Topic #5 SCAD: App Development For Production Houses: It's Time To Simplify Movie Production Management Process

Let’s Get Familiar With Film Industry

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The Film industry has grown to be beyond just entertainment. It has become a means of expression, information and inspiration to billions. It’s no secret that glamour and creativity are closely associated with the industry. The same glamour and creativity inspire herds of people to be a part of the filmmaking process. Every year, thousands of blockbusters are aiming to win the next Oscar or Bafta or perhaps screen at Cannes or Tiff or maybe make a difference in the lives of millions. Every year the film industry makes at least $325 billion. Various countries make thousands of films every year. India tops the list of feature film production by making 1986 movies in the year 2017 followed by Nigeria, the United States of America and China. The box office revenue of the United States of America is estimated to be $10.8 billion and is constantly increasing.

Too much about the vastness of the film industry! The real creativity lies in the process where the film takes shape. Martin Scorsese has said “Cinema is a matter of what’s in the frame and what’s out”. We all can see what’s in the frame on the big screen, but what goes into making the frame is the true spirit of the movie. The process of filmmaking involves three broad stages; Pre-production, Production and Post-Production.The size and strength of your production house does not matter when it comes to streamlining the process. To achieve a seamless flow in your movie production process, having an app development for production houses becomes inevitable.

Pre-Production involves the planning and preparations of what is to be shot, when and how? It is a process which includes extensive planning and preparations. The pre-production process is the base that the entire film stands on.

Production is a process that involves shooting of the film or perhaps creating the animations that are to be involved in the film. This is the stage where the plan is executed and the film becomes a reality.

Post-Production is a stage which modifies the reality to make it more of a visual delight. Post-production involves activities like editing and inserting audios to the visuals. It’s the final touch that one gives to the movie before screening it.

Largely, filmmaking is a process that involves many people and takes several years in many cases. The key that connects all the people and their creativity is collaboration and it is app development for production houses. Filmmaking is a process that is driven by collaboration wherein brilliant minds come together to create beauty.

Highlighting Movie Production Process

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They say “Good planning leads to a good shot”.

This seems to make complete sense when you understand the Pre-production process. So, what is it? What goes into the pre-production process?

Pre-production is the process of initiation for a film. This process involves planning and conceptualization of the film. It involves various activities like script writing, storyboarding, hiring cast and crew, location scouting and allocation, scheduling, budgeting and finance, etc. The entire film is based on the pre-production. The severity of this stage is such that even minor changes in the process can dent the entire film.

The production process is where the actors and the director along with the Director of Photography and the crew are going to implement the script and the storyboards as planned.

The Post-production is the stage that adds finishing touches to the film.

Out of all the three stages, we understand that Pre-production can be really tedious. Especially when it comes down to keeping a note of each and every decision you take. Talking about keeping notes, we also understand that making call sheets and allocating work to each crew member and then instructing all the crew members regarding the call sheets a humdrum task. In all the mess, a human can easily miss a few details or perhaps make mistakes.

Sometimes pre-production proves to be an elongated process. Some films 2-3 months for the pre-production process, whereas some big projects take as long as 1 year in the pre-production process. 1 Year is a huge deal! Isn’t it? What if the relevance of the idea goes away in 1 Year? What if the most suitable cast is not willing to spend so much time on a project? What if you don’t find the ideal location or dates after 1 Year? Will you still set aside so much time for Pre-production. No? Yes? May be?

Well, think about this: How many times do you make your scriptwriter change the script and how many versions of the script have they stacked up? How much time have you invested in the storyboard? Where will you get the equipments from and which ones? How will you keep a tab on all this? How will you make the schedules?

Pre-production is a huge task and it needs precision. Not to forget that the idea is the most important and you don’t want to lose its impact by spreading it all over the place. In managing a mess manually, you might miss out on the crux of the idea that the film is to be based on; and you don’t want to do that! Do you?

So, what do we do? Are you going to miss out on the opportunity to bring out the best of your ideas? And do you think you’d be able to ace the pre-production process single-handedly? Don’t you think, there’s a better way of going about it?

Well, if you think there’s a better way, Bingo! You are right!  Let’s move towards app development for production houses and digitize manual process.

THIS IS ALL ABOUT DIGITIZATION OF ONE MANUAL PROCESS. IF YOU WANT TO KNOW MORE CASE STUDIES LIKE THIS CLICK THE BUTTON BELOW

It’s Time To Get Rid Off Traditional Movie Production Process

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Convention makes the pre-production process a very old and stagnant. Yet, some filmmakers have innovated the process by using applications and software that modify the processes of script writing and management, storyboarding, call sheet making, shot designing, scheduling, etc. Some of them use platforms that are originally made for note keeping as call sheets. There other looks for locations on social media platforms.

But, we feel there are better ways of digitizing the process of pre-production. Instead of looking for different apps to get your work going, integrate the entire process in one by app development for production houses

Adopt These Conceptual Flow And Features of App Development For Production Houses

Writing

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No film is successful without a good script. The script is what brings conviction and motivation into the film. It is the writer’s creativity that guides the script to be an indispensable element of a film. Writing is one of the most essential elements of the pre-production process. Writers form a script and then pitch the same to different producers and then eventually a good script comes into existence after making the necessary changes. For easier transitions in writing, app development for production houses consist of the following features:

Easy script breakdowns for scriptwriters: The writers can break down the entire script on the basis of scenes. Each script can thus focus of different scenes and the breakdowns make the transitions extremely easy.

Script version breakdowns: Many scripts are changed and modified along the process of pre-production and sometimes during the production process also. This can be easily done if the scripts are digitized and all the versions of the scripts can be found in the saved data.

Highlight and tag scenes: Every scene has an element that makes the scene so important. One can highlight the important scenes and also tag other parties to a particular scene. If the writer or director wants the music director to focus on a scene, they can perhaps tag the music director to a scene making the communication easier.

Collaborators on the script: Collaborators can be invited to provide their valuable input to the script and to make modifications. Collaborator’s access is in the hands of the operators. So, they can choose to let the collaborator to only visit and modify certain aspects of the script.

Download a print-friendly version: The software only makes the entire pre-production process user-friendly, but it also makes the script print-friendly. You can print the script on the basis of the breakdowns or any other way that you wish to.

Script sharing: It is vital that everyone involved in the film is aware of what they are working on. So, the script can be made accessible to everyone.

Storyboard and Shot lists

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Every shot is essential to make the big picture beautiful and for every shot, a storyboard has to be strong and relevant.

We also have the plan to digitize the storyboard in app development for production houses and simplify visualization of movie production. Let’s take a look!

Visual planning of each shot: You can visually plan out the storyboard and align each shot in the sequence of the script. You can also customize the visual appeal of the shot with the help of the digitized storyboard.

Shot Description: App development for production houses include the feature for add shot description. Each shot will have its unique description. You can customize it or perhaps share it with others to make the storyboard more comprehensive.

Customized aspect ratios: You can customize the aspect ratios from the list of different aspect ratios as per your requirement to get a better understanding of the shot.

Minimizing option to evaluate storyboards and script:You can minimize the storyboards and go back to the script to refer, ensuring the credibility of the storyboards and the shot sequence.

Scheduling

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Scheduling can be a very tedious task. You have to take into consideration each and every process that is going to be undertaken in the process of film making. By app development for production houses, resource allocating to each activity becomes easier. Let’s see:

Shot lists and schedules: Each shot has to be listed and time allocations have to be made. This schedule, then has to be shared amongst the crew members and the cast has to be informed about the shooting dates.

Allocation of resources: Once the schedules are ready, you’d have to allocate the sets and equipments to it. Different locations, different schedules, different sets, different equipments? Damn! That’s a task to do in person, leave it up to your phone to do it!

Schedule notifications: Include notification feature in app development for production houses to be notified about your day’s shooting schedule.

Call sheets: Make and share call sheets easily with the crew members and let it make sure that everyone’s available on the day of the shoot. Cool stuff, isn’t it?

Budgeting

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Films can prove to be extremely expensive affairs and if you don’t keep a tab on what’s costing you at skyrocketing rates, then your budget will go haywire. So you have to enroll budget feature in your app development for production houses

Budgets of each activity: Budget feature in app development for production houses can calculate costing of each activity separately.

Costs of cast and crew: A separate sheet of cast and crew is made. This sheet will include the duration for which the cast and the crew will be working for you and the charges for that time. Thus, you get a clear idea of the charges.

Time period of availing the activity or equipment: If you are using a rented equipment or activity, you can keep an eye on the time duration that you have rented it for. Not just equipment, you can also keep a tab on all the activities.

Casting & Management

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Managing the herd of people on the set is a task that can be easily declared as one of the most difficult tasks in the entire filmmaking process. Don’t worry, app development for production houses comes to your rescue with the following features:

Distinct categories of work for the cast and crew: You can make sheet regarding different categories of work for cast and crew separately. These sheets can be distributed among the necessary parties so that everyone is well informed.

Assignment of dates and locations of the cast and crew:Dates can be allocated to different cast and crew and a schedule pertaining to everyone’s presence on the set can be maintained.

Contact information along with calling and messaging options: Information regarding everyone’s contact is also made available in one space. This makes calling and messaging more convenient and accessible.

Sharing: You can also share all the schedules with the cast and crew, so that everyone is well aware about the schedules.

Location Management

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Locations are vital for a set to look good, sometimes you don’t even need a set, the location is enough. But what about managing the travel? By app development for production houses deciding about which location you want to go on particular dates or perhaps in a particular season become easier.

List of ideal locations pertaining to specific shots: You can allocate locations specific to the shots that you are shooting. This will serve as an addition to the storyboard, making it more real.

Travel mediums available and appropriate for cast, crew and equipment:You can decide on the travel medium based on the location and the number of people traveling to that location. Equipments have to be taken as well and that can be a risky task, so why don’t you plan well in advance?

Movement of locations along with dates: You might want to plan the movement from one location to the other well in advance and the digital pre-production process only makes it easier.

Legal

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We respect the legalities that should mandatorily function along the pre-production process. And so we want to acknowledge the same by providing the following features:

Information about plagiarism of script: We suggest you should ensure the credibility and security of the script that you aim to work on. Thus information regarding plagiarism must be provided.

Rental contracts with equipment holders: A contract that binds the owners of the equipment holders in a legal contract must be made. This makes all the terms clear and the clauses regarding failure of payment or damage of equipments will also be mentioned.

Contracts with cast and crew: Contracts enacting a legal relation with the human resource on the sets must be made prior to the shoot. This ensures the fact that everyone’s on the same page and no one can question the contract on a later stage.

Download All Material Related To App Development For Productions Houses (i.e. Blogs, Business Model, Detailed Features Etc.) Here

App Development For Production Houses, It’s Time To Digitize Manual Process

Digitizing a process brings ease to functions that would otherwise look extremely cumbersome. A computer can bifurcate, calculate and share anything at a speed that cannot be matched by humans. That’s precisely why we think the Pre-production is a process that should be digitized. The idea, perhaps the script and the cinematography come to the big screen. So, why not encourage filmmakers to focus on the idea or the storyline and the shooting, the rest can be done by a computer.

Scale and number of Activities during Pre-production

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Sometimes films demand a lot of precision in each activity that is performed in order to make the film look beautiful. Sometimes activities are many and people are less. It gets really stressful when hundreds of different activities are being undertaken at the same point of time with different people working at different locations. The other times you have to deal with the script writer every time you need an alteration in the script, and that gets too hard while you are in the middle of the production process. Isn’t it? Or may be when you have mega stars acting in your film, you gotta keep everything on point, don’t you? Perhaps planning this process could be better done with the help of digitization? What do you think?

Number of Members of Cast and Crew

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Large projects are usually fixated with various activities and flocks of people on the set. Especially when you are shooting scenes that requires a crowd. Keeping a tab on each and every actor of the crowd is a humongous task. The other times, you might have to deal with a very petty number of people and you’d have too many activities on hand. We understand that not all projects are big, sometime the smallest ones make a huge difference. But managing smaller ones on a stipulated budget with only a limited number of people is a pain that we sympathize with. Managing the logistics through all these people becomes very difficult for a human, why not let a software make your job easy?

Ability and commitment of User

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Imagination needs no skill. But making imagination a reality needs a lot of skills. As a filmmaker, one has to ensure the ability and willingness of the cast and crew to use such software efficiently before making or getting one. It could happen that even if you plan to digitize, your cast and crew is reluctant to change, in that case, you have to question and analyze the adaptability of the user.

Industry Standards:

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Imagine a scenario where all your competitors have digitized the pre-production process and are succeeding in the film industry on account of great planning. You’d be still making physical call sheets and could questioning the precision of the schedule. Wouldn’t that be a very tedious and stressful job? Wouldn’t you feel left out? Wouldn’t you want to show your gut to your competitor and the world? Well, then now is the right time! Go forth and digitize!

Points To Be Taken Into Consideration In App Development For Production Houses

Structured app

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The pre production process is a complex one. We all know that it consists of various processes that are supervised, organized and performed by humans. Digitization will only make it more lucid. An app that makes function as easy as the movement of a fingertip. Imagine the entire process of pre-production on your fingertip. But, the pre-production of every film is different and we get it. That’s exactly where your smartphones come into the picture. These apps are easily adaptive to the customizations of each process. So, if you have a cast and crew of a thousand people who don’t follow what you ask them to do, your mobile app does!

Security

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The app stores your scripts, storyboards and your contracts. Hence, it is very important that all the aspects of the kept secure from any malicious activity. The app is to be backed up with security codes that makes sure that the right information is only going to the people that it must reach out to. No third party apart from the users may be allowed to use the app or browse through it.

User Access

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The app that digitizes the pre-production process proves to be multi-layered. Users of the app do not necessarily use each feature. For instance a spot has nothing to do with the script formation. Thus, for the ease of processing, the administrator of the app can divide the layers into the users on the basis of appropriation of the use. The administrator can deny use of some and at the same time enable someone to be a part of a process.

User adaptation

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While you are planning to digitize the Pre-production process, you need to make sure if a major chunk of the prospective users or cast and crew members are open to the adaptation of this platform. While understanding your cast and crew members, you should take into consideration the willingness and the ability to adapt to a digital platform.

Admin access

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For easy functioning, the app will have an admin. It could be anyone who manages the pre-production process. The admin is pre-decided well in advance so that there are no goof ups when the pre-production process starts. Super easy. Isn’t?

Data Migration

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We understand that all your movies are dear to you because they have taken your blood, sweat and heart into it. So, while digitizing it becomes a responsibility that none of your data is lost or tapered. You can keep all your scripts and storyboards in the safe hands of the app and don’t worry, because the app is in your hands.

Break Even Point Of Investment Of Digitization

Digitalizing any process is a process in itself. Each time the process of digitalization is distinct and unique. In the process of app development for production houses, one has to understand what activities are to be digitalized. Time plays a vital role in understanding the returns of the app. If the development of the takes less time and your unit can immediately adapt to the app, then you ought to get great returns very soon.

Moreover, this process makes the various tasks easy. Resource management could never be as easy as it gets in the app. Not just that, you can minimize the time you spend in the pre-production process and move to the production with so much ease and efficiency. All your data could be kept safe at on placemaking pre-production one of the easiest and the most efficient tasks in filmmaking! You save time, energy and resources like you never have before. How important are these thing for you?

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