Requirements for a Moving image Production

Types of Moving Image Production

For this unit we produced a 90 second short film for the depict competition to show our knowledge on pre-production in the media industry. For the competition the type of moving image media product we produced was a film however there are many other types of moving image products. This includes products like animation, feature length film, short film, music videos and more. These products can also be linked to our film as they all require some pre-production to complete them effectively. The distribution method we used for the depict project is site you tube. This isn't the only way a product can be distributed, there is also radio, DVD, Blu ray and TV that can distribute our product.

Finance and Sources of Funding

Although we didn't have much of a budget there are many ways in which a moving image media product is funded. One way in which a product can be funded is through private investors. These are usually very wealthy people trying to make some more money. For example Megan Ellison was very wealthy and has invested in films like True Grit and Lawless. This investor can be linked to our project as our teacher Ellie bought some props for us, so this can be a source of funding. Another way a moving image media product can be funded is by production companies. These include famous film production companies like Warner Brothers and Disney. These companies will fund your film idea if it is good enough and you are a well-known director. Another way in which funding is provided is through product placement. Product placement is when a particular company asks you to show their product in your film. A famous example of this method is the James Bond films. In many of these films certain cars are shown deliberately to advertise their car. In Casino Royale 2006 the Aston Martin dbs car is shown and the company then pays the company money. However in our film we show a 4 pack of monster. This can be troublesome as if our short film became popular monster may want royalties to feature there product in our film.

Requirements

The things that we may have had to spend money could be the location. As we were on the college site we had permission to film on location however if we were filming off site we would have to get permission from the owner of the property you would be filming on to film there. Sometimes people will want a fee for you to film on their location. For example if a major Hollywood movie needed a shot of the Hollywood sign in Los angles it you need a permit to gain access to the Hollywood sign. Another thing you may have to spend on is the props that are in your film. The props are the objects that appear in the shots. For example this can be weapons, appliances and other things. For our depict project we had to have 3 carrots,6 eggs, 4 pack of monster energy drink,1 pound coin, 5 pound note and a pear. We also may have had to pay for the equipment. This is the camera, tripod, jib and the editing software. However as we were at college we were allowed to hire out some equipment from the AV room. This can be linked to other film makers as most don't have the funds to buy equipment so they have to hire them out instead. For example the Blair Witch Project was filmed with only one camera to film with as they only had a limited budget just like our group did. For our project we needed to obtain a location recce. This is when you scout out the area you are hoping to film. Most films have to do this as they need to get an idea of the setting for their film. For example the lord of the rings was filmed in New Zealand; the director would have had to scout out this location to see if the setting was right for filming. We also needed to obtain a talent release form. This is when the talent (also known as the actor) needs to fill in a form making sure you can release his work in the project to the public.

Personnel
The personnel of a film are made of the actors and the crew. However the personnel can be affected by the type of project that is being made as was our project. A low budget film would have 5 people at most made up of actors,directors and editors. However this doesn't mean the film makes less than Hollywood films. In some films like The Blair Witch Project and Clerks they have had a very low budget but profited in millions. In a television programme the personnel would include a number of people more than a low budget film. However there would be other roles that needed to be there. This could include a costume designer, special effects supervisor and sound technicians. Never the less in our project we didn't need these roles as we could monitor these ourselves. In a Hollywood feature film however there would be a massive amount of personnel. This type of production would require many various personnel and the same roles as a low budget film or a television programme and other roles specializing in different areas of film. This could include a crew like a composer or a makeup artist plus the normal roles in a moving image media production like a director, producer and actors. In our Project we allocated work fairly amongst ourselves. I was director along with Steve as director and editor and Jamie was the actor. In the production of the media product we all helped out with the roles that were distributed. In a moving media production there are many other roles that are unaccredited. These roles can be behind the camera as well as in the front of the camera. These roles could be the light operators or the extras in the background.

Time
In the media industry meeting deadlines is crucial. If you don't finish a product on time to the needs of the people who are funding the film there are consequences that could occur for you. One consequence that might happen if you don't meet the deadline is that your reputation as a director might be damaged. For example the film The Thief and the Cobbler took 28 years to make and lost a lot of money and now the film damaged the director Richard Williams reputation as he "no longer talks about it". In most cases the director is fired and the project is cut. This can be linked to our project because if we didn't finish the project by the deadline we would have got a bad grade and the project would have been stopped. In our project we didn't meet the deadline however we carefully planned the pre-production well so that went well.

Equipment/Facilities
In professional moving image productions the way you get equipment is that you can either buy or hire out equipment. There are many sites that offer this service to you. Here is an example.  This site allows you to hire out a various types of equipment for a certain amount of days e.g. one camera the Sony PMW500 costs £225 per day. For our project the equipment that was available for us was a camera, tripod, jib and lights. As in a professional media production we hired out this equipment however it was free as the course let us use this equipment.

Locations
The locations in a film or TV series can be very important if you don't obtain a location recce or a location release the project wouldn't fit to release to the public. A location recce is where you scout the area you hope to film and get ideas of what you want. If you don't do this when filming it will be difficult to film as you aren't organised. However this is irrelevant if you don't have a location release form. This is when you need the owner of the property to give you permission to film on location and release the work to the public. This is what we had to do for our project as we needed to know if the location was right to film, we also needed permission from our media teacher to film there. The location we chose to film was in the media room W16 because there was a lot of space to have lighting equipment to create an eerie atmosphere in the dark which connotes evil. We also had to assess the risks at the location by using a risk assessment. This is when you have to identify the ways people could be injured while filming. These can be trip hazards like wires or burns on the lights. We overcame these by being carefully with the positions of the crew and the actor.

Materials
Materials in moving image media is the items you may need to pay for. For example in a media moving image production you may have to pay for the costumes, props, equipment, software e.g. Sony Vegas and soundtracks. For our project a lot of this was provided for our project e.g. the software, props and
equipment. The financial considerations there are when using certain materials is the cost if you damage them. In a professional moving image production if you were to have hired a camera out you would have to pay for a new if you were to break it. This is exactly what would happen in our project as the equipment is worth a lot of money.

Legal Issues
The legal considerations that should be considered when in a media production is the copyrights of the things you are using in your media production. This is very important as if you don't buy the copyrights for e.g. soundtracks you could be taken to court and fined a lot of money. For example in The Hangover Part 2 Stu a dentist who is given the same tattoo as Mike Tyson sparked some controversy by Mike Tyson's tattoo artist. . The artist took Warner Brothers to court. In our project we used a 4 pack of monster which is a well-known energy drink, if the film became popular we would have had to pay for the right to show monsters energy drink if we didn't monster could take us to court. Another legal consideration you should consider is permission to film in the public. If you don't get permission the police could take action e.g. if you were filming with fake guns that looked real and the police didn't know who you were you could get in some serious trouble. However in our depict project we filmed on site at college however if we were to go off site we had to email the local police station to inform them of where we are filming. Copyright affected our Depict production a lot as there were a lot of restrictions to the content we could in
Include in our film like the soundtracks. We were only allowed to pick some music from a list that the college had. When dealing with legal issues in media production you have to know certain terms. Clearance is the permission to film on a location. In our depict project we had clearance to film in the media studio from our course teacher Sean. Public liability insurance is when film production companies take out this insurance to ensure that if the public are injured in the result of your filming they are covered. As we didn't go of site we didn't need this insurance. Completion guarantee/insurance is when the production company gets this insurance so when if you fail to complete the filming for your project they are guaranteed that you will complete the film.

Regulation

In the media there are regulatory bodies that monitor media. Ofcom is one of these bodies. Ofcom function is to monitor media products and gets the people "the best experience from their communication services". One example of a communication service would be the BBC however Ofcom doesn't regulate it. The BBFC (British Board of Film Classification)  is the regulating body that rates content to protect unsuitable content for children which helps adults make "informed choices to view films", here is the BBFC website. Through this regulatory body we are also the people who regulate the Internet as we can report any inappropriate material that may be online. This can be linked to our depict project as we also have to take our
project into consideration because we are regulating the Internet by leaving inappropriate content out of our film. Also I found that through the Ofcom regulations we should also consider how our content may affect children who would maybe watch our project. As our project contains a little swearing we should probably upload the film on youtube with an age restriction to ensure that any children would be influenced in the wrong way.

Trade Unions and Trade Associations
A trade union is an organisation that fights for the workers of which the union they are a part of. These are important because they help "regulate the relationship between the employer and the employee". In the media there are these unions and an example of a union in the media would be the BETCU (Broadcasting Entertainment Cinematograph And Theatre Union). In our course this could be linked to the college as they protect our rights to film outside or inside college. PACT (Producers Alliance for Cinema and Television) is a "trade association that helps independent film and TV in media production companies" do well and become a success.  BETCU is a trade union that represents the media workers of the UK by helping them with their employers. For example they "help them decide there pay" and "give knowledge on how to improve in the industry". They also broadcast "film, independent production, theatre and the arts". This can also be linked to our project as depict is sort of playing this role instead of the BETCU to get our work to the public if we win the competition. A trade association is an "organisation that makes jobs for the people that work for a particular industry". An example of a trade association could be the British Interactive Media Association which acts as a voice for members of the association to share ideas and protect one another if any problems affect their business. In a sense the class I am doing the course with is like a trade association as the rights to film and produce our work is protected by the size of the group and the teachers who run the course.