Producing a film involves many things, including script, budget, locations, and actors. A larger film project may complicate things further, causing the filmmaker to lose track. Therefore, film production scheduling is vital for filmmakers to keep going the right way.
Production scheduling has numerous stages, starting with scriptwriting and concluding a film production. Many producers follow this workflow to ensure the shooting of an organized and successful movie.
Script Idea Development
It is the first stage of film production. Producers might have several original ideas they want to see becoming a screenplay. Some cinematographers may choose to source a specified script or get novel adaptation rights for their films.
Choosing a script that works as a film is essential. It should have an audience and the potential to make money. A script works with budgeting in the early stages of film production to determine how the cinematographer will finance the film. Generally, the first read of the movie script reveals the type of budget needed for the film, whereas genre and CGI effects multiply the expenditure. The filmmaker must read the screenplay many times and absorb the information to know the story inside while making a film.
Script Breakdown
An initial script breakdown is a next step after the producer has chosen a screenplay for their film. It calls for gathering every required element within the script in the early stages of pre-production. Producers can create budget estimations and a preliminary production schedule. They can do the script breakdown for other departments, such as art, later by taking points on film set designs and props.
Producers must know about their entire production cost to begin shooting as soon as possible. They can go through every scene and create a list of needed elements, varying from props to costumes to actors. Then it’s time to find out how many significant props, locations, and setups the film needs.
Filmmakers can do the script breakdown with pen & paper or using the relevant software. Gorilla software, Studio Blinder, Movie Magic Scheduling, and Final Draft 11 are popular film scripts breaking software programs that a filmmaker may use.
Budget Breakdown
No producer can begin pre-production without a budget. While an initial script breakdown lets them recognize what they need to gather to make a movie, breaking down the budget will allow a producer to estimate how much shooting their film will cost them.
Filmmakers can start their film budget breakdown by estimating what they need to pay to their lead actors and primary teams. While filmmakers work like self-employed individuals, their rates vary from person to person. Accordingly, the film schedule and budget will keep changing unless the pre-production stage of a movie ends.
Producers will also list down their locations, equipment, and production design. Ideally, one can break down the relevant costs into parts: pre-production, post-production, during production, and distribution. The general budget breakdown will allow filmmakers to finance their films, though this production stage may take longer to conclude. Producers can use Microsoft Excel or choose suitable film budgeting software like Celtx, Gorilla Budgeting, and Movie Magic Budgeting to keep track of their budgets.
Film Production Scheduling
The next stage is to create a film production schedule, which begins by deciding how many pages of the script the filmmaker aims to shoot every day. For instance, some film studios want to shoot one page of the movie script per day. Generally, low-budget filmmakers can plan to shoot ten pages of the movie script, whereas an average film budget may allow shooting five pages per day. An increased number of shooting days make a movie budget expensive, though attempting to record too many pages of a script a day can drastically reduce the quality of the film.
Producers need to see how many shooting days they can practically afford based on the genre of the film they want to make. They can schedule locations and estimate time for long scenes using their script breakdown. Some producers might shoot all the movie scenes from one site back-to-back to save time, while others may take longer on shots that are vital to the script. Some film scenes and shots naturally take a long time to record, including those requiring stunt work or special equipment like Steadicam.
Filmmakers must understand that their cast and crew may also reduce their energy during the shooting day. Accordingly, they need to arrange the most challenging scenes before lunchtime. One must also give extra time for each day of shooting in case a filmmaker goes over the film production schedule and plans for one additional filming day in the end to complete the pickups. While filmmakers can use a pen & paper for schedule creation, most individuals rely on film production scheduling software programs to complete the task.
