STAGE Preproduction: preparation and

planning

Production: shooting

Postproduction: assembly,

marketing, and distribution

APPROXIMATE TIME NEEDED TO COMPLETE

THIS STAGE FOR AN

AVERAGE 2-HR FILM

6 months to two years or more

4 – 8 weeks Minimum of 6-8 months

KEY PERSON OR PEOPLE IN

CHARGE OF THIS STAGE

Producer and his/her associates

Director and his/her associates

Producer, editor, director of marketing, director of

distribution, and their associates

Filmmakers: Develop an idea or obtain a script they

wish to produce. May secure from a publisher the rights to

a successful novel or buy a writer’s “pitch” for a story.

The opening sequence of Robert Altman’s The Player (1992) gives an example of the start of an independent-studio executive’s typical day.

The executive, Griffin Mill (Tim Robbins), has the responsibility of listening to pitches from writers and recommending to his boss the ones he likes.

He hears from experienced writers to losers and hacks throughout the course of the morning – everyone wants a part of the screenwriting action and $$

The movie is meant to poke fun at the business.

Once the rights to producing a story have been contracted and purchased, producers then have to “sell” the film to the people with the $$, hoping for financial backing.

Directors may spend another month or more discussing the script with the screenwriter and the people responsible for design, photography, music, and sound.

Another 2-3 months may be spent rewriting the script.

The director and collaborators decide on how they want the film to look, sound, and move.

Another 2-3 weeks is dedicated to scheduling of studio time, scouting locations, obtaining permissions to use those locations, and arranging and designing sets.

Another 2 weeks is dedicated to rehearsals with cast and crew.

The level of preparation on the part of directors, producers, screenwriters and other collaborators can severely affect the cost of the movie.

Two different examples: Orson Welles’ Citizen Kane and Francis Ford Coppola’s Apocalypse Now

Director Sidney Lumet (12 Angry Men) describes the preproduction process:

“Someone once asked me what making a movie was like. I said it was like making a mosaic. Each setup is like a tiny tile [a setup, the basic component of a film’s production, consists of one camera position and its associated lighting]. You color it, shape it, polish it as best you can. You’ll do six or seven hundred of these, maybe a thousand. Then you literally paste them together and hope it’s what you set out to do. But if you expect the final mosaic to look like anything, you’d better know what you’re going for as you work on each tiny tile.”

After all preproduction responsibilities have been taken care of, the director begins the actual shooting of the movie.

Directors develop call sheets, which indicate what is being shot each day and inform cast and crew members of their assignments.

Every day the director and his/her crew are under time constraints and must adhere to a strict schedule in order to meet their goals.

Cast Away example

Postproduction consists of three stages: editing, preparing the final print, and bringing the film to the public (marketing and distribution).

Editing consists of assembling the visual images and sound recordings, adding the musical score and sound effects, adding the special effects, assembling the sound tracks, and doing any necessary dubbing.

Bringing the film to the public consists of advertising the movie, setting the release date and number of theaters, finalizing rights, previewing the film, and finally exhibiting the film.