school, and there are more effective ways to gain access to or simulate environments such as offices, shops or hospitals. Likewise, your school uniform does not double as a business suit. It is far better to investigate borrowed, cheap or even hand-made alternatives than to have a company CEO or high level inspector appear in school trousers and tie! • GUNS – If you are including a sequence that includes any type of firearm, even toys or replicas, you must be aware of the possible legal ramifications. Do not under any circumstances attempt to film or even rehearse such a sequence in a public place or in any location where you could be seen and misunderstood by members of the public. If your film includes such a sequence, you will need to ensure you take necessary precautions. You must inform the police via your local police station at least 48 hours in advance, giving them the exact time and location in which you intend to shoot and the expected duration of the shoot. You should also obtain permission from the owner of the land or building, if applicable, which again must be sought in advance. Before the shoot, put up signs indicating to any possible passers-by that the nature of what they may see is not a real situation and only for a film. It is also worthwhile to persuade at least one friend or family member to act as a production assistant who can direct people away from the shoot and explain things to them if necessary without having to cause a break in the filming. Think creatively about how you can create the illusion of shots actually going off. Spent cartridges, for example, are legal to own and can be purchased online; a ground level shot with spent cartridges dropping into the frame by the feet of the ‘shooter’ can be an extremely effective cutaway to help 5 Moving Image Arts contribute to the illusion of shots really being fired. See our ‘Muzzle Flare’ workflow in the Post Production Effects Workflows booklet for instructions on how to simulate a gun shooting. • MOIRÉ PATTERN – You may be familiar with the strange visual effect which can occur on screen when a pattern, usually on a costume, appears to create strange additional lines or a ‘strobing’ impression of movement. This can be very distracting for the audience and makes your film look unprofessional; the best way to avoid it is to ensure that no one appearing on screen wears any finely striped or boldly checked patterns at any point. • PYROTECHNICS – Avoid these absolutely. Such effects can easily go wrong even in the hands of experienced professional technicians and it is too dangerous to try yourself. If you want to create fire or explosion-based effects, you can add these in post-production; see our Laser Weapon workflow in the Post Production Effects Workflows booklet for instructions on how to create a strobing weapon. • SMOKE – As with pyrotechnics (above), do not attempt to utilise real fire or re-purpose electrical/ heating equipment intended for other uses if you need to create smoke for atmospheric effects or explosions. As with many aspects of visual effects creation, there are numerous tutorials and suggestions available online in film-makers’ forums and on message boards that will help you find what you need. You may be able to borrow or inexpensively rent a dry ice or smoke machine to create clouds of smoke or “fog”, for example. Likewise, a small bag of talcum powder concealed on the ground and ‘activated’ by a light plank or board stepped on by the actor as they run by can create a suitably sudden cloud of ‘smoke’ that can be enhanced in post-production to look more like an actual explosion. • CAMERA – If you want some of your footage to appear to have been filmed by a character, you can easily get an effective ‘camera filter’ overlay to apply in post-production.