InstructionSet 1

HowtoProduceaFilm
onaBudget
KathyNguyen,BernardBrutus
ProfessorJulieMalsbury
TechnicalWriting
April14,2016

InstructionSet 2

TableofContents
I
NTRODUCTION
..................................................................................................................3
N
OTICE
............................................................................4
B
ACKGROUND
I
NFORMATION
...........................................................................................5
E
QUIPMENTAND
S
UPPLIES
................................................................................................6
I
NSTRUCTIONS
....................................................................................................................7
TROUBLESHOOTING
.......................................................................................................9

G
LOSSARYOF
K
EY
T
ERMSAND
D
EFINITIONS
.................................................................10
R
EFERENCES
......................................................................................................................11

InstructionSet 3

Introduction

Thisinstructionsetwillguideyouthroughthebasicsofhowtoprofessionallyproducea
filmwithacrewthatyoualreadyhave.Bytheendoftheproject,youshouldhaveaproduced
filmoutinthemarket!Beforegettingintoproducingafilm,youshouldalreadyhaveyourscript,
havebasicknowledgeoffilming(usingaDSLR),andcontactswhowillhelpyouthroughthe
processofthisfilm.Whattoexpectinthisinstructionset?Youllbeledthrougheachstepin
producingafilmstartingwiththescriptallthewaytilthepremiereofthemovie.Itsidealto
haveaLOToftimeputasideforthisproject,sincefilming,editingandproducingafilmtakesa
lotoftimeanddedication.Itsalsoidealtohavetherightpeoplefortherightjobssincethereare
manypositionsandcomponentstoafilm.Onelastidealistohaveasettofilmonunlessyou
wanttobeafreespiritandfilmintheopenworld.Theinstructionsrunthrougheachbuilding

blockofafilm,fromthescript,tothedirecting,tothefilming,amongotherpartsinbetween.

InstructionSet 4

Notice

Thisinstructionsetistoinformonhowto
produce
afilm.Itisnothowto
write
afilm.It
isnot
how
tofilm.Sobesureyouhaveyourrequiredsuppliesandknowledgebefore
yourereadyto
produce
afilm.
DontgotothesetwithadeadbatteryinyourDSLR!HaveyouDSLRchargedorbring
aspareorcharger.
Asafollowuptothepreviouscaution,dontshowuponsetwithoutextraaccessories
suchasbatteries,lenses,memorycardsandportablemobilechargers.
Dependingonhowdangerousyourfilmis,takeprecautionarymeasurestomakesureno
onegetshurtordies.Alwayswarneveryoneonsetofexplosives,firearms,etc.andmake
sureeveryoneisaware.

InstructionSet 5

BackgroundInformation

Theultimatehowtoamatuerfilmmakerguidetoproducingamotionpicture
Doyouhaveascript?
Doyouhavethefundstosupportthefilm?
Professionalequipment/supplies?
Whoaretheactors?
Directionandproduction?

InstructionSet 6

EquipmentandSupplies

CameraOptions:

CanonEos70D,CanonC100MarkIICinemaCamera,
CanonEOS1200D
/EOSRebelT5
Computer/Laptop:
MacbookProRetina2015,8GBRAMDellXPS13/15(SKYLAKE)256
GBSSD,iMac21.5with5kRetinaDisplay
Memory:
GDrive1TB,LacieDrive2TB,(2X)SanDiskExtremePro128GB
Software:
FinalCutProX,ProToolsHD12,AbletonLive9,PhotoshopCS9
Microphone:
AKGC414,NEUMANNTLM102/103,RODENT1,SHURESM7B&XLR
Cables
Batteries:
SonyBCTRXBatteryCharger,PanasonicDMCLX3BatteryCharger
Miscellaneous:
FirstAidKit
Wardrobe:
Whateverisprovided

InstructionSet 7

Instructions

I.

II.

III.

IV.

V.

VI.

Haveafinalcopyofthescript.
WHY:Withoutthescriptyourfilmhasnobackboneorpurpose.
Thescriptshouldbeedited,reviewedandinitsfinal,mostsatisfactoryform.
WHATTODO:Onemasscopyofthescriptisgiventothedirectorandother
copiesofthescriptisgiventoeachactor/actress.
Haveexecutiveproducers.
WHY:Anexecutiveproduceroversees
everything
.Theymanage,hireand
organizefilm,castandcrew.Withouttheexecutiveproducer,itllbechaos.
Youshouldalreadyhaveateamofpeopletobeyourexecutiveproducerswithinyour
filmcrew.
1. Ifnot,findsomethroughnetworkingandpitchingyourideasandscriptto
executiveproducersyouwantonyourteam.
WHATTODO:Executiveproducersknowwhattodoandwilltakecareofall
thingsexternaltothefilmandwillmaintainorder.
Havedirector.
WHY:Withoutadirectoryourfilmwouldhavenoorderorsenseofdirection.
Adirectorshouldalreadybepresentwithinyourfilmteam.
WHATTODO:Thedirectorknowswhattodoandthewholethingwillbe
filmedusingtheirartisticlicense.
Haveaproductionteam.
WHY:Youcantproduceafilmwithoutaproductionteam.Thesepeoplewill
budget,scheduleandscriptthefilm.
Foreachcomponentofthefilm,grabapersonforthatareaofexpertise.Forexample,if
youneedtobudgetyourfilm,findanaccountant.Ifyouneedmakeupandwardrobe,find
amakeupartistandstylist.
WHATTODO:Foreachseparatearea,theexpertofthatareaknowswhattodo
tobettertheoverallqualityofthefilm.
Getactors/actressesthroughcastingcallsandcutnegotiation.
WHY:Youllneedactors/actressesforyourmovieandthewaytoobtainthemis
toholdcastingcallsorauditions.
WHATTODO:Havethecastingcrewbringinauditioneeswhoareinterestedin
thescript.Aftertheauditionsaredone,thecrewhandpickswhoevertheydeem
bestfitsthecharacter.Thentheactors/actressespayisdiscussedandnegotiated.
Holdareadthrough.

InstructionSet 8

WHY:Thiswillbringtogethereveryoneinvolvedinpreproductionandwill
oftenaddressproblemareasthatwerentseenbeforesuchasambiguitiesinthe
scriptorlacklusteractordelivery.
WHATTODO:Justgeneralinterpretationofscriptreadandanalyzedamongst
actorsandactresses.
VII:Filming
BeginfilmingscenesfromthescriptusingDSLRs,extracameraequipmentand
recordingmicrophoneofyourchoice.
VIII:Editing&Production
Followingfilmbeingrecorded,useFinalCutProtoeditthescenesintotheorderofthe
scriptanduseProToolstoeditallsoundthatisinvolvedinthemovietocorrespondwith
thevideorecordings,
IX:Advertising&Promotion
UsingPhotoshop,createanplainadvertisementusingimagestakenduringthefilming
sessions.UseFinalCutProtocreatealiveadvertisementbyshorteningexcerptsfromthe
movieintosmallclips.Usethesefinalproductstopromoteyourfilmthroughoutpublic
media.

InstructionSet 9

Troubleshooting

Scriptmustberevisedbeforegoinganyfurther.
Makesureallcamerasarechargedandpoweredbeforefilming.
Actors/actressesmustbefullyknowledgeableofscript.
Firstaidkitrequiredwhereverfilmingisdone.
Microphoneshouldalwaysbeonduringrecording.
Equipmentshouldbekeptmaintainedandcleaned.
Keeprecordofallmaterialsusedandfilmingdates.

InstructionSet 10

GlossaryofKeyTermsandDefinitions

DSLR

Adigitalsinglelensreflexcamera(alsocalledadigitalSLRorDSLR)isadigital
cameracombiningtheopticsandthemechanismsofasinglelensreflexcamerawithadigital
imagingsensor,asopposedtophotographicfilm.

Photoshop

AnimageeditingsoftwaredevelopedandmanufacturedbyAdobeSystemsInc.
Photoshopisconsideredoneoftheleadersinphotoeditingsoftware.Thesoftwareallowsusers
tomanipulate,crop,resize,andcorrectcolorondigitalphotos.

FinalCutPro
FinalCutProisaprofessionalnonlineareditingsoftwareapplicationdeveloped
byAppleInc.FinalCutProprovidesnonlinear,nondestructiveeditingofanyQuickTime
compatiblevideoformatandIMAXfilmformats.PreviousdefinitionFilter.

ProToolsHD

i
sa
digitalaudioworkstation
for
MicrosoftWindows
and
OSX
developedand
manufacturedby
AvidTechnology
.

RAM

ahighcapacity,selfcontainedstoragedevicecontainingareadwritemechanismplus
oneormoreharddisks

InstructionSet 11

SSD

Anallelectronicstoragedevicethatisanalternativetoaharddiskandisanonvolatile

storagedevicethatstorespersistentdataonsolidstateflashmemory.

References

BudgetFilmmaking.Digitalimage.
Http://martenkaufman.com/filmmakingandaudioequipment/.N.p.,n.d.Web.
Essentials.Digital
image.Http://www.newsshooter.com/2014/01/23/chinaheavyweighthowasuccessfulfeatured
ocumentarywasshotoncanon5dmkii/.N.p.,n.d.Web.
FilmingChecklist.Digitalimage.Https://www.pinterest.com/pin/474777985689627921/.N.p.,
n.d.Web.
NoticeSymbol.Digitalimage.
Http://www.maconwater.org/news/NoticeofWaterShutOffinForestHillRoadArea.N.p.,
n.d.Web.
"7EssentialBooksonFilmmakingandDirecting."StudentResources.N.p.,01July2015.Web.
18Apr.2016.

InstructionSet 12