The Three Stages of Filmmaking

There are three stages of the production process:

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

2. Production (the shooting stage) that you could expect to spend about 1/6 of your total time on.

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

These estimated times are very imprecise and will vary depending on your production.

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

Post-production is a very creative stage and you should have time to edit, filter, and re-edit when needed.

Pre-production includes:

Creation of planning documentation, choice of locations, hiring of distribution and personnel, reservation of equipment and postal facilities, processing of legal procedures, preparation of a budget, accounting of rentals and auxiliary services, etc.

Production includes:

Recording required footage, re-recording when necessary, and recording location sound.

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 color, create encoded copies by time to preview, create teachers and sub-teachers.

There are three main production documents:

– The proposal

– The script

– The shot list, scene list, or storyboard.

The proposal contains: the job title, the medium, the setting (including the summary and the treatment of the story), the technical considerations and the 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 reading the script.

The script contains: A detailed development of the story, written for on-screen action, with dialogue and visual feedback. There are several formats, but generally the script does not contain camera angles, lighting information, and other technical information. It is 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 time for the shot. In a storyboard, a diagram augments the description of the written shot. This is where the technical shooting information is.

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

1. Extreme Far Shot (ELS) where there is a significant area of ​​space around the subject. The subject seems distant.

2. Long Shot (LS) where the subject comfortably occupies the frame from top to bottom with enough room for the head and under the subject).

3. Mid (or Mid) Shot A (MS) shot in which approximately 2/3 to 1/2 of the subject is seen in the frame. Make sure you never allow the bottom of the frame to cut 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 your typical “head and shoulders” photo.

5. Extreme Close Up (ECU), which is usually a shot to the head of a person. As long as you show the eyes, nose, and mouth in the frame, it can still be considered a shot of one person (as opposed to a medium shot of one eye, for example).

Sequencing

Basic sequencing means that we design a series of takes for a scene or sequence in our movie. They should be designed in such a way that the action is shown to the audience in a way that is easily understood, visually stimulating, and that no subject is shown that is not intended to be part of the scene.

For this reason several shots They will be designed and each must be programmed to facilitate editing.

While each sequence of shots is designed based on the action that will be shown to the audience (action sequences, monologues, multi-camera stunts, etc.), a scene of dialogue between actors will often be filmed using the Master Scene technique.

Shooting a dialogue sequence in the Master Scene technique includes multiple camera angles, shooting overlapping, or repeating actions so the editor has multiple options.

If, for example, we are filming two people facing each other while having a conversation, we would film the entire sequence on a two-shot master. Then we could shoot a close-up of just one of the people for the entire sequence. Lastly, we could shoot the other person up close throughout the sequence. So we have two shots to present the scene, close-ups of each person speaking and also close-ups of each person simply listening while the person is speaking off-camera (these are called reaction shots). The two shots can be used at any time when bouncing back and forth between close-ups can be exhausting for the viewer.

This sequence should be included in your shot list.