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Before you start…

While every film project is unique, the process of creating them is fundamentally the same, from pre-production to post-production. In many ways the key to a good film is preparation: The more you’ve thought about what you want from your film and the function it must fulfil, the more likely you are to be successful. Below is a list of questions we would like you to think about when you commission us to make your film…

STEP 1 - Work out what you want from your film.

WHY DO YOU WANT TO MAKE A VIDEO?

There can be many objectives when making a film, from the cognitive to the affective. Knowing what effect you want it to have on your audience can help shape exactly what you want from a film. For instance, how do you want the audience to react? Do you want to change or reinforce their perception of you? Are you trying to build a brand image in people’s minds, or do you want more immediate results, such as people going out to buy your product? Are you trying to entertain your audience, make them laugh, or move them emotionally? Do you want them to return to you regularly as a result?

WHAT IS YOUR CENTRAL MESSAGE?

A communication strategy is the message which will be central to your entire film, but you might have a number of lesser “message strategies” you want people to take away with them as well. However, you need to be realistic about how much your audience will actually remember when they go away – How much do you remember of the last advert break you watched? You need your audience to remember your message above all, and the name of your organisation, so think about the best way to make these memorable.

HOW CLEARLY DEFINED IS YOUR TARGET AUDIENCE?

A clearly defined communication strategy will help you delineate your target audience in the clearest terms. If you have numerous message strategies, you may have several segments to your target audience. Ask yourself whether you can realistically reach the different audience segments with one film: Is it worth doing more? Digital media technology has now made this easier, and cheaper, than ever before and it is also easier to target different viewers, so two short films may work better than a long one.

Knowing your target audience involves more than just their age, gender, social status or ethnicity: You need to have a good idea of what makes them tick, so that you can have the greatest impact on them. You could think about what motivates them in life, what their media habits are, where they are predominant geographically. A solid profile of what your target audience will help you work out how to reach them effectively.

HOW WILL YOU MAKE SURE YOUR FILM GETS MAXIMUM EXPOSURE?

The only way your film will work is if your audience sees it, so you need to give serious thought to a distribution strategy. There is no point putting your film on TV if your audience get most of their entertainment directly from the Internet, and vice versa. This is where a little investigation into your audience’s media consumption habits comes in useful. This ensures that you get the greatest exposure at least cost.

DO YOU HAVE A DEADLINE?

Whether it is a product launch, an annual meeting or fundraiser, a conference, an exhibition, there is probably an ideal time for you to show the finished video to get maximum effect. It helps everyone to have a realistic deadline to aim for.

DO YOU HAVE A SET BUDGET?

If your budget is set then it is worth telling your Reel Arts producer from the beginning, as they will be able to tell you what you can do for that amount, or look for more cost effective ways to use your budget. We don’t want to rip people off, and we don’t want to promise what we can’t deliver within budget, so it is best for all parties if the budget is clear from the start. If we cannot do what you want within your budget, we won’t waste your time trying to convince you we can, only to overcharge you later.

When you have sat down and thought about your precise requirements, that’s when we come in. Our job is to propose the most creative and efficient ways to convey your message to your audience within your budget and timeframe. If you don’t have any strong ideas at this stage, we can run you through a full preliminary consultation process, but this might end up costing you more, so it is best to approach us knowing what you want.

STEP 2 - Pre-production:

In the Pre-Production Phase, you will meet your designated Reel Arts producer to finalize all the elements from the proposal to produce an itemised budget and suggested shooting schedule, which will be submitted to you for approval. This schedule covers research and scripting needs, details the "look" for the video, includes casting and location selection, and identifies special graphical elements such as animation, special effects or titles. We work out narration and music at this point, as well as any travel needs, and overall film length.

Upon approval, a contract will be signed. It is normal for the producer to ask for a deposit of half the total cost of the production.

Once you accept the proposal, a detailed Production Schedule will be created in consultation with all the people involved. This will translate all of the elements in the desired final programme into days of production and post-production, as well as initiating the process of scripting and storyboarding.

STEP 3 - Production:

This is the bit where we make movies! All the pre-production preparation is translated into moving images, so the better the preparation, the more successful the production should be.

The actual shooting of the film can take place over a day, a period of days, weeks or months and can be done locally or in another city, another country or countries, in a studio, office or outside on location. All of these variables will have been determined in the pre-production phase.

Film-making is not an exact process, especially if filming on location or abroad. There are always factors - like the weather, outside the director's control. If we can contact you throughout the Production Phase in case any last minute problems arise, then we can change scripts or shooting schedule easily with your consent.

STEP 4 - Post-production:

In The Post-Production Phase, all of your footage is then copied, edited and ‘shaped’ into its final form in a series of stages that may take several weeks.

These steps include:

STEP 5 - Distribution:

In your initial discussions with us, and in the pre-production phase, you will already have talked about a distribution strategy. This is simply maximising the impact of your video.

You will already have decided, and budgeted for, a number of copies of your video in various formats, to be duplicated from the 'master' copy supplied by the producer.

The formats will depend on the intended audience. CD-ROMs and VHS cassettes are becoming obsolete, and these days DVDs or an encoded clip of the video for use on your website are by far the most popular formats.

If your project can attract attention from television, perhaps it would be worth preparing a Video News Release (VNR), highlights from the video without captions or graphics, which can be used easily in news bulletins.

We always advise clients to hold 'premiere' screenings. You don't have to have a red carpet, but after all the hard work and time and money spent it seems right to celebrate and get some immediate reactions from your target audience. You can lure them there with free food, alcohol and dancing - or even the promise of a celebrity guest.