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Production Planning Tutorial

Creators in the television and movie fields have their work cut out for them. Just to get from start to finish, they have to juggle actors, crew, equipment, shooting schedules, editing schedules and the budget that makes it all possible. When famed director Alfred Hitchcock was on the set, he was known for two things: shoots that went exceedingly smooth and napping through them as they went off without a hitch. Hitchcock was able to accomplish that by studying every aspect of film production and planning his own productions in such detail that they would practically run themselves come shooting time. Skill in planning will be important to ensure you see your own projects to the finish.

Instructions

    • 1

      Write down the desired shots for the movie in the margins of a printed-out copy of the script, using the terminology for shots and transitions--close up, medium shot, far shot, wide shot, pan, tilt, tracking shot, fade in, fade out, cutaway, etc. Open the electronic copy of the screenplay in your word processing software and add the shot and transition directions to the relevant portions of the script in all caps.

    • 2

      List all the "must-haves" on the project, such as actors and crew, and "nice-to-haves," such as special effects and sophisticated props. Research the costs of each of the items and list the prices next to the items. Prices can vary; for example, equipment rentals are cheaper than purchases if you don't keep the rental equipment for too long. Add up the total budget available on the project and allocate funds to "must-haves" before factoring in "nice-to-haves."

    • 3

      Scout locations that would make good candidates for scenes in your production. Inquire at your local government office about obtaining permits to shoot in any locations in a public space. Note the window of time these locations are available and what the government requires of you in order to use them, such as portable toilets, road barricades or police presence.

    • 4

      Organize a shooting schedule for the scenes of the production, based on location, actor and crew availability. Work as efficiently as possible, combining scenes on single days or splitting up a single scene across multiple days. The latter is a possibility if two actors aren't available on the same day but need to converse in a scene--thanks to editing.

    • 5

      Notify your crew and cast of when they need to be available and what roles they will fulfill. Educate them clearly about their jobs on a certain day, so that you have no confusion or mistakes during that day's shoot.

Film Production

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