The Three Stages of Commercial Film Production

Posted November 27, 2019

Films have their way of ferrying us to a different world. The past of film extends far ago, as ancient as Greece’s theatre and dance, which had many of the similar components in today’s film world. But technical progress in the film has occurred quickly over the past 100 years. Beginning in the Victorian era, many types of camera equipment, projectors and film sizes have been improved and assimilated, establishing the film industry we know presently. But have you ever wondered how these fantastic experiences transform from a mere idea to the screens as virtual reality?

The various stages in commercial film production that turn insight into paper to bring it in front of millions of people are as follows:

Pre-production:

Pre-production is an intellectual procedure in 3 Stages of Filmmaking. This method converts the story from your brain to paper. It is further encompasses:

Script Writing: Scriptwriting, is the art and craft of writing scripts for mass media such as feature movies, ad productions or video games.
Location Hunting: Locations are required for enactment. The choice of locations is the one which makes your story live.
Shot Break Down: In Shot Break Down, a chart for every individual shot is mentioned scene wise. In that Shot size, storytime, shooting time etc. is referred to.
Property and Art: Artificial sets are expensive, but one has to include it in the budget. This feature makes the frame natural.
Costumes: Costume required for characters as the story progresses. They must be collected and separated scene wise. It makes it manageable to keep up in shooting days.
Equipment lists like Camera and Light: The usage of cameras are per prerequisite and allowance. Light is as essential as a camera. Shooting cannot proceed without light.
Crew: People need a squad to work because no one can work as a one-person army. They include the Direction, camera, editing, art & property, costume, light, production team etc.
Budget: Planning on a budget is one of the main conditions. Any delay in the shooting will increase the budget.
Floorplan: Floor planning is detailing the when, Where and How the scenes will be shot.

Production: This is the second step in the process. It is practical work with team everyone doing duties in their department. If any division is not doing well, then retakes are done. So every individual part of the crew whether camera, Direction, acting, sound, costume, makeup etc. has to focus on that shot to achieve the Director’s imagination. Retakes imply the budget of the film is rising, so remember, the actors have to be prepared along with other units in pre-production.

Post Production: Postproduction is the editing of audio and visual materials to develop a film. These components are intertwined together to forge a multisensory affair we call a movie. It entails:

Editing: the footage is transferred to an editing system, like Avid or Final Cut Pro. The editor begins cutting the film, guided by the vision of the Director.
Sound edit: Sound editors are accountable for compiling the audio tracks of a film, eliminating unwanted noise, and building sound effects.
Music: Most dramatic films have a unique score, accentuating the mood or action of a setting.
Visual Effects: Artists and designers make up the special effects squad. They build the computer-generated visuals for a film.
Sound Mix: When all soundtracks are finalised, the sound mixer steps in to modify audio levels. This is a critical step, as the resilience of the sound can handily dominate a scene in case the music is too garish.
Colour Correction: When the picture requires no additional edits or changes, a colourist goes through every shot to digitally adjust and clarify the hues and light to develop continuity and strike a mood.
Graphics: Title, name of products, and graphics are created and added.