Unit 4: Learning Aim A Report
In this report, I will be discussing the 3 case studies I have been looking into which are films – ‘Monsters’, ‘World War Z’ and ‘One Mile Away’. ‘Monsters’ is all about monsters that are trying to invade the U.S border, ‘World War Z’ is about a zombie invasion that features Brad Pitt. Then finally ‘One Mile Away’ is a documentary in Birmingham that discusses and follows the lives of gang members. The aims of the report are to investigate the effectiveness of each case study and whether they were successful or unsuccessful when it comes to pre-production. Pre-production is basically the breakdown of all the work done on a project, overall this study will be mainly based on the pre-production side of each case study. The purpose of pre-production is so producers can clearly see in what direction their production may go and what steps they need to take to be successful, it also gives the producers a clearer understanding of their material.
Finance and budgeting
There are multiple different types of funding options available to media producers; such as government funding, crowd funding, self-financing and even music – using popular music that is well known to the public can bring in a lot of profit because if it familiar to them it may gain their interest. Government and crowd funding seem to be the most popular ways of funding because government funding is easy to access along with crowd funding. Film producers can put forward their film ideas to the government and they will fund their film but from the profits the film makes they have to give back to the government. Crowd funding is where companies/producers can set up a website such as ‘Kickstarter’ and explain their cause and also explain how much money they’re looking for and this is where they rely on the good will of the public to donate.
The overall budget for the film ‘Monsters’ was $500,000 the producers pitched how much money they would need to the bank and got the money from there, the bank wanted 50% bonus back and 5% from the producer’s profit. From there the producers then worked out a prediction on how much money they would need, which is the budget that was scaled into $500,000 – this should cover all the costs of developing the film from start to finish. In the end, it resulted that the film made 5 times more in the box office than what it cost to make, binging in a huge amount of $4.2 million. From the profits, they have made it clearly shows that the company used their budget effectively and did not use their money in any way which didn’t benefit them, it also means they could pay back the bank with no problems or complications.
At an estimated cost of $200 million (£129 million), ‘World War Z’ became the most expensive zombie film ever made when it was released June 2013. However, World War Z has gone on to make a tidy profit according to Paramount, who have reported that the film has grossed more than $500 million worldwide and made $305.2 million at the international box office to date. This instantly tells us from an observer point of view that although it was very costly to make, the film pulled through and resulted in great profit. However, Vanity Fair say Pitt’s production company Plan B then spent extra to re-shoot the films 40-minute-long third act, because ‘executives weren’t happy with the ending’. This re-enforces how much money really was spent on this film, some may say it was a sensible thing spending so much money on one film to make sure it is the best it could be but others will argue it isn’t essential to spend so much money thinking it will make the quality of the film better, as this isn’t always the outcome. Personally, I feel re-shooting the film isn’t the best decision as it’s just eating into more and more of their budget. Re-shooting certain scenes for a local organisation would not be recommended as they typically wouldn’t have the funds to do this. It would take up time and money that they just don’t have – a small organisation is the type of organisation that have to be very careful and particular in which way they use their time and money as it may be something they don’t have a lot of so shouldn’t take it for granted. Also by choosing to do this the outcome may not be very effective as it is a small organisation as mentioned before they may not gain a great profit so even if they were to think that they may gain a greater profit because the quality of the film would be “better” it most likely wouldn’t be justified.
‘One Miley Away’ originally pledged a £20,000 goal, however they ended up raising £21,033 with 410 people backing their campaign with the help of Kickstart, the funding period was for 30 days – March 12th 2013 – April 11th 2013. The average return train fare from Birmingham to London is £50, £100 to hire a van to take portable screen and projector to any location in UK to set up a special screening, £500 would contribute towards hiring sound equipment to host a local open mic night at a youth centre on the night of a film screening, £1000 would contribute towards the salary of the impact producer. From this list of prices, it is clear that the producers are not making it an expensive documentary, they’re not trying to make it something over the top or extravagant just show the reality of gang war and get the point across, although there may be other factors behind the scenes that do cost quite a bit. The film was funded by: Channel 4, Barrow Cadbury Trust, Creative England, and development grants from influence film funds as well as “Kickstarter”. Crowd funding organisations such as “Kickstarter” are a good way to fund small organisations because it’s as simple as putting forward their cause/need and the public will donate money the organisation do not have to pay back. They needed all these companies because otherwise they wouldn’t have enough money to produce the documentary.
Overall from the three different case studies I would conclude that ‘Monsters’ and ‘One Mile Away’ definitely used their budget/money effectively, they came out with good quality content which impressed viewers and gave them good results however I do not think that ‘World War Z’ used their money effectively at all, they would re-shoot and bring in extra actors which cost more and more money, it seemed that these decisions made were not essential. However, putting those decisions aside the film came out with an extraordinary profit and made it global.
Logistics
When filming, producers have to consider logistics such as deadlines and resources. This means that they have to think about the resources they can get access to and when they set a deadline if it realistic and if they will be able to meet it in time or not.
For ‘Monsters’ filming was done in 5 different countries and many locations were actually used without permission, this way the team weren’t waiting around to use locations. Actors that were extras were people that lived in these particular countries so they didn’t even have to pay them any amount of money. By using the locations without permission, it meant they were not waiting around or it meaning that their filming was delayed, it sped up the whole process which was a positive for them however they were very lucky to have not been caught as doing such a thing is very risky and if caught could result in serious consequences and the whole film possibly even being cut from release, it’s a very risky approach and personally for a small media organisation I do not think it is worth risking. Photography lasted about 5 weeks, and it had a crew of only 6 people for producers. The fact they crew went to 5 different countries to film was very expensive and questionable whether it was necessary or not, it would have meant cost of travel, food, accommodation, set up etc. would have been very pricey although a positive is that they didn’t have to pay the extras in the scenes. Overall the pre-production process is vital because it means that the film can be planned to the best and also means that everything will be in place and ready for when the film making can begin.
On a budget of $125 million, ‘World War Z’ began photography in July 2011 in Malta, filming was scheduled to move to Glasgow because they felt it gave the most realistic appearance of America, Scotland in August with the production company looking at recruit 2,000 local extras for the shoot. Scenes also set in a financial district in Philadelphia as well as Falmouth, Cornwall. Filming commenced in Budapest on the evening of October 10th 2011. The Hungarian Counter Terrorism Centre raided the warehouse where guns had been delivered for use as filming props. Weapons had been flown into Budapest overnight on a private aircraft, but the film producers had failed to clear the delivery with Hungarian authorities, and while the import documentation indicated that the weapons had been disabled, all were found to be fully functional. On February 10th, 2012, the charges were dropped after investigators were unable to identify exactly which “organisation or person” had “ownership rights. therefore they could not “establish which party was criminally liable”. From this information, it tells us that there was a lot of travelling around for the locations of filming, at first instance this can be seen as a negative because of the cost of travel for all the crew etc. but a positive is the actual locations chosen – they made Glasgow look like America the main reason being to film in Glasgow it is much cheaper than filming in America. However, the fact the film producers had failed lack of communication with the Hungarian authorities shows a failure in organization and this resulting in consequences than hindered the filming.
As the filming of “One Mile Away” is a documentary based on gangs in Birmingham, there are many logistical considerations. The fact it is a documentary about gangs means no element of it is scripted, it is all real life and unpredictable of what can happen meaning there are a lot of factors that have to be covered and thought about – the good thng about it being a documentary rather than a film gets the authenticity across to the audience and the realness of what goes on in gangs. Filming a documentary of this sort brings a lot of danger and risk as within gangs there is a lot of weapon use and gangs meaning if crew members were to get into an accident it could result in serious injury even as far as death. therefore, the crew have to protect themselves to try and eliminate as much risk as possible – they should wear bullet/stab proof vests, have emergency services on standby and make sure the people who are not involved in the filming around the area are aware as to what’s going on as they may not actually give consent to them being featured in the documentary. The crew actually never paid for locations as it was a documentary the gangs were just followed around Birmingham - they never set up and stayed in one specific location meaning they would possible have to ask for permission.
From all this information provided it tells us that location and planning is a very big part in filming – it can alter a lot of factors and the level of success. Depending on location and travel it can affect the progression of filming in a way that either speeds up the process or slows it down. Also, a big part of logistics is organisation, lack of organisation can result in conflict, missed deadlines and lack of resources, so by keeping organised it will just help to keep things running smoothly and up to date.
Codes of practice/regulations
There are many legal factors media producers have to consider when making any type of production. One of these factors being copyright – this is a big issue the media industry faces, legal protection is advised so that their original material can’t be used is somebody else’s name. Another huge factor and probably one of the main ones that has to be considered is health and safety – before filming can begin a number of risk assessments have to be carried out in order to ensure everybody’s health and safety. These helps highlight the different kind of risks in the workplace or on location.
there can be serious consequences in choosing to ignore codes of practice/regulations. People can be seriously injured and even die, failure in not taking safety risks can result in being sued and the whole company shut down. People in the past and even present lose their lives from stunts such as in ‘Dead Pool’ stunt double SJ Harris dies which was obviously a huge shock and cause a lot of devastation but if it is found out this actor died from result of lack of regulations being followed it makes the situation become even worse and much more serious.
Pre-production documentation
Pre-production means that the crew has to do things like gain permission for filming in particular places, make sure all paperwork is complete and approved for certain things, without any of this proof filming should not take place although a lot of companies still do and risk the consequences, without this proof it can result in serious consequences.
An example of this is for 'Monsters' where the crew were not granted permission to film in certain countries therefore this would affect the pre-production method and plans would have to be changed. Another example of failure of documentation is where 'World War Z' imported guns but failed to clear the delivery with Hungarian authorities and the weapons were stated on the documentation to have been disabled but were in fact fully functional. Although in this case they could not pin the blame on any one particular because they didn’t actually know where the problem stemmed from it was still a huge problem/risk that occurred that could have ended a lot worse, by simply gaining permission it completely rules out any risks and consequences that could arise.
Pre-production process
Pre-production is the phase of further developing ideas and planning prior to the process of production. In a live action movie sense, it is the period before filming starts. The pre-production process is vital when making any type of film/documentary, it helps break down the steps of production and increases level of success.
For 'Monsters', Edwards pitched his idea to Vertigo Films, where producer James Richardson asked him to watch 'In Search of a Midnight Kiss ' for an example of a low budget film – it had been made for $15,000. The fact Richardson got Edwards to watch a budget film is very effective as it shows him the type of things will be involved in a budget film like: location, special effects and cast etc., it gives him a clear understanding of what type of direction he can take his own film and what he can/can't do. Some good advice I could give to a local film organisation would be to watch a low budget film themselves so this gives them some guidance and shows them the types of things they can do/can’t do, it could also show them what is popular and what isn’t popular in the film industry.
Pre-production for 'World War Z' began in April 2011 with Robert Richardson announced as the cinematographer. In the same month, it was reported that filming locations would include Pinewood Studios and London, England. It was also reported that filming would begin in Malta in July 2011 and would encompass Valletta and The Three Cities. It was also reported that filming would also take place in Glasgow, Scotland in August 2011. Glasgow would double as Philadelphia; the city was reportedly chosen after "many months looking for the perfect city centre location to play an important part in the film. Philadelphia was passed on due to "uncertainties about state tax credits for filmmakers. Filming was originally planned to take place in Royal Tunbridge Wells, England before moving to Glasgow. At the end of the month it was reported that neither Matthew Fox nor Ed Harris would be starring in the film despite previous reports: Fox had a scheduling conflict stemming from his prior commitment.
This shows the pre-production process was effective and useful, they weighed out the pros and cons of each location and if they would be suitable or not. They turned down the less useful locations and chose the ones that would benefit them the most. However, the fact neither Fox or Harris starred in the film shows that nothing is ever for certain and they should always have a plan to fall back on incase the first plan does not work out as they thought – which they did.
Conclusion
The main message I have for small community projects/media producers is that when it comes to funding I think the best way to fund your project is crowd funding – this is such a good way to fund things because it's as simple as proposing your project and wait for the money to come in and you never have to give back although you do have to accept you may get more money than you asked for or in fact less than what you asked for but as a whole crowd funding seems to be the best option for a small community project/media producer. Also, make sure that all regulations and documentations are followed as failure to follow these can result in your project being closed down and company being sued, keeping people/environment when filming is one of, if not the most important thing.
Potential outcome of unsuccessful pre-production practices on media projects can be that the project loses money and is never noticed by bigger companies and stays small. However successful pre-production can result in the project progressing onto bigger and better things, earning a lot of money and becoming more known.
References list:
‘One Mile Away’
documentary info:
‘World War Z’ Information:
Comments
Post a Comment