Requirements of finance - lessons

Requirements of finance:


What is it all about?

We have looked at the different sources of finance, now we need to consider the requirements of finance - in other words what the money will need to be spent on. e.g. actors, crew and equipment.

The key areas we are going to look at are:

Equipment (camera)
Crew
Transport
Talent
Clearances (permits, etc)
Materials (costumes, etc)
Facility hire (schools, halls, etc)


Equipment -

This is everything that you need to have in order to make your film. These include, but are not exclusive to:

Camera
Tripod
Lighting
Support rig/stabiliser (for steady hand-held)
Sound recording equipment
Sd cards or other storage units

Crew -

Every production needs a crew in order to make a film. The common roles in film crews are:

Director
Assistant director
Camera operators
Lighting directors
Sound crew
Set designers
Costume, hair & make-up
editor(s)

Definition of skeleton crew…

A skeleton crew is the minimum number of personnel needed to produce a film.

Transport -

This refers to how you would imagine your cast and crew will get to filming location. For example:

By taxi
Public transport
By car

In regards to the requirements of finance, you would need to consider how much it would cost for your cast and crew daily so that you can factor that into your budget.

Google a call sheet and lay it out :)

Talent -

Talent is the actors and/or actresses that feature in your film.

As the director, you will need to decide during the pre-production stage whether you will be using semi-professional actors through an agency or whether you will be using friends/family.

Clearances -

Clearances refer to ensuring you have asked for permission to use music, footage, etc. created by someone else in order to avoid lawsuits.

When making your short film, you have to ensure that everything you use in your own, copyright free or agreed for your use.

Where the money element comes into to it would be if you have to pay a waiver, an agreed price, to be able to feature a product made by a company in your short film - for example, coca cola.

Materials -

This refers to additional extras that you have had to get hold of or buy fro your production. These could include:

Costumes
Archive & library materials
Animatics (animated storyboards) & graphics

Facility hire -

This is about where you will be filming. You have to look into whether you will be using a studio or similar space to film in or whether you will be filming at home etc.


Logistics:

Travel
Organisation
Shooting schedule
Timing
Transport
Facilities
Locations
Personnel
Materials

A1 - need to have a…
Definition of logistics
Necessity of logistics
Requirements of logistics

HOMEWORK -

Research the logistics of making a feature film. Could always email a production company and ask them if they have any logistics sheets, call sheets or information they could send. Let them know we are students. - due first lesson with Mr. M next week. (BBC).

Student research project -

travel - this includes things like where people will be travelling to during production and how long it's estimated to take. this might mean that they then need temporary accommodation while filming.

organisation - this is basically everything that goes into production as a whole. making sure the crew and cast are where they need to be, when they need to be, making sure equipment is all accounted for and filming schedules are running on time.

Shooting schedule -  no film production can work without a shooting schedule. this entails what days you're shooting which scenes and how long people will be working each day.

Transport - this links in with travel. however, transport is how you get from A - B during the days of filming. could be taking a bus from the hotel to the set or even taking a plane to a place that you've picked to film.

Facilities - these are the places you can hire out to film in like schools or any buildings in general. you probably need a permit for this, much like any location.

Locations - locations need to be locked before making your film. this involves having permits and a shooting schedule to make sure the council is aware of how long you're filming in a certain area.

Personnel - these are all of your actors, crew and anyone remotely involved in the production of your film. as a director, you have to make sure that every single person is accounted for.

Materials - these are things like your costumes and potential props that will be used throughout your film.

Time -
Deadlines
Availability of equipment
Availability of personnel
Timescales

Deadlines -
Meeting deadlines in any business situation. Is paramount and repeated failure to do so will definitely risk the success of the business.
Film is no exception.
Establishing deadlines is a balancing act.
On the one hand, the size of the project and the level of funding secured will have a strong influence on the project’s duration.
On the other hand, timescales foe the various phases of the work must be practical and achievable.

Money shot - the big beautiful shot of the film.

Need to prepare a production schedule.
Have a backup plan for everything!