The Importance of Producing and Distributing Media Content - Coursework Example

Film Production: The Importance of the Process of Producing and Distributing Media Content 2007 Film Production: The Importance of the Process of Producing and Distributing Media Content The process of film production is one which is rather complex and which all of the steps that are involved are incredibly necessary to understand in order to be able to gain an even remotely informed and knowledgeable viewpoint on the subject overall. Film production is a process which has been around for ages now, but which has also changed and adapted over time, with increasingly new and creative ideals being added to it over time. Film production is the term which is - quite obviously - given to the process of making a film, and the nature of the film and the budget, for instance, are two of the many things which go to affect the film production process overall. There are various different stages which are involved throughout this process, and each is as crucial and critically important as the next. In order to be able to learn more about the film production process, all of the previously mentioned issues need to be discussed, as well as any and all other key and related matters in this regards. The aim of this paper is to allow for an attainment of a better understanding on the issue of film production in general, particularly of its more technical aspects, and as well on how film production is used in the world today. This is what will be dissertated in the following. Film production basically involves four major steps, which are: development, preproduction, production, and postproduction. During the development stage is when the idea is actually beginning to be developed, and usually a summary of the actual story will be given in a few pages. Then, through several different iterations, these few pages will eventually end up becoming a detailed prose piece which will better tell the story of the film. Concept art is also developed more during this process, and character descriptions are worked on more thoroughly. This particular process, as with every single other that is included within the film production process, is incredibly important and takes some time, and is usually gone over two, three or even more times before being considered as being complete, and even then often times workers involved will go back and edit or add on. The development process is also the time during which the script is composed, and this again will go through several drafts as the writer and others involved make their comments and opinions about it. Then there is the preproduction stage, which is the stage that takes place before the actual production stage, and it is during this stage when a storyboard is created from the script, which basically means that writers and illustrators work together using the script as their guide in order to be able to create a visual storyboard including words and illustrations, which will be the basis of the production image that they are going to create. From an initial written version, this will then end up progressing into a series of images, of which are either created in a 3d software or drawn by hand, and then they are turned into a moving video, which is known as the 'animatic', and it is this animatic which will actually serve as the major blueprint for the film itself. Next is the production stage, which is where most of the action takes place, as it is where the filming begins. There are many more crew members which need to be recruited at this stage, and that includes, for example: property master, script supervisor, assistant directors, stills photographer, picture editor, and sound editors. These are the most common roles that are involved in the filmmaking production process, although there are many others which may need to be taken into consideration as well, depending on the specific type of film that you are making. A typical day will begin with "an assistant director following the shooting schedule for the day. The film set is constructed and the props made ready. The lighting is rigged, the camera and sound recording equipment are set up. At the same time the actors are wardrobed in their costumes and attend the hair and make-up departments" (Grant, 2002). Each single take of a shot will follow a particular slating procedure, and is then marked on a clapperboard, which is what helps to allow the editor to keep better track of the takes in post-production. The clapperboard is the device which is what "records the scene, take, director, director of photography, date, and name of the film written on the front, and is displayed for the camera. The clapperboard also serves the necessary function of providing a marker to sync up the film and the sound take. Sound is recorded on a separate apparatus from the film and they must be synched up in post-production" (Austerberry, 2002). Finally there is the post-production process, and here the first job is for the film editor, who assembles all of the film. In the film workflow, the original camera film is developed and then is copied to a one-light workprint for editing with a mechanical editing machine, and here an edge code is recorded onto the film, in order to locate the position of picture frames. Then the next job by the film editor is to build up a rough cut that will be taken from sequences based on individual shots. The purpose the rough cut is to "select and order the best shots. The next step is to create a fine cut by getting all the shots to flow smoothly in a seamless story. Trimming, the process of shortening scenes by a few minutes, seconds, or even frames, is done during this phase. After the fine cut has been screened and approved by the director and producer the picture is 'locked', meaning no further changes are made. Next, the editor creates a negative cut list (using edge code) or an edit decision list (using timecode) either manually or automatically. These edit lists identify the source and the picture frame of each shot in the fine cut" (Austerberry, 2002). Then once the picture is locked, the film is not in the hands of the editor anymore but rather is put into the hands of the sound department, who now need to build up the soundtrack. The soundtrack and the picture are combined together, which results in a rather low quality answer print of the movie, and now there are basically two different possible workflows to create the high quality release print that will released to the public, and they are: 1. In the film workflow, the cut list that describes the film-based answer print is used to cut the original color negative (OCN) and create a color timed copy called the color master positive or interpositive print. For all subsequent steps this effectively becomes the master copy. The next step is to create a one-light copy called the color duplicate negative or internegative. It is from this that many copies of the final theatrical release print are made. Copying from the internegative is much simpler than copying from the interpositive directly because it is a one-light process; it also reduces wear-and-tear on the interpositive print. 2. In the video workflow, the edit decision list that describes the video-based answer print is used to edit the original color tape (OCT) and create a high quality color master tape. For all subsequent steps this effectively becomes the master copy. The next step uses a film recorder to read the color master tape and copy each video frame directly to film to create the final theatrical release print. (Quick & LaBau, 1972). The technology itself which is used in the film production process has changed quite drastically over time, and in fact, mechanisms used for the production of artificially created, two-dimensional images in motion were demonstrated as early as the 1860s. The devices that were most majorly used during this time were ones such as the zoetrope and the praxinoscope, for example, the zoetrope being a device that is able to produce an illusion of action from a rapid succession of static pictures, and which consists of a cylinder that is cut with slits vertically in the sides, and which, beneath the slits, on the inner surface of the cylinder, has a band that has either individual frames from a video or images from a set of sequenced drawings or photographs; and the praxinoscope being a an animation device which was the successor to the zoetrope, and which, like the zoetrope, used a strip of pictures that are placed around the inner surface of a spinning cylinder, and basically the praxinoscope had improvements on the zoetrope by "replacing its narrow viewing slits with an inner circle of mirrors, placed so that the reflections of the pictures appeared more or less stationary in position as the wheel turned. Someone looking in the mirrors would therefore see a rapid succession of images producing the illusion of motion, with a brighter and less distorted picture than the zoetrope offered" (Quick & LaBau, 2002). Then there was the development of celluloid film for still photography, and with this creation, it was now possible to be able to directly capture objects in motion in real time. This was an incredible improvement to all of the film production devices that had been used previously, and by the 1880s, the development of the motion picture camera came about, and this was incredible, as it allowed the individual component images to be able to be captured, recorded, and put onto a single reel, and this resulted in leading quickly to the development of a motion picture projector to shine light through the processed and printed film, and as well to magnify the moving picture shows on a screen so that an entire audience could watch it at one time. One of the next most major developments in regards to the technology of film production was the introduction of color, and while the public at first was rather indifferent to this introduction, still it gradually became adopted, and soon was considered as being an essential part of film production overall. When speaking more specifically of the technology involved in film production, film stock is one of the most major issues, and it is important to know that film stock consists of transparent celluloid, acetate, or polyester base coated with an emulsion that contains light-sensitive chemicals, and although cellulose nitrate was in fact the very first type of film base to ever be used, its easy flammability was eventually replaced by safer materials. Originally, "moving picture film was shot and projected at various speeds using hand-cranked cameras and projectors; though 1000 frames per minute (16 2/2 per second) is generally cited as a standard silent speed, research indicates most films were shot between 16 and 23 fps and projected from 18 fps on up (often reels included instructions on how fast each scene should be shown). When sound film was introduced in the late 1920s, a constant speed was required for the sound head. 24 frames per second was chosen because it was the slowest (and thus cheapest) speed which allowed for sufficient sound quality" (Grant, 2002). Film, as a medium, is certainly not limited only to motion pictures, when you consider that the technology developed as the basis for photography. Rather, film can be used for a variety of different things, including to present a progressive sequence of still images in the form of a slideshow, and as well film has certainly been incorporated into many different multimedia presentations, and thus often has a very significant importance as primary historical documentation. From this review we can conclude many different things, several which are of particular importance, namely the fact that film production is an incredibly complex process, one which has been around for a significant period of time and which has adapted remarkably over that time. The methods and means which are used within the film production process are each as important as the next, and each incorporates a separate and unique quality to the process overall. The advances in technology which have affected the film production process are incredible, and as technology in general continues to advance as time goes on, it is only obvious then that the film production process will simply continue to adapt and evolve. While motion picture films have been around for more than a century now, film itself is still basically considered as being a newcomer in the overall scheme of things, and as technology has changed dramatically over time it will continue to do so in the future, especially affected such fields as film production. References Austerberry, D. (2002). Technology of Video and Audio Streaming. Woburn, MA: Focal Press. Grant, A. (2002). Communication Technology Update. Woburn, MA: Focal Press. Quick, J. & LaBau, T. (1972). Handbook of Film Production. New York: Macmillan. Read More