Video, CD/DVD & Website
These four media are known as "acquisition intensive" media. Scripts must be written, photographs and video must be shot or purchased from stock sources, audio must be recorded or copied from archives. All these media are then joined to form the final product.
Pre-production of these media, therefore, saves you money by efficiently organizing the acquisition process. This organization usually begins with client-vendor meetings to create an outline of the production. For a video, the most linear of these media, the outline will evenually become a script.
For CD-ROMs, DVDs and websites, which are nonlinear and interactive, the outline will also function as a flow chart, similar to the organizational chart of a company. The flow chart will indicate the content in terms of a script as well as all the possible paths that a viewer may take while navigating through the medium (see samples below).
Once the outline is designed and approved by the client, the script elements are created. Scripting is considered pre-production because it will reveal other assets that must be acquired in the production stage. Production can only begin when all necessary assets are known.
In most "fixed price" (See Bid Proposal page) proposals, the cost of scriptwriting is based on "price per finished minute of production." If a video is 10 minutes long, the scriptwriting fee will be the fee multiplied by 10 minutes. The fee usually assumes a first draft, an extensive rewrite draft and a light, touch-up draft.
The assumption is that most clients will be satisfied with three drafts, and that if more are required, either the client is making unusual changes in progress or the scriptwriter is producing unsatisfactory work. Such cases rarely arise, but the solution is an assessment of the cause and a negotiation toward a satisfactory resolution prior to production.
As noted above, the script for a video is different from the script for an interactive production. Here are two brief samples. Note how the audio and video elements are separated in each version:
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Once the script is approved, it passes to the Producer who "breaks it down." The script "breakdown" process allows the producer to allocate the budget to each item in the script that will initiate cost. For example, the breakdown will reveal how many actors are required and for how many days. It will also indicate any props, locations, vehicles, special effects etc. that are required.
Sometimes, a script writer will have included some item that drives the cost of the production higher than the allowable budget. If so, the Producer must resolve the issue by inventing a creative solution that satisfies the client, asking for a rewrite of the script, asking for a budget increase or a combination of all of the above. Such instances are rare, however, since most experienced scriptwriters know how to write within a budget.
Often the breakdown requires that the script be cut up into "scenes." These scenes are then rearranged in different orders that are no longer in their original "continuity" order of Scene 1, Scene 2, etc. Amazingly, a wise Producer can rearrange scenes in such an "out of continuity" fashion as to save significant percentages of the production budget. How? Consider this. If our script called for Al Pacino to appear for brief moments at the beginning, middle and end of our script, would it be cheaper to hire this superstar for one day, during which he would peform all three scenes, or cheaper to hire him on three separate days for a few hours each?
Now consider all of the variables of a script, the need for cars, a helicopter, a studio, a location, actors, power requirements, weather, and you have an idea of the complexity of achieving the most efficient breakdown, especially when the weather changes suddenly or the power company decides to deliver a brownout!
After the breakdown is complete and approved, the Producer proceeds to line up all the elements that will be required to initiate the production, such as hiring a crew, checking out and/or renting equipment, scheduling actors, etc. When all elements are close to conclusion, the Producer calls a Pre-Production ("pre-pro") meeting between all key creative people and the client.
At the pre-pro, the Producer takes all parties, step-by-step through the production. Any complications, impossibilities, quesions and compromises to resolve all issues are made at this time. The pre-pro is the most important meeting in the production process and is intended to eliminate any unpredictable elements in the tasks ahead. Shortly after the pre-pro, many expensive people and tools will go into action. In spite of the fact that Mr. Murphy can also be expected to appear, a good pre-pro will limit his effects!
The Pre-Production phase of the project is now complete and we're ready to start Production.