I have decided to some some further research into what goes into being a producer and any additional roles that I will be undertaking.
I looked into a few articles and found a list of duties and responsibilities that a Producer must undertake.
Organizing Staff
One of your most important duties as a producer is hiring the director, casting director, crew, and other upper-level members of the project. Once you have the cast and crew in place, you would need to delegate responsibility to each department. As the producer, you would be responsible for making decisions that may override the decisions made by others on your staff, including sometimes the director.
Budgetary Concerns
The other major duty of a producer is creating a film, television show, or other project while working within the confines of a set budget. As a producer, you would be responsible for determining how much the production should cost, and then you would need to secure funding for it ,either through a studio, investors, or even your personal funds. Once the funding has been secured, it would be your responsibility as the producer to make certain that each department was working within its budget. If a department was over budget, it would be your responsibility to either find the appropriate funding for it or reel in costs.
Other Duties
Beyond hiring staff and crew and ensuring that the operation stays within its budget, you, as a producer, would be responsible for setting the rehearsal and filming schedule, multitasking within a fast-paced environment, communicating with all of the key players, and troubleshooting any issues regarding cast, crew, or budget. They are sometimes also involved in auditioning and selecting cast members, and are often charged with scheduling any cast and crew meetings that take place during the duration of the project.
Producer
The producer is essentially in charge of making the film happen, they may even be responsible for hiring the Director and Writer to execute a concept (which could be their own, or anyone else's). Once the production is underway the producer will be in charge of co-ordinating the shoot and be responsible for acquiring anything the production needs for the film to happen (cameras, locations, props etc).
They don't necessarily decide what those things are - for example the DOP will say what camera the production might need, the Director will say "can we get this location?". It's the Producer's job to try and get hold of these things and negotiate on price etc, also to keep and eye on the budget to make sure that departments aren't overspending.
The producer is essentially in charge of making the film happen, they may even be responsible for hiring the Director and Writer to execute a concept (which could be their own, or anyone else's). Once the production is underway the producer will be in charge of co-ordinating the shoot and be responsible for acquiring anything the production needs for the film to happen (cameras, locations, props etc).
They don't necessarily decide what those things are - for example the DOP will say what camera the production might need, the Director will say "can we get this location?". It's the Producer's job to try and get hold of these things and negotiate on price etc, also to keep and eye on the budget to make sure that departments aren't overspending.
The Writer & Producer may be the same person... Tim Burton is the producer for Nightmare Before Christmas, which he also wrote the story for, though Henry Selick directed and there was also an additional credit for the screenplay.
As a producer in a student film, I must always be considering the budget and if any locations or props need to be changed or negotiated a price with the company. I will need to make sure I am confident when approaching the location and cast as this way it will allow me to show that I am professional and I'll be able to negotiate more if they take me seriously.
"You need a combination of business acumen and salesmanship, but you also need to know how to spot a great story when you see one," says Janine Marmot, who was a producer for many years before becoming director of film at Skillset. "Producing can also be a very long journey from start to finish: it's not uncommon for a film to take five or seven years to make. It's not enough to read a short story or newspaper article and think: 'That would make a great film.' You need to actually make it happen, by pulling together all the different strands, from financing to casting." - Producer Janine Marmot
I also found some tips on an article to help produce a micro budget film.
Have a "home base" location during production.
''When you're filming, much time is lost to loading in and wrapping out. When you need to shoot 5, 6, 7, or even 8 (yikes!) pages a day, you will rue the time your crew spends lugging c-stands up a four story walk-up. Write one primary location into the script. Somewhere you can shoot (for free) for perhaps half of your shoot days. The shoot days spent here will be walk-aways. You can pre-light. If you're lucky, you can even use this spot during prep as your production office/rehearsal space/wardrobe and art staging.''
I think this is really helpful and it's definitely something I will consider as I think if I use one of our free locations or even where we live (as its very close to another location) as somewhere all the actors can relax and we can prep the shoot, it will make the shoot a lot more relaxed. The actors will feel at ease and we can always know we are prepared for the film before hand, without worrying on locations that we are paying by the hour for.
I also found some responsibilities that are broken down from pre-production, to production to post production.
Preproduction
- Find material from a book or script.
- Get the script into good enough shape to attract a director (and studio, if this is not a studio-initiated production).
- Secure financing for the film, if it is not being made for a studio.
- Choose the director and other parts of the creative team.
- Cast the actors, working with the director.
- Determine locations and budget.
- Decide on cinematographer and special effects.
- Hire a production team including crew and producers.
- Develop a shooting schedule.
- Create a detailed plan of action for production.
Production
- Offer creative suggestions to the director.
- Handle problems with actors or creative staff.
- Monitor production timetable and budget.
- Review video dailies, the film shot each day.
Postproduction
- Discuss order and selection of scenes with the director.
- Review the fine cut of the film after it is edited.
- In some cases, polish, revise and restructure the film to create the final cut.
- Work with a distributor to secure distribution for the film. This may include showing the distributors the final cut of the film.
- Review the distributor's advertising campaign for the film.
This is really helpful in sorting out what I'm actually going to be doing throughout the film and looking over my responsibilities for what I will be doing in the pre production, which i'm looking forward to. I need to remember to create a production schedule for next year and always keep my cast and crew organised and up to date.
I also found a link with lots of templates and documents that I can use when creating call sheets, rehearsal documents and the filming schedule!
I also found a link with lots of templates and documents that I can use when creating call sheets, rehearsal documents and the filming schedule!
https://www.screenaustralia.gov.au/filmmaking/Sample_paperwork/production.aspx
Sources:
http://learn.org/articles/What_Are_the_Duties_and_Responsibilities_of_a_Producer.html
https://www.quora.com/What-are-the-main-roles-of-the-producer-director-writer-and-actor-in-a-film
http://www.independent.co.uk/student/career-planning/getting-job/its-less-glamorous-than-directing-but-film-producing-can-be-the-reel-deal-800908.html
http://www.indiewire.com/article/10-tips-for-successfully-producing-a-micro-budget-feature
No comments:
Post a Comment