AS 2 - Task Three - Requirements for a Production

Before starting my practical production I have to make sure I look into the requirements for the production. This is important because it helps to make the whole production process go smoothly. By looking at requirements and information before I start I can estimate the money I will need to hire equipment and for travel to the filming destination. It also allows me to find a suitable location beforehand and gives me time to recruit actors and actresses who are willing to take part in my advert. Additionally I can arrange costumes and props in advance so that they are ready to use on the day. When making a production it is vital that the team are given set time frames and budgets as it allows them to have a target to work towards. It also means that there is an organised plan which constantly reassures the clients and the team. It also means that the clients have a date to look forward to, which means that the time scale is more important as we don't want to disappoint them. 

There are different requirements that I need to take into consideration when creating my advert. Firstly there is the requirement of technical equipment. To be able to go ahead with my advert I must get hold of a camera/camcorder. There are many ways I can do this, but I will rent mine from a website which lends them for a certain price per day;

http://www.hireacamera.com/camcorders/xdcamex.asp

This website offers out tripods, cameras and camcorders for rent and you pay by the day for example if I wanted to hire out a Canon XF100 I can get it for £61 per day ex VAT. This is a good idea as we will be filming for around 3 days which means the cost can be split evenly between our production group and we can get all the filming we need done. We also need to take into consideration the idea that we may also need to hire out a microphone and a boom pole in case the sound quality is not very good on the camera. We will spend all day filming the shots to make sure that we get enough to make a successful advertisement, filming all day allows us to get extra shots in case we need any more than our original plan, ensuring that we don't have to hire out the camcorder again to get shots we may have missed. After each session of filming I will ensure that a copy of the shots will be saved on a computer as a back up option if the camera breaks down. 

The next requirement we need to take into consideration is the potential filming locations. Initially we decided to film in a public area such as a marketplace or shopping mall, but after some careful consideration we decided that the best place to film would be inside a house as it is free and we don't require any specific permission to film there, other than the homeowners themselves, which are likely to be a member of family or a friends parent. In order to film at a house I would need to either ask my parent or contact a friend and see who would be willing to let us film there. The location we want to film at will be within walking distance. There are not as many problems with a house location as there would be if we were filming in a public area, but there are some, for example lighting may not be right and to be able to make a successful production the lighting needs to be sufficient, also there is a chance that maybe the electricity may run out or there may be a power cut, meaning we would have to stop filming for that day, which in turn would affect the rate at which we create our production. If something comes up and we can't film at this location there are many other places to film; http://filmlondon.org.uk/ is a website that displays the best places to film in London. There are a range of locations to choose from on the website which means we have plenty of back up options if we cannot film in our original location. 

Next is the requirement of actors and actresses. For my advert I am going to look for volunteers aged between 16-25 so that I can make a good advert that engages people of a similar age to the actors and actresses. I don't have a specific gender that I need for my advert, but they are likely to be mainly female. However we need to take into consideration the results we received from the market research which showed that mainly females bought headphones, so to make our advert even more successful we need to create something that also appeals to males. When looking for people to act in my advertisement I am going to contact friends and let them volunteer to be in my production. I can achieve this by organising auditions. I would set the potential clients a page of dialogue which they would go away and learn, I would then arrange a place and a time when the candidates can come in and audition one by one. After this I will then look at each of the auditions and carefully choose the right person for my production. If I was to hire a well known actor they would have to be paid a sufficient amount in order for them to accept the role, the rate would be set hourly so that they don't face the risk of being underpaid. Additionally if I was to cast unknown actors the advert may not be as much of a success compared to having a well known actor in it, however if I provide them with an excellent role and they portray it well then it could mean that more people would watch the advert and want to buy the product. There will be no members of the public involved, therefore we will not need to get permission from them. However, if we do end up with a member of the public in the back of a shot I will ensure that I have produced a form which I would ask them to sign ensuring that they will not sue me.  

Time scale and budget is also another requirement which needs to be taken into consideration whilst making my production. The average time scale we have suggested is roughly around a month, which includes planning, sourcing materials, filming and editing. As there is a lot that needs to be done to create a successful production we have allowed there to be a few extra weeks after we have passed the original one month time scale. This is just to ensure that the advert is made to the best of our ability. The budget for the production is a decent amount as our plan was to make an advert using only our own belongings and locations, the only money we need to spend is on the hiring out of the camera as we don't have access to one for free. However we have allowed a budget of around £1000 just in case we have to pay for any repairs or extra props. Also, if something happen and it turn out we can't record on a certain day we have to take into consideration the extra costs for the camera hire. 

The last requirement we need is costumes and props. To make my advert I will need to make sure that I have all of the props I need in order to make it successful. The main prop I will need is some headphones as that is what our advert will be based on, we will also need some books so that we can create the revision scenes. As we are creating an advert for headphones we will not have to pay for them, which means we save money. I will use my own belongings for the advert as that saves money, which means more can be put towards the hire cost for the camera. After we have finished with the props they will be stored in my home which means they will be safe and out of the way. It also means they will not get lost somewhere. The initial idea was that no money would be spent on costumes and props as I was going to use my own belongings, but there will be a budget of £1000 to ensure that if anything happens to them we can afford to buy new props and costumes without having to worry about the cost. This money will be useful if we can't get hold of the costumes from our own belongings. I have made sure that I know what shop to go to if I cannot get the right outfits, I want to make sure that the people in my advert are wearing casual clothes, which is a pair of jeans and a t-shirt/jumper.