What is a shooting schedule?
A shooting schedule is what you use to plan out when you will shoot your production and also what you will use to plan out what you will shoot on particular days. The shooting schedule is usually created and managed by the assistant director, they will be in charge of making sure everything is happening on time and at the right time.
Why is it important to have a shooting schedule?
It is important to have a shooting schedule because cast and crew need to know whats happening on each day and they need to know where they need to be and when they need to be there. Also, because cast and crew members will have other jobs the shooting schedule will need to fit around their personal schedule because it is vital that everyone needed for the shoot can be there at the same time. Having a shooting schedule means that you can be checking that you're keeping to the budget because time is money. If the shooting schedule isn't done with care and precision, then one day of shooting can run over very easily which can prolong the next day of shooting and this can cost a lot of money so this is why it is essential that assistant directors, producers etc get it right first time round.
How long does it take to get clearances for music/clips?
The amount of time it takes to get clearance all depends on what you are getting clearance for. It is likely that you will find out within 10 days if its been given or not. If you are getting clearance for a lot of things the sooner you apply for clearance the better.
Personnel - The Imposter
From a documentary/ies of your choice, look at the credits, research the crew members(camera, sound, researchers etc) what have they worked on before, what experience/qualifications do they have?
John Battsek was the executive producer for The Imposter along side Katherine Butler, Simon Chinn. Battsek has previously worked on a lot of documentaries. His latest being 'How I Live Now' which has only recently hit the box office. He has been producing and co-producing documentaries since the late 90s.
Poppy Dixon co-produced The Imposter with producer Dimitri Doganis. Poppy Dixon hasn't had a lot of experience producing, as her first job was in 2008 for The Shooting Party and she was only an assistent producer, it wasn't until 2012 for The Town That Caught Tourette's that she was a producer. Dimitri Doganis who also worked on The Town That Caught Tourette's, has been producing since 2003 but previously was directing from 2001.
Bart Layton directed this documentary, and even though he has only been directing since 2004, he has directed some very well known documentary tv series such as Banged Up Abroad, The Town That Caught Tourette's and Locked Up Abroad.
The Imposter had three different sound recordists. Two which were part of the documentary crew, Brian Albritten and Kaye Charles Cruz and then for the re-enactments filmed in Madrid the sound recordist was Mike Cooper. Cooper has been working as a sound recordist since 1998.
There was only one researcher involved in the making of The Imposter, Will Stanebridge. Having only been a researcher since 2010, he doesnt have much experience but has clearly done a good job with The Imposter.
Why is it important to get the right crew?
It is important to get the right film crew because if not then it could make the documentary unsuccessful. If it doesn't contain correct information and detail, and isn't remotely interestersting then people won't watch it. Experience is key in film and tv production, you know more about how to make a production the best it can be. I think that The Imposter shows this because a lot of the immediate crew members have a lot of experience in their field. For example, executive producer John Battsek has been a producer for 16 years, and within those 16 years he has worked on 49 different productions and mainly they were documentaries so he was perfect for this documentary.
Another reason why it is important to get the right crew is that time is valuable so having the right crew also means having a crew that can keep to the shooting and production schedule. The assistent producers are usually in charge f the these schedules so if they are experienced and good at what they do then there's more chance of the production running smoothly and less chance of becoming behind and then going over budget.
What qualifications do you need to be an editor?
There are no specific qualifications needed to be an editor but there are different training courses you can do such as television and film freelance training (FT2) which gives training for all types of job roles in the media including editing. There's also The National Film and Television School (NFTS) who provide industry recognised short courses for all grades and post graduate courses. These kind of qualifications are good to have to become an editor.
As well as academic like qualifications, you also need to have key skills to be an editor such as:
Finance
Where can you get funding from?
The BFI (British Film Institution) are one of the well known places to get film funding from: BFI Website
You can also get funding from Creative England who fund short and feature length films : Creative England Website
Local Councils, charities and production schemes and competitions set up by broadcasters are also good ways to fund films. The more well known schemes are:
48 Hour Film Challenge
Channel 4 : 4Talent
Maya Vision : The Short Film Completion Fund
Straight8
Where do you get the money from to make the documentary? How did the documentary you watched get funded?
Documentary films can be from many different things such as fund raising, bank loans, if your part of a studio they will give you money or you can pay for the film yourself if you're an independent documentary film maker.
The Imposter was funded by A&E films BFI Film Fund.
How much is it to clear music/clips from other tv/film companies?
Studios usually charger per clip or audio track or per seconds/minute. Its worked out by charge 5p per song times the number of units manufactured with a minimum fee of £200 per song The basic rate is £40 for every 30 seconds of footage or audio. But you can get an all you can use charge of £275 per production.
Locations
Where was the documentary you have chosen filmed?
All the interviews of the family of Nicholas Barkley was filmed in San Antonio - Texas. For the re-enactments, they were filmed in Madrid - Spain, Phoenix - Arizona and San Antonio - Texas.
What did they have to do to get permission to film there?
A lot of the re-enactments in The Imposter were filmed in public places. You have to get permission to film in a public place because there are a lot of things that need to be asked about to get permission to film, even if it's just going to be in the background of a shot. For example, iconic, religious and government buildings and also if the public are going to be walking around in the shot, you have to take into consideration that they will be on TV to millions, so it is key that you get permission to film in a public place. If you don't get permission you can be prosecuted for breaching copyright protection and you can be sued.
For The Imposter, they had to get permission from local councils in Madrid, Phoenix and San Antonio to film in public.
Who do you get permission from?
For filming on public land you would need to get authorisation from the appropriate local authority council because they are responsible for public buildings, land, roads and parking. Also you would need full cooperation from local police if you plan to film somewhere such as a public highway or if you need to use special effects, explosives or weapons even if the weapons are just replicas. Also if you have someone who is portraying a uniformed police officers or marked police cars on film you need to get permission for this. The police also need to know about if you film on public roads because they need to make sure that what you are filming is safe and also that you are safe whilst filming on the roads to avoid any road accidents. If filming inside a store or restaurant you need written permission to use the location and you have to include that company's name or trademark but if you are filming outside the store/restaurant you do not need permission.
Facilities
From the same documentary, find out what equipment they might have used, any specialist kit that they needed.
Obviously for any type of production you'll need your basic equipment, cameras, sound equipment etc. As the imposter used lots of interviews, having lights and filters was essential to make the interviews the best they could be. They also might of used special lenses for Frederick Bourdin's interview because of how close up to his face it was so they could get the best quality they could.
In the re-enactment scenes, they will of used specialist equipment to pan the camera in certain shots, for example in the very first re-enactment scene, the camera is positioned on the floor and it slowly goes glides along the floor and then lifts upwards to show the phone box.
What camera, sound, editing equipment will you need to make your documentary, what are the technical specs of these?
For my documentary i will need a suitable video camera, field recorder, shotgun mic, boom pole, tripod, dolly, lights for interviews and filters so i can get defuse lighting and an XLR cable.
What are the cost of hiring things like this?
It can cost from £2000 per day of shooting. This would be for a basic crew and equipment use on a small production.
Why is having the right kit important?
Having the right equipement is important because the quality is key. The better the quality of the camera, the better the production will look as it will look more professional. Having good sound equipment is very important because if you don't have good microphones then you can pick up sounds that you don't want and this could effect your production massively because you might not be able to edit the sounds out completely. Also having a good dolly would be important because if you need to use one outside and the ground isn't completely smooth then your video will be effected because the camera will shake.
Materials/Copyrights
From a documentary that you have seen what archive or materials from other films/programmes have they used? Who would they need clearance from to use this footage?
In The imposter they used phone recordings from the police, pieces of evidence such as fingerprint files. Also home videos from the Barkley family were used. Clearance from the Barkley family will have been needed to use the home videos. Also they will of needed clearance from the FBI, the police in America and Spain. Also, when we find out about all the people that Frederick Bourdin has pretended to be in the past, several people's names were mentioned so they would need to get clerance for that too.
Have they used popular music, who would they have to get clearance from?
To get clearance for the music used in the imposter they would need to get clearance from the artist or the people who represent that artist. You have to give credit to the use of the music and this would be shown in the end credits.
What is PRS?
PRS is Performing Rights Society Limited. It is a society which songwriters, composers and music publishers become members of so they can get paid for people to use their music. PRS collects licence fees from anyone that uses music that isn't their own for business benefit use and then pays royalties to music the creators of the music all over the world and the UK.
Why should you find things that are royalty free?
Royalty free music is a popular music license model for all types of project producers. This means you do not have to pay the music producer/writer to play their song every time it is played. For example, the well known theme tune to popular show 'I Love Lucy' did not have a royalty free license and every time it was aired the channel broadcasting it had to pay.
Materials/Contributors
From a documentary of your choice, find out who the contributors were, who have they interviewed? Were their any specialist advisors they needed to make the documentary?
The people who were interviewed in The Imposter were:
- Frederick Bourdin - The Imposter
- Beverly Dollarhide - Nicholas Barkley's mother
- Carey Gibson - Nicholas Barkley's sister
- Charlie Parker - PI on the case
- Nancy Fisher - FBI Special Agent
- Brain Gibson - Nicholas Barkley's brother in law
- Codey Gibson - Nicholas Barkley's Nephew
- Bruce Perry - Paediatric Psychiatrist
- Phillip French - US Consul at the American Embassy in Madrid
Specialist advisors will have been used to make sure that all the facts are correct and that nothing presumptuous or offensive was being said in the documentary.
Maddi Mullins
ReplyDeletePersonnel: you need to pick two or three of the roles (editor etc) and do some research more generally about what qualifications you need to do this role
Finance: you need to find out specifically the different people/institutions you can go to to get funding to make a film in the UK (screenshot them or link to their websites) You should also find out roughly how much the cameras etc. cost to hire.
Locations: you need to do more research about how you get permission to film in these places find the contact websites/people you need to speak to film in these places
Facilities: you need to do some research about the current industry standard cameras and sound equipment to make/edit a production, and get links or screenshots about their technical spec and their hire rates in the UK. think about how some documentaries would need more specialist kit and get some examples, explain renting out kit links in with how important it is to stick to your shooting schedule
Materials/copyrights:, perhaps use another documentary that uses music and clips from other people and then try to find me a specific email or person at a channel/music label that you would need to contact to get clearance. Find out what PRS is? Why should you try to find things that are ‘royalty free’.
More detailed research and more time on this assignment is needed to achieve a distinction