Production and Budget research

Introduction:

In this blog post, I am going to research and present the findings of any production research needed towards my 5 minute document and treatment presentation. My media product will be a low budget product, so costs will be reasonably low.

BTEC guidelines:

Production research: content; resources, eg personnel, talent, finance, suppliers, facilities, locations, logistics support; costs; viability; placement, eg publication, broadcast, webcast, podcast, audience.

Resources:

Personnel:

(1) The personnel needed for the production of my short media product will be a producer, director, researcher, script writer, equipment operator (camera, lights, sound), editor, actor/actresses, set/location designer.

All of these members must be asked for permission and I must take into account of costs to the personnel.

Talent

Talent needed for each member of personnel must be based on the experience and qualifications achieved.

E.g. director must have previous experience, actors/actresses must have acting/performing experience, editor must have qualifications on editing software/hardware.

Finance

(refer to costs)

Suppliers/equipment

(2) Suppliers are needed to get the appropriate equipment and resources needed. The equipment needed to help in making my product are;

• camera
• tri-pod
• microphone/audio recorder
• boompole
• dolly/tracker
• lighting
• editing software/hardware (Photoshop, computer basics (monitor, keyboard, hard drive, mouse) camera accesories, headphones/speakers)

All of these equipment will need to put into costs/budgeted.

Facilities

The facilities that are available to allow me to plan and create my media product are at home, the work place (schools), public facilities (library, internet cafes, etc).

I must take into account if any costs are needed when using these facilities, e.g. usage fees, electrics, printing costs, etc).

Locations

For my media product, I have researched and selected a few locations for my media product according to the audience feedback I recieved. I may not use all of these locations, i have just researched and listed them for the purpose of the treatment. Once I start planning the pre-production and create the media product, I will edit the final choices of locations.

I have chosen to set my locations at;

• a park
• a graveyard
• a desolate bedroom/barn/stable

Logistical support

I will need logistic support to help me move my equipment and personnel from each location. So I need hire/rent a van and minibus to help with moving the resources. This will also need to be taken into account within the costs.

Costs:

All of these costs are estimated according to research through primary and secondary research. This is not the finalized amount and it will be used to help budget my finances. (3)

Personnel:
producer (£50)
director (£50)
researcher (£45)
script writer (£45)
equipment operator (camera, lights, sound) (£20)
editor (£50)
per actor/actresses (£35)
set/location designer (£20)

TOTAL: £315

Suppliers/equipment: (4)
camera (£300)
tri-pod (£20)
microphone/audio recorder (£25)
boompole (£35)
dolly/tracker (£70)
lighting (£15)
editing software/hardware (Photoshop, computer basics (monitor, keyboard, hard drive, mouse) camera accesories, headphones/speakers) (£500)

TOTAL: £965

(Some of the equipment prices have been estimated from Amazon.co.uk)

Facilities:
Home (£20)
Work environment (schools) Free
Library (£5)

TOTAL: £25

Locations:

a park (£0)

a graveyard (£0)

a desolate bedroom/barn/stable (£0)

Logistical support: (5)
Compact Van rental - 1 week (£250)
15 seater minibus rental - 1 week (£ 550)

TOTAL: £800

FINAL TOTAL: £2105

FINAL BUDGET: £2200

Placement:

My finalised media product will  be webcasted, which means I will place the video on YouTube.com and it will be available to download and share on other websites, e.g. Blogger, Facebook, etc.

Bibliography:

(1)http://edtech.guhsd.net/video/videoroles.html (16/09/2012)

(2)http://www.indie-film-making.com/video-equipment/ (16/09/2012)

http://www.ehow.com/video_2384807_equipment-making-documentary-film.html (16/09/2012)

(3)http://www.indie-film-making.com/setting-a-budget/ (16/09/2012)

(4)http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/film-life/7594223/Making-a-short-film-the-essential-equipment.html

(5)http://www.vanrentals.co.uk/listveh.php (16/09/2012)