Type: The type of production that we have been asked to produce and then write up about to this blog is a single camera drama, that will be for one episode only, for the channel of BBC3 that lasts for 3-4 minutes, set for the chosen target audience (16-24yr olds). As the BBC shoot in HD, that is how my team and I will also be shooting.
Finance: As we are lucky enough to have a studio within the college and the locations that we are planning to use are within walking distance of our college and area, we won't need to travel or pay out for hardly anything we usually would. However, if we were to do this for real then we would need to think of all the things we would need to finance for; renting out equipment, making sure we always have transport to get us to various locations, our own talent crew, general materials, facility hiring and clearances. For the type of drama that my team and I are going to produce, the category that we would fall into would be Drama 1 and the cost would range from £50k-£375k per hour. The category that we fall into covers a range of low cost output primarily for daytime. But because we are doing this for BBC3 it will be put up on the screens from 7pm-9pm as this channel does not broadcast until 7pm. This way of commissioning is different to ITV/SKY because as well as having commissioning they also have sponsoring and product & placement. By them doing this it means that they have other ways of gaining money to put towards there program. Another way of getting money through/for a short film is something called crowdfunding: "Kickstarter" - basically "crowd financing" - this is where you ask a large amount of people, asking each for a small amount of money that they an give towards the program. Seeing as the reason why we are creating this drama (in the real world) would be to make it get a high volume of viewers and gain plenty of profit for ourselves, so having as many types of sponsoring, etc, for our own sake of getting more profit.
Time: As an aim, my production team and I, hope to have all the pre-production work finished by the December 4th 2013. We gave ourselves this deadline so that we could start our filming process by December 11th 2013. By doing it this way, it gives ourselves an achievable goal to try and have our filming complete (if not complete, nearly) before we have time off, and away from each other for the Christmas break. While we are in college we have availability for the equipment that we will need. But because there are other groups that will be wanting and needing to use the equipment as well, my production team and I have decided that we will book our equipment for hiring a week before we plan to shoot. This would be exactly the same, if this was being done realistically, as we would need to make sure we had got hold on the equipment in time, and no relying on the fact that the hiring company will always have something for us to use, because they might not.
The availability for personnel will always be on point because my production team is just 3 members, therefore as long as we are all in the college on the days necessary then we will have all of the team here. Seeing as there is only 3 of us in our team oppose to 15+ people in a crew then we will be covering the roles of the producer, directer, camera man, lighting, boom operators, make-up & stylists, assistance, catering, and more. Seeing as ours is only a drama lasting 3-4 minutes long then we would probably only need "1 person: Directer-camera", which would cost about £550 per day. We were also thinking about including tracking in our short camera drama, and for this we would need a "WollyDolly track & Dolly" which would be £100 per day - but because we will be doing ours through college hours, it would cost us £5. We also might decide to use the fig-rig as well which would cost us £10. As we are doing a voice over as well we will be needing to use a potable sound booth, which would roughly cost about £400 to hire out for a day. Plus having the Audacity software on the Apple Mac that we'd have to connect it to. Throughout our drama, we will be having a voice over throughout the piece. We are unsure as to one of us will be doing this, or the girl who is playing the voiceover part as you hear her voice in the opening scene ("conversation"), but in the real world we would definitely have to hire a voice-over artist, if we did not want the same actors, which per "record" costs £250-£400 an hour, for an average of a 20 minute script.
Looking into the timescale clearances, seeing as me and my production team are hoping to use the instrumental version of a song, if we were to do this professionally we would have to look into copyright. During doing this I found this website below:
http://www.prsformusic.com/creators/memberresources/how_it_works/Documents/BBC%20Prior%20Approval%20Summary%20Table.pdf
This is the BBC's public service blanket licence. Seeing as we are producing our drama for BBC3 then we are able to get away with using the track that we want to. It would come under Dramatico-Musical Works, and be free of charge as long as it is under the duration of 20 minutes. I also found out that the BBC are linked with many of record deals in order to be able to play them throughout there drama's and adverts.
The availability for personnel will always be on point because my production team is just 3 members, therefore as long as we are all in the college on the days necessary then we will have all of the team here. Seeing as there is only 3 of us in our team oppose to 15+ people in a crew then we will be covering the roles of the producer, directer, camera man, lighting, boom operators, make-up & stylists, assistance, catering, and more. Seeing as ours is only a drama lasting 3-4 minutes long then we would probably only need "1 person: Directer-camera", which would cost about £550 per day. We were also thinking about including tracking in our short camera drama, and for this we would need a "WollyDolly track & Dolly" which would be £100 per day - but because we will be doing ours through college hours, it would cost us £5. We also might decide to use the fig-rig as well which would cost us £10. As we are doing a voice over as well we will be needing to use a potable sound booth, which would roughly cost about £400 to hire out for a day. Plus having the Audacity software on the Apple Mac that we'd have to connect it to. Throughout our drama, we will be having a voice over throughout the piece. We are unsure as to one of us will be doing this, or the girl who is playing the voiceover part as you hear her voice in the opening scene ("conversation"), but in the real world we would definitely have to hire a voice-over artist, if we did not want the same actors, which per "record" costs £250-£400 an hour, for an average of a 20 minute script.
Looking into the timescale clearances, seeing as me and my production team are hoping to use the instrumental version of a song, if we were to do this professionally we would have to look into copyright. During doing this I found this website below:
http://www.prsformusic.com/creators/memberresources/how_it_works/Documents/BBC%20Prior%20Approval%20Summary%20Table.pdf
This is the BBC's public service blanket licence. Seeing as we are producing our drama for BBC3 then we are able to get away with using the track that we want to. It would come under Dramatico-Musical Works, and be free of charge as long as it is under the duration of 20 minutes. I also found out that the BBC are linked with many of record deals in order to be able to play them throughout there drama's and adverts.
Personnel: The availability for personnel will always be on point because my production team is just 3 members in my class, therefore as long as we are all in the college on the days necessary then we will have all of the team here. Seeing as there is only 3 of us in our team oppose to 15+ people in a crew then we will be covering the roles of the producer, directer, camera man, lighting, boom operators, make-up & stylists, assistance, catering, and more. Seeing as ours is only a drama lasting 3-4 minutes long then we would probably only need "1 person: Directer-camera", which would cost about £550 per day. We were also thinking about including tracking in our short camera drama, and for this we would need a "WollyDolly track & Dolly" which would be £100 per day - but because we will be doing ours through college hours, it would cost us £5. We also might decide to use the fig-rig as well which would cost us £10. As we are doing a voice over as well we will be needing to use a potable sound booth, which would roughly cost about £400 to hire out for a day. Plus having the Audacity software on the Apple Mac that we'd have to connect it to. Throughout our drama, we will be having a voice over throughout the piece. One of us will be doing this for us, but in the real world we may have to hire a voice-over artist, which per "record" costs £250-£400 an hour, for an average of a 20 minute script. And finally, we would obviously need a camera, to record with and for us (if we were to do this in college hours of the lesson the cost would be £0) it would be £10 to hire out the camera we need; Sony A1 Camera.
All 3 members of my production team have very little/next to no skills or experience and we will be learning how to do all of the various roles in short camera drama-making as we go along. We are having to take on all of the roles of making a single camera drama, such as; camera operators, producers, writers, directors, sound, continuity, scripts, etc. This will be a challenge but because all 3 of us will all be taking on all of the roles in should come together better and easier if we are all doing them all at the same time.http://www.creationvideo.co.uk/about/service-rates
All 3 members of my production team have very little/next to no skills or experience and we will be learning how to do all of the various roles in short camera drama-making as we go along. We are having to take on all of the roles of making a single camera drama, such as; camera operators, producers, writers, directors, sound, continuity, scripts, etc. This will be a challenge but because all 3 of us will all be taking on all of the roles in should come together better and easier if we are all doing them all at the same time.http://www.creationvideo.co.uk/about/service-rates
Facilities: Seeing as ours is only a drama lasting 3-4 minutes long then we would probably only need "1 person: Directer-camera", which would cost about £550 per day. We were also thinking about including tracking in our short camera drama, and for this we would need a "WollyDolly track & Dolly" which would be £100 per day - but because we will be doing ours through college hours, it would cost us £5. We also might decide to use the fig-rig as well which would cost us £10. As we are doing a voice over as well we will be needing to use a potable sound booth, which would roughly cost about £400 to hire out for a day. Plus having the Audacity software on the Apple Mac that we'd have to connect it to. Throughout our drama, we will be having a voice over throughout the piece. One of us will be doing this for us, but in the real world we may have to hire a voice-over artist, which per "record" costs £250-£400 an hour, for an average of a 20 minute script. Because we have a short conversation right at the start of our drama, we will need to hire out a boom operator - this will only cost us £5 to hire out, however if we were doing this realistically, then it would cost us £300 regardless of the fact that it would only be in use for a maximum of an hour. Altogether, if we were to do this for real it would cost my team and I, roughly, about £1,700 and that would only be on the filming equipment, and not including post-production equipment.As me and my team are able to use all of the facilities we need for post-production because we have them within the college it will not cost us anything to use them (or very little). However, if this was really getting broadcasted by BBC3, then it would cost us a lot more. Final Cut Pro editing (inc Director, encoding, Sharefile FTP, DVD authoring as required) would cost £75 an hour or £550 for an 8-hour day. As we already have the facilities within the college to be able to
do a voice over we will not have to pay anything however if this was for real we'd have to pay for; A voice over Studio Service and Engineer which would cost us £80 an hour. http://www.creationvideo.co.uk/about/service-rates
do a voice over we will not have to pay anything however if this was for real we'd have to pay for; A voice over Studio Service and Engineer which would cost us £80 an hour. http://www.creationvideo.co.uk/about/service-rates
Materials: We will need various different types of materials in preparation and for finishing up out short 3-4 minute single camera drama, just as we would need to if we were doing the realistically. The most simple piece of material that we will and would have to produce, which me and my group already have done for our drama, is a script. Seeing as it is only 3-4 minutes long, this means that we will only have 3/4 pages of script. If we were to do this in the real world, then that would still be the same but only if it was the same length of time. So, say if we were to do an hour long program, we would then have to do 60 pages, but the same principle still applies. In terms of costume, my production team and I are lucky seeing as our piece is set in modern date, and we wanted to keep it that way. This meant that we could provide any specific items of clothing for our actors if they were unable to provide it for themselves. However, if we doing this for real, and we wanted to set it in a different era, then we would need different costume/clothing types. For example, if we were setting it in Edwardian times then we would have to dress very differently to now, in which case we would either have to have our clothing items specifically made from scratch or find somewhere to hire it from, or provide for us. An example of a hiring company is this website that I found http://www.alphabravo.tv/slice/what%20we%20provide.html - even though it is only police hiring costumes it shows you what they provide. I was still unable to find out how much it would actually cost to do this, but I would imagine it would cost a fair bit to even hire, as much as if not more than it would for costumes to be basic and made accordingly from scratch. When it came to finding our locations, me and my team had agreed that where we would film. So the locations that we have chosen are not on anyone in particulars property, so we are able to work as freely as we would like to. If we wanted to use a piece of land that someone own, we would have to get there permission and possibly hire it out at a cost. But even in order to get the best location suited for the theme of the drama we would need professionals to go and scout locations for us. Even though this would cost around £350 for the day - it would be necessary as the setting would have to fit perfectly with our drama (http://www.uklocations.co.uk/locations/1375/).
As me and my team would like to have a subtle backing track playing while the voiceover is being spoken throughout the majority of out single camera drama, we are going to have to look into what the rules and regulations are in order to do this. The exact same thing would have to be done if we were doing this for real, and it was actually being broadcasted on BBC3. My team and I would have to look into the Music Programmes Blanket licence. By choosing to do this it would meant that we could manage our music budget cost more easier, and we would be able to use up to 10 million songs and pieces of music. The cost of being able to do this would be a lot of money, so we would have to choose our soundtrack wisely
Time Slot | Television Channel |Per Programme Min Fee (Per 30 Min Programme)
Peak time*Channel 4 = £3,375
Off-peak time (all other times) Channel 4 = £2,000
Anytime Other satellite/cable channel(s) = £2,000
(recorded music)
*everyday 18:00 to 22:59 and Saturday and Sunday T4 slots (09:00 to 14:00 approx).
Because me and my team are taking all of the roles of the different parts to film making - this means that we do not need to find any other sources as we are the sources. But in the real world, we would have to find the professions, whom of which specialize in what we would need them for. For example, instead of how we are doing now by writing and planning out own script, we would have to source a professional scriptwriter and storyboard producer it would cost us £2000 to hire them out, and that is for a short drama 10-20 minutes long.Writing up our ideas but in the professional way, that he/she would do it. We are able to simply look up the music blankets for our own single camera drama but if we were to do it realistically, we would need to get in contact with a different source; a record label so that we would have them work alongside us if need be.
As me and my team would like to have a subtle backing track playing while the voiceover is being spoken throughout the majority of out single camera drama, we are going to have to look into what the rules and regulations are in order to do this. The exact same thing would have to be done if we were doing this for real, and it was actually being broadcasted on BBC3. My team and I would have to look into the Music Programmes Blanket licence. By choosing to do this it would meant that we could manage our music budget cost more easier, and we would be able to use up to 10 million songs and pieces of music. The cost of being able to do this would be a lot of money, so we would have to choose our soundtrack wisely
Time Slot | Television Channel |Per Programme Min Fee (Per 30 Min Programme)
Peak time*Channel 4 = £3,375
Off-peak time (all other times) Channel 4 = £2,000
Anytime Other satellite/cable channel(s) = £2,000
(recorded music)
*everyday 18:00 to 22:59 and Saturday and Sunday T4 slots (09:00 to 14:00 approx).
Because me and my team are taking all of the roles of the different parts to film making - this means that we do not need to find any other sources as we are the sources. But in the real world, we would have to find the professions, whom of which specialize in what we would need them for. For example, instead of how we are doing now by writing and planning out own script, we would have to source a professional scriptwriter and storyboard producer it would cost us £2000 to hire them out, and that is for a short drama 10-20 minutes long.Writing up our ideas but in the professional way, that he/she would do it. We are able to simply look up the music blankets for our own single camera drama but if we were to do it realistically, we would need to get in contact with a different source; a record label so that we would have them work alongside us if need be.
Contributors: For our 3-4 minute single camera drama, I have managed to get in contact with a student that I know, who studies performing arts at Leicester college (Abbey Park Campus). This worked really well for my production team and I, as the girl I knew had a few friends from her class that were willing to come along and be our actresses as well. We need 4 actresses and that was exactly with my friend, Keavy was able to bring. My production team and myself are also lucky that we got people that are studying performing arts and what we need them to do actually does interest them, and then they will be therefore more willing to help us out, and of a good standard at that, oppose to someone that is just having to do it for us, as a last resort, for not being able to find anyone else. As I already knew one of the 4 actresses, me and my team agreed that it would not be necessary to put any kinds of auditions into place. Where as, if this was for real, then we would most definitely need to put auditions in place, and various stages of heats, etc. Obviously, if it was for a longer film we would like to have a very high standard actor, that most people know of - as it would most likely attract more viewers and make people want to see it if that featuring actors have a good reputation for themselves in the film world. As we are just doing a short drama, and if that's what we were doing realistically them a well known celebrity would be good to use, but possibly not an actor as such. But maybe just a popstar or soapstar - someone that people will know instantly but wouldn't cost so much as a very well known and popular actor. In the real world, we would have to also consider things like, if the actor was very well known they may want to do things their own way, and may not take part unless that is how it will take place. For example Tom Cruise always insist that he uses he own stunts and if he is not allowed to do this, he wouldn't take part in the film. This is obviously because he is at the very top end of the scale so he has the choice to be able to refuse the offers he gets.
To make sure that we were doing everything as professionally as possible, we had our actors each take an actors release form. This basically meant that we had their consent in filming them, and to let them know it would be shown to more than a couple of people as it would be being broadcast on television. It was only a small form, similar to the photo on the left. It asked a few questions like the contributors names and addresses and their roles in the short film. By doing this it simply meant that my production team and my backs were covered if any of them had any queries once we'd completed our filming.
Locations: For our own short single camera drama, me and my team unintentionally managed to find places that were around the local area of our own college and our actors college, also. These places were; this campus (St. Margerats), Abbey Park field and pond, and the flyover bridge. As these are all easy to get, we have easy access of our recces - all of walking distance. This means that we do not have to pay any costs for transport. If this was to be done realistically, and our locations were not as straight forward as the ones we have now, then it would be different and actually cost us money. We would have to figure out transport, and enough for the whole production team, actors and any props. Whether or not we would rent out our own transportation, or hire a bus company to drive us there is a decision we would then have to make when it came down to WHERE the location was, and we'd decide from then on. Considering if we would be able to drive there, using one of the team for the driver, depending on the roads and how hard it would be to drive there. OR if we'd need someone more experienced with difficult roads.
Because we will be working near a pond, and more importantly a flyover bridge, that has busy traffic flowing underneath it throughout most of the day. This means that we will have real precautions when filming on location. Especially on the flyover bridge, when on that location, not only am I and my team, AND the actor going to be have to extremely slow and careful while filming, but we are also going to have to be very strict with the weather conditions. For example, I think that we would go ahead with our shooting if it was clear, grey, foggy, and even drizzling with rain as long as we are extremely careful. BUT, I think if it was to snow, rain heavily, icy, or even strong winds - we would not be committed to going ahead with our filming, as it is not worth putting any of our crew/actors in any type of danger. The access that we do have is good. The Abbey Park field is big enough for us to only need a small space. The bridge is also wide enough for the public to use while we are filming. We have also thought of a back up idea of the flyover bridge if its busy or too icy, or for whatever reason, we feel it is unsafe to film on but we still need to shoot and finish our piece. There is another bridge near where we are filming another scene which is not as good, but we could use it, if needs be.
http://www.uklocations.co.uk/locations/1872/ - here is the website that I found really useful when finding out about various locations. It showed me that there are many different parts to finding a location, including things such as scouting various locations of similar themes. As even if it was for a photoshoot (not even filming) it still has to be 100% and fit to purpose.
Because we will be working near a pond, and more importantly a flyover bridge, that has busy traffic flowing underneath it throughout most of the day. This means that we will have real precautions when filming on location. Especially on the flyover bridge, when on that location, not only am I and my team, AND the actor going to be have to extremely slow and careful while filming, but we are also going to have to be very strict with the weather conditions. For example, I think that we would go ahead with our shooting if it was clear, grey, foggy, and even drizzling with rain as long as we are extremely careful. BUT, I think if it was to snow, rain heavily, icy, or even strong winds - we would not be committed to going ahead with our filming, as it is not worth putting any of our crew/actors in any type of danger. The access that we do have is good. The Abbey Park field is big enough for us to only need a small space. The bridge is also wide enough for the public to use while we are filming. We have also thought of a back up idea of the flyover bridge if its busy or too icy, or for whatever reason, we feel it is unsafe to film on but we still need to shoot and finish our piece. There is another bridge near where we are filming another scene which is not as good, but we could use it, if needs be.
http://www.uklocations.co.uk/locations/1872/ - here is the website that I found really useful when finding out about various locations. It showed me that there are many different parts to finding a location, including things such as scouting various locations of similar themes. As even if it was for a photoshoot (not even filming) it still has to be 100% and fit to purpose.
Code of Practice: Making sure that we have looked into all of the different rules and regulations, and covered everything to prevent us from getting any repercussions from he viewers, as me and my team would have to if this was for real, I did the same now by looking on the Ofcom website. By looking on his website it helped me understand what we will have to do before having our short single camera drama broadcasted. Seeing as it is getting broadcasted at 7pm, it means that it will be shown before the watershed. Because this will be happening me and my team will have make sure we have a title before the short drama is shown basically stating that the following footage may be sightly disturbing to some viewers. Even though the objective of this single camera drama is based around making and building awareness for bullying. Also, at the end of the film, me and my team (having looked at Ofcom) have concluded that we are going to also display a title once the short drama has finished. This second title will be stating a contact number of a helpline if anyone has been affected by the short film, or have any inquiries.
Also, the BBC's Editorial Guidelines states that any viewers that find and watch the short drama, in another way to being on the TV, such as stumbling across it via the internet, the watcher may not be expecting this kind of footage. They may not instantly realize what they've come across/what they're looking at if they're not warned like they would be on the television. This is why the BBC states to be aware as this may cause offence to some watching.
As me and my team are wanting to have a slow instrumental song in the background, I have looked into how I go about this already by looking at the BBC blanket licence. Lucky for us, we are able to have any song we would like due to the BBC's Dramtico Musical work.
Me and my production team, are currently in the middle of doing our 'risk assessment sheet' - this sheet is to cover all of the potential risks during our short drama and who will be involved and at risk. This would have to be done if we were doing this realistically also. I decided to take a look on the BBC editorial guidelines at the health and safety page. It told me that (if it was my production team and I) that we must ensure that our own contributors recognize and accept all of the risks we identified.
Also, I noticed something on the BBC website that would be useful for me and my team to take extra care with is to not put OURSELVES at risk when using even small equipment like small camera's, and even the use of mobile phones for gathering information or doing a recce. http://www.bbc.co.uk/guidelines/editorialguidelines/page/guidance-sponsorship-onair-policy
Also, the BBC's Editorial Guidelines states that any viewers that find and watch the short drama, in another way to being on the TV, such as stumbling across it via the internet, the watcher may not be expecting this kind of footage. They may not instantly realize what they've come across/what they're looking at if they're not warned like they would be on the television. This is why the BBC states to be aware as this may cause offence to some watching.
As me and my team are wanting to have a slow instrumental song in the background, I have looked into how I go about this already by looking at the BBC blanket licence. Lucky for us, we are able to have any song we would like due to the BBC's Dramtico Musical work.
Me and my production team, are currently in the middle of doing our 'risk assessment sheet' - this sheet is to cover all of the potential risks during our short drama and who will be involved and at risk. This would have to be done if we were doing this realistically also. I decided to take a look on the BBC editorial guidelines at the health and safety page. It told me that (if it was my production team and I) that we must ensure that our own contributors recognize and accept all of the risks we identified.
Also, I noticed something on the BBC website that would be useful for me and my team to take extra care with is to not put OURSELVES at risk when using even small equipment like small camera's, and even the use of mobile phones for gathering information or doing a recce. http://www.bbc.co.uk/guidelines/editorialguidelines/page/guidance-sponsorship-onair-policy
