Six Stages Of Media Production

In the film industry there are six stages of media production. These are...

1)Negotiating a deal:

The film industry is made up of many major studios and companies such as Warner Brothers, Disney, Sony Pictures, Paramount, Universal and 20th Century Fox. 
Ideas for a new film must be pitched to a studio before it can move on to the next stage (Pre-Production). Once a film has been pitched successfully the studio's producer hires actors/actresses, directors and a crew to work on the film. 

In order for a film idea to be successful, it is suggested that it needs to be:

-A sequel to a recent box-office hit
-A remake of a European box-office hit
-An adaptation of a best selling book
-An original story by a proven scriptwriter
-An original idea from a successful director/star team
-A new twist on a story from a currently popular genre cycle
-Any combination of the above. 

In our thriller, we haven't followed these suggestions completely but we have taken inspiration from successful films and music videos in order to get an idea of what works and what doesn't, we can adapt them to fit our story-line and create a successful thriller.

2)Pre-Production:

In the Pre-Production stage all the planning for the project takes place. During pre-production, the production is split into individual scenes and all the locations, props, cast members, costumes, special effects and visual effects are identified. The script is also written at this stage. Furthermore, a detailed schedule will be produced and then arrangements are made for the necessary elements or people (actors/actresses etc.) to be available to the film-makers at the relevant times.

In terms of how we will use Pre-Production in our thriller we must have a Research and Planning stage. This stage will involve my group creating a storyboard, different ideas on plots for our thriller, some camera angle ideas and some planning drafts. As a group it's essential that we have everything planned out. 

3)Production:

In the Production stage all the filming is carried out. All of the scenes are already planned out in pre-production and are now going to be filmed at the relevant locations. Each scene is filmed as many times as the director deems fit to ensure the best quality scenes will be used to construct the film. Great care must be taken to make sure that all the filming is done correctly and all necessary shots are taken, as it is sometimes difficult to go back and repeat certain shots if the filming is incomplete when it comes to the post-production stage, for example if parts of the film were filmed during winter when it''s snowing.

For our thriller film we realise that this stage is very important and therefore we recognize that research and planning beforehand is the most important stage in regards to helping us when filming. Our thriller film only has to be a 2 minute introduction so we will not be filming for a long period of time like a big film studio would have to, as we only have a few specific shots we need to get.

4)Post-Production:

This is the stage in which the film is assembled by the editor. The first job of the film editor is to build a rough cut taken from sequences based on individual shots. The purpose of the rough cut is to select and order the best shots. The next step is to create a fine cut by getting all the shots to flow smoothly in a seamless story. Trimming is next, it's the process of shortening scenes by a few minutes, seconds, or even frames. After the fine cut has been screened and approved by the director and producer, the picture is "locked," meaning no further changes are made.

In our thriller film post production will include our editing stage (on Adobe Premier Pro) and this is where our group can experiment with different kinds of effects and gradients to see what works best. Everyone in or group will have an input and we will all share some responsibility when it comes to editing. 

5)Distribution and Marketing:
Marketing is the key to power in the media industries, distributors tend to promote and market films in specific areas and negotiate release patterns with exhibitors. In the US the 'major studios' through their own distribution companies or in partnership, took over 80% of the North American market. In the UK, Paramount and Universal, with MGM-UA, are joint owners of the biggest distributor, UIP. In the other important cinema markets around the world the majors may have an agreement with a local distributor, but as the international market grows they are increasingly opening their own offices in every territory. 
In our thriller film we realise that marketing towards a target audience will be beneficial as they are the main people that will view our film, so we decided to do some research into our target audience and even interviewed members of our target audience (young adults) in order to see what they thought of our ideas.

6)Exhibition:
In the US major studios were barred from ownership of significant cinema chains. Overseas there was no such restrictions, and in the last few years Warner Bros and UCI have built multiplexes in many cinema markets, including the UK, where other US chains such as showcase are also receptive to Hollywood films.

It is important that as a group we understand what the process is when films are created, so by looking into the process of exhibition it will help us to further our knowledge of the media industry.