Unlike many art forms, films and their making involves a lot of people -- multiple teams and departments within departments. The major areas are Direction, Cinematography, Editing, Art Direction, and Music & Sound Department. Apart from these there may also be other departments depending on the need of the film. For example, some films may require stunt choreography, VFX and wranglers.
Broadly, a film passes through three important stages – pre-production, production and post-production.
Pre-Production is the preparatory stage and is also the most important phase of all. This is where ideas are conceived, brainstormed and visualised. The ideas take the shape of a screenplay. Screenplay is the backbone of a film. It not only involves the content and form, but also the blueprint for the presentation.
In this stage, producer functions as the deciding authority. Apart from arranging finances for the film, he manages most of the preparations happening in this phase. However the first step is finalising the script and the budget, based on which location, casting, technicians and related areas are finalised.
Production is the actual shooting phase of the film. Here all the planned shots are executed. Director takes the complete control of this phase.
Post Production is one step closer to the final draft. The film takes the final and the intended shape here. Editing, Dubbing, Rerecording, Sound Mixing are the key departments in this process.
In some cases VFX may also be involved. Once the final copy is ready, the movie goes for marketing and distribution.
Did you know?
Foley: Foley is the process of reproducing everyday sounds such as rustles of leaves, kitchen sounds, breaking glasses..etc. People who recreate this realistic sound ambience are called as Foley Artists. They use ordinary objects to make these sounds.
Line Producer: A Line Producer is someone who manages everyday activities of the production. A Line Producer takes charge of only one production at a time.
(D.G. Eugene is an assistant professor at the Department of Visual Communication, Loyola College, Chennai. )
