Key Assingment- Summer Borland.

The Film Chain- Task 1

Production:  There are 12 stages to making a film these are, the idea, development finance, script development, packaging, financing, pre-production, the shoot, post-production, sales, marketing, exhibition and other windows.

The Idea: Original ideas of a film are the most important in the film making industry, However, books/magazines can also inspire people as they get popularity which inspires people to create films. Producers are always looking for ideas to note down for a film that they believe will attract a wide variety of audiences. The creative development of a film always involves the director sooner or later and often their involvement which begins very early in the development process.

Development Finance: Turning an idea to a finishing script can take a lot of time because of money. This is because funding is needed to support the director, producer and writer during this process. This money needed is called development funding.

Script Development: The producer and writer are still working very closely together at this stage because they still need to develop on the film to add to the script and make it more better. Then once the director, the writer and the producer have all approved on the script it becomes the final piece.

Packaging: First the producer takes the sale treatment and the final script and then comes up with a budget, The stars are then advertised through adverts to attract funding of the film. A top editor can then transform a film getting a well known name editor on board earlier on to help persuade potential financiers that the finished product will be a fun and enjoyable piece in the cinema

Financing: The hardest stage of the film making process is investment needed to actually make the film. In return for the finance, the sales company will want to sell the right film to distribution companies. There are also departments in banks that specialize in film making which helps the company to make more money. Studio financed films do not usually require completion bonds because a studio decides to take the financial risk.  Film financing is a very crucial part of the actual film and it is also the most trickiest part of film making.

Pre-Production: The preproduction is a very important stage as it means that everyone in the production team is getting prepared to film. First the cast director will need to start auditions for casts for all the roles in the script. Then the editor is the one who chooses people that will need to be required to be in the film at least once. Then head of sound is also very important to because he will have to hire some of his crew for the boom mics and other equipment.The cast director is important as without him there would be no cast. Also they can identify cast members through the way they act and how much expression they give in their performance. The director will use a storyboard to sketch out all the scenes for the film. Most films have storyboard artist to help the director come up with sketches for the actual movie. The director or photography is usually called up at this point because they want to make sure that he understands what he is supposed to do.

The Shoot: The film stars at this stage are getting ready for the shoot to actually act for the scene. The gaffer is the one who gets all the effects ready for the set, The sound team are the ones who record high sounds on set, The 3rd assistant director helps all the background people get into position.

Post-Production: The editor has to effectively remake the film in an edit suit, Therefore once all the sounds and effects are all created after that the final mixes will begin. The composer helps the director to create a music piece for the film. Then when the film is finished there will be things called the credits with everyone's names who have taken part in the film.
Marketing: The marketing is very important because they will see who will be interested to see this film also the cover is very important as it needs to be eye catching. The key to a successful film is to get the people what they want. Its very important for films to have advertisements e.g. posters on buses, bus stops, t.v and many more. Films have very high budgeting with out advertisements no body would buy the film.
Exhibition: Actors really help the movie because if the actors was really well known then he/she would attract more people to see the films so it will guarantee to make progress and money for the film. The UK has over 3,500 cinema screens as as well, Also films in boxes office will make profit.
Other windows: Even if the film has a healthy profit it will be years after the producer will actually see the real money, However, the producer trade on their reputation, If the producer and director come up with another hit movie they will produce a lot more money.

Columbia Pictures- Doug Belgrad
20th Century Fox- Ralph Winter
Miramax Films- Thomas.J. Barrack
Warner Bros- Jeffery Beweks
Paramount Pictures- Philippe Dauman
Universal Pictures- Ronald Meyer

The ownership of a studio can be bases around advantages and disadvantages of large conglomerates and the smaller independent companies. The advantages of a big conglomerate are risks can be taken when making films, wont need to collaborate to secure funding and you can be more ambitious with the film, when the film gets bigger stars, has more special effects, yet also can travel to better locations. Also synergy and cross media convergence can take place to promote via games, music and toys etc. However, there are disadvantages as films often have to satisfy a mass market and creatively film makers cannot take as many risks as so many other large companies to satisfy and revenue to achieve. Also the films has to do really well at the box office. On the other hand, there are advantageous of independent companies as they receive all the profit, is less pressure during the production and distribution and there is complete control over what they decided to produce this allows them to have more choices and chances. The disadvantages are smaller budget which means the film will be less ambitious, often they have to secure the extra funding and finance and the distribution has to be targeted as there is less money to spend on marketing the film.

An independent film is a professional film production resulting in a feature film that is produced mostly or completely outside of the major film studio system.- Independent Production.

Distribution:

Distribution involves acquiring a film from the producers and trying to make it reach the widest audience possible by selling it to the exhibitors (cinemas).

A film distributor is a company or an individual responsible for the marketing of a film , They may set the release date of the film and the method in which the film will be available to  view.

A traditional way of distributing is by newspapers, magazines, advertisements that are seen daily e.g. on buses, bus stops, trains etc. However, a newer way which is now known as digital distribution via the internet, T.V, social networking sites etc.

Film festivals are held around the world for a variety of films and audiences. It is an event at which multiple films are screened for participants. It helps in film distribution as producers can show off the best of their films to get press coverage and attract potential distributors.

The distributor may decide to release a film on a certain weekend due to situations such as half terms, annual events such as Halloween, Christmas etc or the fact that another major film has been released so there profit may decrease. 

Distribution is essential in the film chain as without it you would not be able to get the product into the cinemas through digital platforms such as social networking sites, advertisements etc.

Marketing:

Marketing is the way in which you advertise your product through advertisements to attract a specific target audience. This is done through a variety of ways such as posters, bus stops, buses, billboards, merchandise, toys, games etc. It is different to distribution as marketing is attracting a specific audience type to view the film in the cinema, where as distribution is trying to sell their product to the cinema.

https://www.facebook.com/WatchSexTape   - Link to Facebook advetisement.

This is a best selling book this is now currently avaliable to see in cinemas.

Block buster films may be advertised to non-English audiences through having it promote in there own country in there language so they can also watch the film.

Exhibition:

Audiences see films through: Tvs, social networking sites, billboards, trailers, magazines, posters around London e.g on trains, Youtube.

A box office is the place where tickets are sold to the public for admission to the cinema. This means that this is where all the money is collected that the audience gives and this is how they make there profit.

The box office identify's the success of the film as I just said they measure the amount of profit they have made and weather they have become successful with the amount of tickets sold for their film.

 If the film is successful the money is then shared among all those that helped in creating the film this includes the producers, directors, actors, editors, etc.

Cinemas make there money through selling food and drinks as they sell them at a much higher price than what they pay therefore making a huge profit, Without the food and drinks cinemas would not be able to stay in business. However, sometimes they also have onscreen adverts where some companies pay the cinemas to show trailers, therefore if the film is a block buster the cinema may charge higher to have it advertised.

 Cinemas provide audiences with a variety of different screenings to encourage them to come to the cinema. Such as 3D, 4D, they have specialized screenings such as autism friendly, orange Wednesdays and lots of more offers.

Ancillary markets are non-theatrical markets for feature films such as home video, Netflix, internet streaming, airlines and others. This allows people to be able to enjoy films when with friends at home or when travelling somewhere , so they are free to watch it when they want to.

Finally:

The BFI is the British film institute and is a charitable organisation for film in the UK to support film production, distribution, education and audience development.

 They are encouraging  the development of production through festivals, archive, cinemas, education and more.

This helps the British film industry as it funds for production and distribution which is in the film chain.