Pre-production areas to consider

Learning aim A: Understand the requirements of pre-production of a digital media product

A1 Requirements for a specific media production

• Types of production: film, television, audio, digital publishing, digital games.

• Finance.

• Sources of finance: private, public, joint financing.

• Requirements of finance: for equipment, crew, transport, materials, clearances, talent, facility hire.

• Logistics.

• Time: deadlines, availability of equipment, availability of personnel, timescales.

• Facilities: production equipment, post-production equipment, facility houses, prop houses, sourcing and costs of facilities.

• Locations: identification; recces; limitations and risks, e.g. distance, access, cost, weather.

• Personnel: technical crew, actors, extras, contributors, e.g. experts, specialists.

• Materials: type, e.g. original materials, archive and library materials, photo-library materials, sound library materials, internet, assets, audio, script, animatics, graphics, interviews, costumes, properties, recorded music, sources; costs; clearances.

• Adherence to codes of practice and regulation.

• Clearances, e.g. Mechanical-Copyright Protection Society (MCPS).

• Legal, e.g. copyright, health and safety.

• Regulations, e.g. Ofcom, Independent Press Standards Organisation (IPSO),

Advertising Standards Authority (ASA).

• Trade unions and professional bodies, e.g. Producers Alliance for Cinema and Television (Pact), National Union of Journalists (NUJ).

A2 The formats for pre-production processes

Established industry formats for presenting pre-production work:

• templates for scripts (written/dialogue/sound)

• written or visual storyboards

• written or visual storylines

• page mock-ups.

 

A3 The functions of pre-production processes

• Revising and discounting ideas.

• Visualising content.

• Establishing feasibility (expertise, costs, timescale, logistics).

A4 The purposes of pre-production documentation

• Adherence to codes of practice and regulation.

• Administrative requirements, e.g. record keeping, sharing of information among relevant parties.

• Auditing compliance.