There are three stages of the production process:

1. Pre-production (the planning stage) where you can expect to spend about 1/3 of your total time.

2. Production (the filming stage) in which you can expect to spend about 1/6 of your total time.

3. Post-production (the editing stage) in which you can expect to spend about half of your total time.

These time estimates are very vague and will vary depending on your production.

Good planning ensures that the expensive production stage runs smoothly and that all the necessary footage is shot.

Post-production is a highly creative stage and you need to have time to edit, filter and re-edit when necessary.

Pre-production includes:

Create planning paperwork, choose locations, hire cast and crew, reserve equipment and post facilities, deal with legal paperwork, create a budget, account for rentals and ancillary services, etc.

Production includes:

Record required footage, re-record when needed, and record sound from location.

Post production includes:

Project and record your footage, record or access music, record voice and sound effects, create animations, illustrations and text graphics, edit the various images and soundtracks, add transitions and effects, mix, correct colors, create copies with timecode for preview, create masters and submasters.

There are three main production documents:

– The proposal

– The script

– The shot list, scene list, or storyboard.

The Proposal contains: The working title, medium, setting (including story outline and treatment), technical considerations, and budget. Treatments can be commercial, dramatic, documentary, or educational. It is used to educate potential investors or production companies on what your project is about before they read the script.

The Script contains: A detailed development of the story, written for action on screen, with dialogue and visual information. Various formats exist, but typically the script does not contain camera angles, lighting information, and other technical information. It’s just a description of the story.

The shot/storyboard list contains: An area to note the shot/scene number, visual content, technical descriptions, and approximate shot time. In a storyboard, a diagram augments the written description of the shot. This is where the technical shooting information is.

The shot distances listed in the shot list relate to the perceived distance between the camera (audience) and the subject. While there are often many definitions for shooting distance, there are really only five basic definitions:

1. Extreme Long Shot (ELS) where there is a significant area of ​​space around the subject. Subject appears to be distant.

2. Long Shot (LS) where the subject comfortably fills the frame from top to bottom with plenty of headroom and below the subject).

3. Medium shot (or medium shot) where approximately 2/3 to 1/2 of the subject is seen in the frame. Be sure to never allow the bottom of the frame to cut into a person at a natural joint.

4. Close-up (CU) where approximately 1/3 to 1/4 of the subject is framed. This could be the typical “head and shoulders” shot.

5. Extreme Close-up (ECU), which is usually a photo of a person’s head. As long as it shows the eyes, nose, and mouth in the frame, it can be considered a shot of a person (as opposed to a medium shot of an eye, for example).

sequencing

Basic sequencing means that we design a series of shots for a scene or sequence in our movie. They must be designed in such a way that the action is shown to the audience in a way that is easily understandable, visually stimulating, and does not show any subject matter that is not intended to be part of the scene.

For this reason several shooting they will be designed and each one must be programmed to facilitate editing.

While each shot sequence is designed around the action to be shown to the audience (action sequences, monologues, multi-camera stunts, etc.), a dialogue scene between actors will often be shot using the Cutscene technique. Teacher.

Filming a dialogue sequence in the Master Scene technique includes various camera angles, overlapping or repetitive action filming so that the editor has several options.

If, for example, we were shooting two people facing each other while having a conversation, we would shoot the entire sequence in a double mastershot. So we could shoot a close-up of just one of the people for the entire sequence. Lastly, we could photograph the other person up close throughout the sequence. So we have two shots to introduce the scene, close-ups of each person speaking and also close-ups of each person listening while the off-camera person is speaking (these are called reaction shots). The two shots can be used anytime the bouncing back and forth between close-ups can be tiring for the viewer.

This sequence should be included in your shot list.