Requirements for a Moving Image Production.

Types of moving image production

The assignment we were given was to create a 90 second short film for the DepicT competition. The reward for this competition is £1200 and often has some very professional looking short films entered into the competition. This is just one means of distributing visual media. Some popular distributing methods include, Youtube, DVD's, Blue Ray, TV etc. Examples of these include films (e.g. Clerks)

 These are often released in cinemas or on the internet. TV shows (e.g. The Big Bang Theory) And adverts.

              

                  Finance and sources of funding

Any moving image production requires funding. Some popular sources of funding include sponsorship (where a company pays a production to feature their product), bank loans and self funding. There are other ways to fund though, for example crowd funding websites such as indiegogo allow the audience to donate a sum of money to help the film get made. Often if they donate a large amount of money, they may be given a gift of some kind (like a free DVD of the film).

Although most films have a large budget, it is not necessary. Some films that were originally budget based have made it big for example 'Halloween' released in 1978 had a budget of $325,000 which is not a lot in comparison to 'The Matrix Reloaded' which had a budget of  $237 Million. Kevin smith is also a good example of a low budget film maker as he created 'Clerks' with just $27,000. He managed to do this by getting loans and using pre-payed credit cards.

               Requirements for any production
One of the most important requirements for any production is a camera. Large and small production companies often hire cameras rather than actually buying each one, as it works out a lot cheaper. One source to hire a camera is the website 'Hireacamera.com'. Other important requirements for any production are props, cast, crew, lighting, sound, location rent etc. It is also important to think of transport arrangements, catering and accommodation for the cast and crew. Although renting cameras is a lot cheaper than buying them, it can still be very expensive to rent, cameras can go for more than £200 a day. This is also one of the reasons why there is always a time frame set for professional moving image productions.

Requirements for our DepicT production

For my groups production, the original plan was to have a prop gun replica as we'd written the story to be about a kidnapping and it would've made it look a lot more authentic. Although we did use it in the first scene (the hostage video) we couldn't use it where we'd originally planned (Gorleston park) as we would've had to have special permission from the police (it later turned out that we would not film outside at all due to weather).

After we had a re-think on the story line, we decided that we would need party hats, party poppers and party decorations for the birthday scene at the end of the film. Apart from the prop side the only other things we needed was an 'extra' to use in one of the corridor scenes.

Personnel

As I was in a group of three, it was quite difficult to allocate job roles. In the end we decided that we would each take a turn in featuring in the film, filming and editing, although this was a bit difficult for the last few scenes because one person in my group was away but we managed to salvage some old footage to make it fit in with the film. The 'extra' actor used in this shoot was one of our friends and agreed to being part of the film which was more ideal than using an actor who was already in the film. 

Apart from the one person missing from my group for the last few scenes and the issue of the footage needing to be re-imported into premier pro a few times, we managed to reach the deadline with all of the work completed.

Equipment and Facilities

As mentioned in the 'Requirements for any production' section,
many professional productions often rent the equipment as it works out cheaper. For my production we had access to all the equipment we needed at the college. The equipment we used included: One Canon 700D DSLR Camera (with case), one tripod, one SD card and one zoom microphone (for the voice recording in the hostage video).

              Locations
In order to shoot on any location you normally have to fill in a location recce and location release form in order to use the location legally. For our DepicT production we had to fill in two location release and recce forms (One for the class room and one for the use of the studio in W16).

We picked these locations because they were easy to release and they fitted in well with the look of our film. The original place we picked to film (the park) was too difficult to get a release on so we ended up just staying at the college.

Materials

In addition to cast, crew and equipment. There is much more needed to make a professional moving image production. For example sound effects and music are needed to create ambiance in the film or else it would be plain and boring (unless if the film maker creates a film specifically without sound). Also set design plays a key role in any production as it makes it look far more professional (depending on the quality of the design). These things are often obtained by putting out adverts on the internet or searching through agencies. 

One important thing to note is copyright. If you use any music (unless if it's royalty free) without the artist or record companies permission then there is a good chance of getting sued. To get past this, if it is a film with a really low budget then it is probably the best idea to just use royalty free music as it is cheap and doesn't require the hassle that copyrighted music holds. 

Legal issues

There are a few considerations that need to be made before making a moving image production. As for mentioned, copyright is one of the main issues as it could land a film maker in court if they haven't respected the copyright act.

For our DepicT production, copyright was not a massive factor as we had access to a few good royalty free music websites. The only other issue we could've faced is if we would have used stock footage, because sometimes that can be under a companies copyright. 

In order for any copyright material to be legally used it needs to be 'cleared', which basically means that the owner(s) of the copyright material must approve the use of there material to be used in a moving image production. Another important legal requirement for a professional moving image production is something called 'public liability insurance'. This basically covers the film maker or production company if for example, an actor or extra is injured during the shoot. It also covers property damage.

One third legal requirement for any professional moving image production is something called a 'completion guarantee'. This is something that is signed by the film's producer as a promise or guarantee to complete the film. So this means that half way through, they could not simply give up on the entire film. 

Legal Regulation

OFCOM regulates  television and radio in the UK. They make sure that people in the UK are protected from scams from TV channels or radio shows. The BBC although is not regulated by OFCOM, instead they are regulated through a number of agencies through 'the BBC trust'. One of the main ones being the 'office of fair trading'. It is different to OFCOM because the BBC is payed for by the license payer rather than through adverts or sponsorship deals. 

A lot of film an television is often censored for certain audiences. This is done through the 'BBFC' or the 'British Board Of Film Censors'.This is often regulated through age. So for example if a film is rated '18' then it is suitable for people of the age of 18 or above. If it is rated 'U' then it is universal for all ages. All Television and films in the have to be regulated by this board in order for them to be released in Cinemas or on TV. 

Trade Unions 

A trade union looks after its members (often workers or employees) interests. It is there so if an employee is unhappy with working conditions or pay etc, then they can bring it up with the union to try and resolve the issue. This also applies for cast and crew on any moving image production.

The PACT/BECTU are a freelance production agreement that lays down basic benchmarks for any production. For example it sets methods of pay, work scheduling, breaks, health and safety etc. This is important for any professional film production to ensure that the cast and crew stay happy.