Pre-Production Theory

Pre-Production Theory

Film Script

A film script, also referred to as a 'Screenplay', is a written document for a film, video game or television program. It can be an original idea or an adaptation of an existing piece of writing. A script consists of dialogue and instructions to follow and tells the story.

The script would be the first document produced for a new project.  There are three types of screenplay formats:

Feature film, have a standard typographical style which is known as "studio format". The studio format provides the elements which a script should contain; scene headings, action, transitions, dialogue, character names and sometimes shots (detailed shots in a script are frowned upon in the industry as it is the directors decision how the shot should be framed. However in some cases, if it's specific to a scene, it will be accepted).

This is an extract from the script for "Memento". It has all of the elements which a professional script should contain and clearly tells what is happening in the story.

Here is an extract from a feature film script which I am currently working on. I feel like all the elements are used correctly and I understand how professional scripts are structured and created.

Television, the format for hour-long dramas, like "CSI", and single-camera sitcoms, like "Scrubs" , are almost the same as for motion pictures, the main difference being that television scripts have act breaks. There are some specialised formats for multi-camera sitcoms such as "I Love Lucy". In this format the dialogue is double-spaced, action lines and scene headings are capitalised characters entrances and exits and sound effects are capitalised and underlined.

L: Scrubs

R: CSI

Documentaries, consist mainly of voice-over matched to still or moving pictures which requires a special two-column format. This can be particularly hard to achieve, although many script-writing software programs contain templates for documentary projects.

Storyboarding

A film storyboard is virtually a large comic of a project, which is produced beforehand to help film directors and cinematographers, as well as clients, visualise the scenes and potentially find problems before they occur, and can also help with cost estimations for a scene. Storyboards often contain instructions and/or arrows to show movement.
Storyboards have developed a lot since first being introduced in the 1930s. The classic storyboards were all hand drawn, which is a very time consuming chore. Although these classic hand drawn storyboards are still in use today for major productions, some independent producers have begun to make storyboards entirely up from photographs, to create a basic idea. This is a much faster process than making hand drawn storyboards, however, it can be difficult to get an idea across.

 

This is a photograph based storyboard for "Memento"

Credit: http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger
/94/1574/1600/Memento%20Storyboard1.jpg














This is the storyboard for the famous "Psycho" shower scene. This is a very good example of a professional storyboard, as it shows all of the shots used for this short sequence

This is the storyboard for my project "Deja Vu". I prefer this format for a storyboard, using one full A4 piece of paper as my frame, then scanning that in and put it into a table and then adding the instruction and/or dialogue. This is a much neater way of presenting the storyboard and allows more space for notes.

Script Breakdown

Breaking down the script would occur after the producer has read the script. He, or a first assistant, would then review the script and note certain elements which need to be taken care of before production, as well as aid the scheduling for production.

The film industry has a standard colour-coding for a script breakdown: 

Credit: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Breaking_down_the_script

There are two documents which make up a script breakdown, the actual script breakdown and a script breakdown sheet, which is a cleaned up and much neater version of the script breakdown, which makes it easier for the producer to quickly see what is required.

This is the script breakdown for my project "Deja Vu".  I wasn't aware of the industry standard colour-coding when doing the script breakdown.

Budget

A budget is made to get an overview of the cost of the project. It is also required for the producer, to see how much of an investment he is committing to. Therefore, there will be multiple drafts of a budget, as many unnecessary costs could be found, as well as to whittle down the cost for the producer.

A private film investor is not the only association where one could get funding for a project, although professional projects mainly get their funding from there, as it is almost guaranteed to make profit. Smaller projects and independent film makers can also get funding from sponsors, product placement, film studio, entertainment company and/or out-of-pocket funds. 

It is very common for independent film makers to take multiple credit cards and use "loaned" money for their productions. The most commonly used software to make a budget is "Microsoft Excel", and requires a lot of patience and careful planning, as making a mistake can mess up the whole document and could be hard to find.

These are a few successful films that were financed using credit cards and own money.

Credit: http://visualeconomics.creditloan.com/how-low-budget-films-get-financed/

This is the budget for my project "Deja Vu".

Risk Assessment

A risk assessment is an essential document for a project, as it highlights the dangers people involved are exposed to. A risk assessment should not only highlight the risks but also identify the likelihood and severity, preventions that need to take place in order to avoid the danger and warn the people involved.
Certain stunts and scenes can be extremely severe and can cause death or paralysis, therefor at least two people in charge must go over the risk assessment to make sure nothing has been skipped.

Copyright

"Copyright is a legal right created by the law of a country, that grants the creator of an original work exclusive rights to its use and distribution, usually for a limited time, with the intention of enabling the creator (e.g. the photographer of a photograph or the author of a book) to receive compensation for their intellectual effort." - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copyright

Copyright can be tracked back to as far as 1787. The idea of copyright was to promote the creation of new works by giving the authors control and profit from them.

Nowadays, many productions require to use something under copyright to make their finished product more appealing. In order to use copyright works, the company must personally ask for permission from the owner of that work, this isn't an issue for big productions as the author knows he will receive major publicity for free. 

Low budget productions and independent productions may be rejected, however it is easy to find professional works to use which need publicity, which will happily give permission.

Public Domain

"Works in the public domain are those whose intellectual property rights have expired, have been forfeited, or are inapplicable." - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_domain

Recently, the most notable example of somebody's work falling into public domain, are those of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, specifically the character of Sherlock Holmes.
Many companies jumped straight into production of different projects using the character of Sherlock Holmes, most noticeably BBC. The BBC created a modern day adaptation of Sherlock Holmes which was incredibly successful all over the world. 

Creative Commons

"A creative commons (CC) license is one of several copyright licenses that enable the free distribution of an otherwise copyrighted work. A CC license is used when an author wants to give people the right to share, use, and build upon a work that they have created. [It] provides an author flexibility (for example, they might choose to allow only non-commercial uses of their own work) and protects the people who use or redistribute an author's work from concerns of copyright infringement as long as they abide by the conditions that are specified in the license by which the author distributes the work." - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creative_Commons

There are many different types of CC licenses, as there is a wide combination of terms for a piece of work. These licenses were first released in 2002, by a U.S. non-profit corporation, Creative Commons.

The company has a website which has more information about creative commons, and also offers a service for authors and creators to chose a license for their work, which would most benefit them. The aim of Creative Commons is to "support the building of richer public domain [and] counter a dominant and increasingly restrictive permission culture". 

Insurance

"Insurance is the equitable transfer of the risk of a loss, from one entity to another in exchange for payment." - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Insurance

Many production companies require different types of insurance when it comes to production. It is not uncommon to hire equipment used on set, as it turns out cheaper, and this equipment requires special insurance to cover any damage or loss.
Actors and crew are also often insured in case of injury while on set, as well as against the risk of defamation.