various steps involved in film making?

[Excerpted from the book, "What I Really Want to Do: On Set in Hollywood."]

THE IDEA
An idea occurs to someone such as a Writer, Director, Producer, or Actor. In this competitive industry, ideas need to be fresh and marketable. Whether the idea moves forward from this point, and how quickly, depends on who comes up with it.


DEVELOPMENT
An idea has to be evaluated before any significant money is spent on developing it into a full-fledged screenplay. The idea has to be original yet have an air of familiarity to be marketable to a broad spectrum of people. The budget is taken into account at every point of the process. If the idea manages to jump successfully through all the requisite hoops, a writer is hired under the WGA contract and a TREATMENT of the story is completed.

The treatment may go through many committees and studio executives before the process is allowed to continue to the actual screenwriting stage. Typically the writer who pitched the idea and worked up the treatment is hired to do at least the first draft. The screenplay usually goes through the same obstacle course that the treatment did. Major rewrites may continue right up to the first day of shooting, and daily rewrites throughout production are a common occurrence.

PREPRODUCTION
Once all the ABOVE-THE-LINE people are reasonably happy, the project moves into official preproduction. It is during this stage that any additional above-the-line personnel are hired. As the production start date becomes imminent, BELOW-THE-LINE crew are called. More often than not, the Director and at least one A-LIST star are asked to commit during development. Most films, both studio and independent, have a difficult time being financed without the interest of a major corporate or financial entity. As momentum for the project builds, schedules are created and a “realistic” budget is calculated. If not enough time is spent or shoddy work is done during preproduction, all efforts later on, during production and beyond, will undoubtedly suffer.

PRODUCTION
Assuming that the story and screenplay are strong and that plenty of time and money have been spent on preproduction, then PRODUCTION should be the easiest and most enjoyable part of the process. It is during this twelve-week period that the words on the page are turned into pictures and sound by a cast and crew of over one hundred skilled, and typically union (IATSE, DGA, SAG, Teamsters), employees. Every shot featuring the principal cast is filmed by the FIRST UNIT crew. If additional photography is needed that doesn’t necessarily involve the main cast, such as stunts or elaborate special effects, a SECOND UNIT and/or SPECIAL EFFECTS UNIT is assembled to shoot simultaneously at a different location.

POSTPRODUCTION
Postproduction is usually considered the period when all of the film is edited. The truth is that during actual production, an Editor has been cutting the DAILIES continually. By the time the shooting schedule ends, the Director will have a nearly complete movie to look at. Some Second Unit and effects work may continue far into the postproduction schedule. The Director and Producers will alter the Editor’s work as they please until they are happy. Location sound is fixed with ADR, SOUND EFFECTS are added, and a music score is married to the completed picture.

MARKETING
A publicity campaign is designed for the project during preproduction. Behind-the-scenes footage is coordinated by the Unit Publicist during production, as are any interviews that newspapers, magazines, and television outlets request. Prior to release, a PRESS JUNKET is held at a hotel with the principal players and reporters from around the world.

RELEASE
The red-carpet premiere, a marketing tool in the guise of a party to help sell the movie to the public, is a staple for many films. Journalists from around the world are invited to take pictures and ask questions of the movie stars.


It is important to note that while there are some differences in creating a feature motion picture as opposed to a television show, commercial, or music video, all of the jobs described here are done nearly exactly the same way, regardless of the project.