Hi, my name is John Loughman and I'm going to be
talking to you about the way in which films produced I will also be revealing the ways in
which special effects are done and also maybe even a few film reviews, I myself have a
great interest in film and have worked on two feature films to date. "Under The
Hawthorn Tree" and "Da' Boyz". John's profile features at the end of the
page along with links to the editing and equipment sections.
Well how do film's become what they are when we see them on the big screen?
PRE-PRODUCTION (before shooting):
1. Firstly, a writer has to come to a production company with an idea, if the production
company accepts to produce the film, things are moved on to the next step.
2. The production Company depending on there size, can
A) Look for funding,
B) Fund the project
completely themselves
If they fund it themselves it means that all the money (after the expenses are paid) goes
back in to the company, but if they choose to go elsewhere the production company owes
money to the investors, meaning that if the film doesn't make money, the production
company make a lose on that particular film.
3. The next step is for a Director to be Chosen to direct the film, the Director is the
person in charge of how the writers idea will look on film. Once a Director has been
chosen, the script is revised and any changes are made so that the script fits in to the
directors idea of how the film will look.
4. After this the Director is now in control of the whole film shoot, he draws on the
production company to give him money to do with as he wishes and on the writer to help him
develop the script. Now the director can go and cast the film, he/she may have an idea of
an actor that he/she wants to cast in a certain part, if not he/she holds auditions in
order to find people to play the parts in the film. If the director has someone in mind to
play a certain part, he gets his CASTING DIRECTOR (the person in charge of all casting) to
approach the actor that the director has in mind.
5. Getting actors, is not always easy, the actor reads the script and decides if they want
to act in the film. Then the pay is discussed and if the actor agrees to act in the film
it means that the director can move on to the next stage.
6. The Director now hires a Director of Photography (DOP), it is the job of the DOP to
make the directors vision look good on film, he/she can influence the way in which certain
shots look and can make suggestions to the director. The DOP is the Head of the
Camera/Lighting crew, and it is his job to hire and fire camera and lighting people.
7. The Director now hires a sound engineer, the sound engineer, sometimes called a
recordist, is in charge of the sound crew, it is his/her job to record sound on location,
and to "Sweeten" the sound in a recording studio. The sound recordist like the
DOP is a head of department, and is charge of hiring sound people to operate sound
equipment.
8. The director also hires people to be in charge of props and costume, and special
effects etc.
SHOOTING:
During this stage all of the crew work together to get a good end product, it is the
Director who has the final say on if a certain shot is "good or Bad". It is up
to the crew to get the Idea that is in the Directors head, on to the film.
1. All of the scenes in the film are scheduled so the they all got shot and none are left
out, this is done taking in to account the weather, the days actors are available and the
days locations are available. Yes films are not shot in sequence, the end can be shot
first and visa versa.
2. On average in a "Hollywood" film you would only expect to shot about 3
minutes of footage (Images) per day.
3. The images are generally captured on film, this is normally 35mm film, i.e. the width
of the film.
The sound is recorded on a DAT machine, this is Digital Tape. It is higher quality then
CD.
Even though film is widely used, the Digital world is coming into full swing, George
Lucas, after shooting all the Starwars films on 35mm film is now switching over to the
Digital format. Some scenes in "Starwars The First Episode" were shot using
Digital tape.
For more on shooting equipment and procedures, please
visit this page
POST-PRODUCTION:
After all of the scenes in the film are shot, they are now sent to be edited.
1. Editing is the part of film production that really makes a film, up until now there was
only a series of images, now they are placed together, editing for film is carried out on
machines where the film is actually cut, and re-stuck together. For editing Digital, the
images are capture on to a computer and "Dragged and Dropped" into place.
2. Editing for the sound is carried out in must the same way, it is capture into a
computer, and cleaned. In almost all Hollywood films the sound is re-dubbed, this is done
in a recording studio, and it is the job of the studio engineer to record the voices
correctly, and add effects to the film in order to enhance the final outcome of the film.
In low budget films not allot of post-production sound work is done, due to the great
expense involved.
For more information on editing please visit this
page
DISTRIBUTION:
1. Now that the film is completed it is distributed, this is done though the production
company, it can be sent to cinema of straight to video, also it can be sold as a
television film.
PROFILE:
| Name: Age: Hobbies: School: Workplace: Involved in film: Favorte Film: Favorite Director: Reasons for been involved in film: Future Plans: |
John Loughman 16 Internet, Film, Rugby and swimming CBS Kilkenny Film work, Sound engineering 7 Years Ronin John Woo Its damn cool, plus you get to meet people like Andrea Corr etc. Go to collage a do sound engineering, and become a kick ass sound engineer, even though I am, I just dont have the degree |
If you wish to know more about film production feel free to mail me at johnloughman@yifm.com
The site Cinemax Online Ireland is in no way associated with American TV station "Cinemax". This site is run by Ken McGuire and all graphics and code contained in this site are property of the webmaster. Please do not duplicate without prior permission. All rights reserved.