Logistics Of Production

Logistics - the detailed organisation and implementation of a complex operation.

• Why is it important to budget and to pre-plan expenditure for a media production?

It is important to pre-plan the budget and expenditure before the start of a media production due to the amount of different factors that are considered by film makers. One of the main things they need to think about is making a high budget film as this could be very risky to production companies and film companies as it is possible they may not make all that money back if the film isn't as popular as expected. In order to inform the cast and crew of where they need to be and when, film call sheets are issued a few days before needed in order to move on with the film as quickly as possible without any delays. However, if one of the cast members reads the wrong sheet for the wrong day, this could delay filming which would cost the film company more money, because of the delay, the company will have to rearrange all the sheets in order to make up the time. 

• Give an example of how even when pre-planning and budgeting happens, unforeseen circumstances can affect production.

Unforeseen circumstances has happened in many situations in the film making industry. For example, in the Star Wars movie, the directors had to delay when the film was being made as it was being filmed in the desert. At that particular time they wanted to film in the desert, there was a huge sand storm which delayed the filming, which then went on to delay the production of the film and when it was released. Also, during the film 'Mission : Impossible Fallout', Tom Cruise broke his leg which didn't have as much of an impact as the director decided to film the scenes which could be covered by a stunt double, which would mean they will just rearrange when they create the scenes with Tom Cruise in due to his broken leg and not being able to walk. 

• Outline some of the logistics for pre-production, production and post production stages of a film's production.

Film and commercial requires a lot of hard work and planning. Everything and everyone has to be in the right place at the right time, which means arranging transport for all the cast and crew along with all props and necessary equipment. 

During pre-production, filmmakers have to consider budget before hand and consider all the costs included. Budget is spent on obvious things such as, actors and crew, props, costumes and camera equipment. There are other costs such as, transportation (for the actors, for example, if it is being filmed elsewhere, the actors and crew would need a way f transport to get there), feeding the crew, hiring locations and facility and paying for clearances. Pre-production includes a lot of planning, especially to create call sheets for specific scenes. Call sheets are a basic timetable for that particular days film including; locations, scene changes, actors clothing, production details, props, technical aspects, cast call, crew call and time constraints (e.g. breakfast, lunch, dinner and more importantly, daylight hours, etc). During the production, it makes sense for the industry to have full order books, since these insure turnover growth on expected profits. Some of the budget needs to be saved for post production as as you possibly need to pay for permission to use music if it is needed. Some members of the crew can get paid differently to others. For example, one member of the crew could get paid on a royalties basis, which means you pay them less up front, so the filmmakers have more money to spend on the production, despite having to pay them a bigger percentage of the profit if the production is successful. This is better for the crew to be paid this way as the film could be very successful and they will make much more money that they would if they had a salary. However, if the film is not successful, they will not be able to make the money they should have earned. Filmmakers might be paying for the crew and equipment, it is very important they run to schedule as they might run over the cost and this will result in costing more and they may blow their budget and run out of money. To make sure this doesn't happen, they need to make sure they produce a detailed production schedule.