Thursday, 2 October 2014

Pre-production techniques (Unit 1)

What is Pre-Production?


Pre-production is the planning of a new product, before any development or designs are made. Pre-production is a vital process that all creative industries, such as film, television, radio, web, advertising and games development. Whether the project is a small television advertisement, or the development of this year's Game-of-the-Year, pre-production is a required step towards a project.

Areas of pre-production include:

  • Finance - A budget is an important part of pre-production for any industry. If a budget is not set, companies can spend a lot more than they expected, because they are not closely monitoring spending. EA, a large game development company said their "budget for Battlefield 4 (2013) was $100million[1]"
      Money from the budget will be spent on all personnel, from artists for concept design, to people to write up the coding.
  • Time constraints - Having a deadline is crucial in any creative project, because without one, companies will spend too long on the project, or a section of it, delaying the next stages of the project, creating a domino-effect of delays on the release date.
      If a project does not have a deadline, or a set date for each stage of development, there are plenty of opportunities for things to go wrong. For example: If you do not have a set date for the beginning of concept art, when the project is ready for this stage, the pre-chosen artist(s) may be unavailable, delaying this stage of the project.
      Many games have had their deadlines (Release Date) extended due to a change in game engines, development teams prioritize other projects or a change to the design or development team[2]. When a deadline is extended, development teams spend more money on the production. More money spent in production stage adds up to the budget, and also subtracts from the potential profits.
  • Personnel - The number of team members included in the development on the project. If a game takes 2 years to create, for those 2 years, the company has to pay monthly wages for each team member. Companies have to be sure their finished product will make more money that they spent for the project to be worthwhile.
      This is why a budget and deadline are so essential, because companies do not want to lose any money on a project. Having a clear budget and a clear deadline for each section will make the progression of the project smoother, and time and money will be saved due to the planning.
      The project will need different skills and resources at different stages, so it is important to make sure the team consists of the correct people, so no money is wasted on unneeded team members.
  • Facilities - During the development of a film or game, the producers may need to hire/buy/maintain facilities, such as cameras, offices and software, such as GameMaker to design the game, and Adobe Photoshop for any sprites and characters. When using any facilities in a project, you have to make sure you have access at the times when it is needed. A deadline and clear dates will make it much easier to see when you need to hire cameras, or plan trips to locations. To avoid copyright, many companies will create some of their own music and sound which will be used in the project.
  • Contributors - A film, game or television production needs a large team of contributors. Whether financial contributors to help fund the project, in return for a percentage of the profits. Contributors can also be artists or producers, who can help with the design or direction of the production. Contributors such as voice actors. Famous people who will narrate parts of the story. For example, Vin Diesel was cast to voice Milo Burik, the main character in Wheelman (2008), and was digitized to look like Vin.

  • Locations - During the development/planning stages of a film or game, the producers may plan trips to different locations around the world. A race track for a racing game, or an attraction, such as the White House for a film. Trips around the world will cost money from the budget and time from the deadline.
      Even a planned trip to a location is not guaranteed to go smoothly. For example: If you travel to the Alps to take pictures for inspiration, but the weather may not as expected. There may be a thick fog obscuring a view, or heavy rain prevents photos being taken. These unforeseen circumstances are a set back, as the crew has to stay at that location for another day, costing money for photographers, food and a place to stay, until the crew are able to complete the task and travel to the next location/back to the offices.
  • Codes of practise and Regulation - Before beginning any project, it is important to obtain insurance and signed contracts of the production first, to ensure there is no copyright infringement in the product.
      Legal codes of practise public liability insurance, which will cover any injuries to any member of public, as long as a risk assessment was completed before the injury.
      Also completion insurance, which is used in independently financed productions, guaranteeing the producer will create and deliver the product to the distributor. When this is done, payment will be sent from the distributor to the producer.
      OFCOM (Office of Communication) regulate all TV, radio, telecoms, mobiles and postal service, ensuring the public is protected from harmful or offensive material[3].
      ASA (Advertising Standards Authority) view and analyse all advertisements before general release, to ensure the advert is appropriate, and has no offense content. If an advertisement receives even just one complaint about it's content, the advert is pulled from air to be investigated[4].
      PEGI (Pan European Game Information) is the European video game rating system, created to play all the games which will be released in Europe, and decide on an age rating, depending on the violence or level or graphic content. The more offensive material, the higher the PEGI rating (PEGI 18)[5].
      ESRB (Entertainment Software Rating Board) is the American and Canadian version of PEGI. They play and analyse all games before their general release, and decide on an age rating, depending on the content of the game. If a game uses bad language, it is likely to receive at least a rating of 12+. If a game contains depictions of drugs or a sexual nature, the rating will be 18+.



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