The Process of Filmmaking
Hello, creatives!
It’s been a while since I’ve blogged in the Play. category. As a refresher, Play. blog posts explore the inner workings of music, podcasts, and movies, which is what I’ll be dissecting today.
That’s right, I’m talking about filmmaking: the five-step process to create a film.
The 5 Steps to Filmmaking
Step 1 of Filmmaking: Development
Development is where the concept comes to life. A creative professional who has a great idea for the silver screen partners with a scriptwriter. Scriptwriting alone can take anywhere from a few months to a few years depending on a number of factors such as how many are on the team to how long the creative process is for the individual.
Once a script is nailed down, the script is put in the hands of agents to find the perfect director/producer for the film. Again, this process varies on the genre, expected budget, the timing of other movie releases in the market, and personal preferences when seeking out people to turn the script into a film.
This is also the part where anything could happen (or, in other words, go wrong). Plenty of movies are killed in the development stage for various reasons, just take a look at the Star Trek franchise and it’s bumpy return after a hiatus.
From bad timing in the market to troubles getting greenlit for production, Star Trek phase 2 had a lot of setbacks to being made into a film.
Step 2 of Filmmaking: Pre-Production
The pre-production step in the filmmaking process is all about logistics. Where will the filming take place? What equipment is needed to pull it off? Who will be the actors? How many people are needed behind the scenes? How will everyone get paid?
You get the picture.
Everything from the costumes to the filming schedule is taken care of before any of the cameras start rolling. It’s a stressful process and requires a team that are masters of organization. Some titles that get this job done include:
Director: the person who establishes the vision for the film
Line Producer/Unit Production Manager: the person who negotiates crew contracts and ensures the film stays on budget
Director of Photography: the person who works as the righthand to the Director to build the aesthetic of the film based on the shot list provided by the director
This is also the point in the process of filmmaking where the world within the script takes form, but the actual shooting doesn’t begin until production.
Step 3 of Filmmaking: Production
This is where filming actually begins. All the people that were hired and logistics planned out in pre-production get rolling. The process can be a well-oiled machine even in the chaos of potentially hundreds of people in different departments who may or may not interact with each other at all work in tandem to create the movie.
The process of filming a movie can take as little as a few weeks to a few months, again depending on genre, budget, cast & crew size etc etc. So while this may be the shortest step in the timeline of events that gets the script to the screen, it’s the step that is the reason for the script in the first place.
Here’s the behind-the-scenes of filming ‘1917’, which required an elaborate pre-production phase and scrupulous production to create the vision of the film. At one point, the actors in this mini-feature talk about how they got lost in their character because of how immersive the set was.
Step 4 of Filmmaking: Post-Production
Post-production can overlap with the tail end of production. This step of filmmaking requires pieces together the raw footage to create the film, adding special effects, CGI, and sometimes reshooting some scenes. It’s a painstaking and highly detailed process that requires a team of expert editors. This process can take a few weeks to a few months to a few years (in the case of The New Mutants), depending on the length, complexity, and market of the film.
What’s fascinating about this part of the process is that a drastically different type of movie can be made depending on how the scenes are sliced. And sometimes, audience previews can determine the direction in which a movie is made. For example, The Karate Kid (the one with Jaden Smith and Jackie Chan) had to edit out a few scenes for it to be played in theatres in China. The scenes where Jaden’s character is bullied were removed for the sake of appealing to the audience. This changed the narrative of the movie from a kid who was being bullied at school to a kid who was experiencing culture shock and taking his anger out on the kids at his school, thus being the bully.
Other examples of rough cuts changing to please audiences or studio executives include nearly every recent addition to the Star Wars saga, several Disney movies, and some surprising classics. So, just because a film is in post-production doesn’t mean it’s out of the woods yet.
Step 5 of Filmmaking: Distribution
This is where a film is literally out of the woods (or studio). Because this is where the film is finalized for release. Given the latest shakeups in the industry in 2020, the distribution looks more and more like digital over theatrical releases will be favored in the foreseeable future. But contracts still have to be drafted to release these films on Amazon or in theatre chains. For movies to be considered for industry awards, theatrical releases are required for at least a few weeks. So, the theatre may not be dead yet, but it definitely isn’t what it used to be.
On top of landing distribution deals, marketing is a big expense. From digital ads to billboards and bus stop signs, there’s plenty of ways to get people’s attention. The goal, however, is to stay “top of mind” so that when the release date comes, people remember that the film is out and will watch it. Take the live-action Mulan, for instance, which is one of the few movies that have gone forward with releasing the film digitally. Marketing has been heavy and featured several different styles of digital, posters, bus ads and sneak peeks. The biggest and possibly fatal flaw for its Diseny+ release was announcing too soon that it would be available without Premier Access (which costs $30). That announcement incentivized people to wait until December to watch it without paying additional money for it.
This is simply one example of how the decisions made during distribution can affect the overall profitability of a movie and thus, determine any franchise’s fate. In this case, Mulan will more likely than not have a sequel because of Disney being a heavyweight in the industry. But smaller studios with lesser-known directors may not have the same fate.
That’s all I have for today. I hope this was insightful. Next time, we’ll be taking a look at what happens when a book becomes a movie.
Until Next Time,
Rochele
P.S. Are you working on a film that needs a marketing strategy? Let’s work together! Fill out the form and I’ll be in touch to book a discovery call for either a brand coaching session or my strategic planning consulting service.