Film Industry PDE

FILM INDUSTRY 

PRODUCTION

Most people think making a film takes only a short time however there are many stages to making a film and it starts with an idea.

                                                      

Idea

To have an idea takes time and preparation and involves many people. It all starts with an inspiration it can be from anywhere however ideas cost millions this is why most people take out an errors and emissions insurance  to protect against copyright. James Cameron the producer and director of Avatar said his inspiration came from "every single science fiction book".

Development Finance 

This stage is to turn a rough idea into final script ready for production, but it costs money. To get this money producers must use persuasion to get the financial backup for the development of the script. This is essential as without this it the financial backing the film has no chance of being seen or made.

Script Development

With the development finance secured it is down to the writer to make deliver the product to the producer. The writer firstly makes a synopsis and the producer is to agree with what parts of the script he likes and what he does not. This is very important for the producer as the script have to be right so that the film can engage the audience and be the best that it could be. This part of the production process takes a long time every last word must be up to standard. When it came to Avatar both James Cameron and the writer worked on the script for 2 years originally as James Carmon wanted to film Avatar in 1999 just after he had filmed Titanic however he believed the right technology was not available for his vision and even when script was ready James Cameron said he had changed the script during filming and even improvise.

Packaging

With the script complete the director and producer decide how they want to film the movie and who to employ. Well known stars are the people who usually get employed as it will attract their fans to watch the film. Avatar producer James Cameron employed stars such as Sam Worthington who has gain awards such as teen choice and MTV award but has also stared in movies such as The Clash Of the Titans, Zoe Zaldana also stared in Avatar and has stared in the award winning Pirates of the Caribbean and has won two Golden Globes and a BAFTA. Even the director is well-known for his films such as True Lies, The terminator, Titanic and has also received a walk of fame in December 2009 after Avatar. The producer must know how much the film will actually cost from a business position.

Financing

Film making is an expensive business and the producer must secure enough funding to make the film the highest standard possible. Finances can be anywhere in the world that's why producers have to travel to secure investment. Avatars estimated budget was $280 Million however $150 for marketing. The final budget however came at $237 Million.

Pre-Production

With finance secured the full cast and crew are hired and the detailed preparation for the shoot begins. once all the head of departments are hires the shooting script is circulated and pre-production begins.

The Shoot 

A Large production can involve hundreds of people, it is a constant struggle to keep things on schedule, especially the budget. Shooting begins the producer breaths a huge sigh of relief. Avatar took 14 years to make this is a big risk considering the competition of different movies however turned out to be very successful as it is the highest grossing movie with a box office of over $2 billion and gained over $1 Billion in 19 days from its cinema release.

Post production

Post production usually starts during the shoot as soon as the first 'rushes' -raw footage is available. It gets to the editor, he/she/they turn it into scenes and assembles it together. The editors of avatar which were James Cameron John Refua and Stephan E.Rivkin used computer-generated characters to create and capture the motion.

Sales

While the film is still in post the producer it trying to sell it. To sell it to the public themselves they need a distributor. To help sell the film to have distributors the producer secures the services of sales agent to help the producer sell the film to the public. Avatars distributor was Century Fox.

Marketing

As the finishing touches are being made the film, the distributors plan their strategy of marketing and selling the film. Knowing the audience is essential and the marketing team runs test screenings to see how the film is received.

Expedition

Cinema expedition is still the primary channel for films to reach there audiences and box office success equals financial success. A high profile star-studded premier Is used to launch the film to the public with an exploration of media.

Other Windows

A successful run in cinemas make films a sought after product which can be sold through other more lucrative channels like DVDs, videos and games for the film. Sales for hotel channels and in flight entertainment can bring in millions of additional revenue. After the film was released and was really successful the avatar game came out in December 2009 and so did the action figure dolls. it was also distrubuted in McDonald happy meals in France.

DISTRIBUTION

When it comes to distribution there are different types when it comes to releasing a film :

Theatrical Distribution

Which is a person who is in charge of making sure all the cinemas that they have chosen to show the film has all the tapes so they can screen them. They also make sure that all prints (information about film) are to be give to the head of that distribution company.

Non-Theatrical

This method is used mainly in the British film Industry. This is a screening to only a small audience. The difference between theatrical and non-Theatrical is that non-theatrical only wants to show to a small number of people such as school pupils or people on an airline service.

However when it came to avatar century fox fronted $10 Million to Cameron to film a proof-of-concept dip for avatar which he showed for the executives in October 2005. however shortly fox did not want to back avatar but at the end of the day they just reduced the budget. the executive said "I don't know if were crazier for letting you do this or if your crazier for thinking you can do this". 

MARKETING

There are different ways of marketing you can advertise by internet, print, partnership with other companies such as McDonald's, trailers and radio some company's and studios market their film more than others and spend huge amounts of money as they believe the bigger the campaign the more established the film with be. When it comes to avatar their first photo of the film was released on August 14th 2009. After which James Cameron went to comic-con and from then august the 21st would be 'Avatar day' Followed by the trailer which is now the most viewed trailer worth 4 Million views. Avatar also did the basic advertising which was posters, print on magazines and the advert on Television. Avatar also collaborated with coco-cola company and their distributor to launch a world wide campaign to pro-film. McDonald had a promotion method as well they called it 'Avatarize yourself' where you take a picture of your self and it would change you into a Navi. Avatar even got a celebrity star to sing their theme song 'I see you' which sold many copies globally.

However while most studios rely on the trailers, movie posters and simple social media tactics to attract audiences to theater Pixar had gone a step further when it came to 'Monster University'. They created an entire website to fit the theme and storyline of the film they even sold  t-shirts and other merchandise you can actually buy. 

 

EXPEDITION

This is the way people see films. Most people see films in cinema or they wait until the movie comes out on DVD.

Different People interact differently in different ways for example character personal identification. This is when a actor in a movie resembles someone or maybe themselves.The audience may know they connect with the actor and therefore engage with the film. Avatar is a film which establishes a world everyone would love to live in so when watching the film it gratifies the audience it allows the audience to escape from their daily grind and become part of the movie which is engages them even more.