How Movies are Made

Hollywood Today

Consider today’s Hollywood landscape:

Re-makes of proven properties (21 Jump Street)

Re-Boots (Batman, Superman, Spiderman)

Sequels (If people will buy an idea once...)

Franchises (Marvel, 007)

Super Heroes

Popular Fiction (Twilight, Harry Potter)

Hollywood Today

These movies have a proven, built in audience.

For this reason, 4 Twilight books become 5 Films

7 Harry Potter Books become 8 films

3 Hunger Games books become 4 films

The Hobbit becomes 3 films!

The money to be made by such an approach is staggering, and in the case of a beloved franchise that audiences are reluctant to say goodbye to, it simply makes sense to make as many movies as possible.

Hip. Historical. Hysterical.

Hollywood Today

For the same reason, re-launches of even recent franchises have become popular.

It made more sense to re-boot Spiderman with Andrew Garfield and a whole new cast than to hire Sam Raimi and Tobey Maguire for a 4th installment of their trilogy.

Did you know that virtually no teenager alive today saw Jurassic Park in the theatre? Are you surprised Jurassic Park 4 is in production?

Hot Properties

Pre-Production

Pre-production consists of planning and preparation. It takes as long as necessary- on average a year or two. As you will see, it can take a lot longer!

The process begins when a film-makers develop an idea or obtain a script they wish to use.

They may secure the rights to a successful novel or buy a writer’s pitch for a story.

Pre-Production , Cont’d

Once the rights have been contracted and purchased, the producers can spend months arranging the finances for a production.

The ease with which they do this, and the funds they secure, will largely depend on the film they offer their backers and its projected financial returns.

The cost of making a film can be so high that investors may be reluctant to invest on a property that is not already proven, even with a proven director in charge.

Case Study: Lincoln

While consulting on a Steven Spielberg project in 1999, Doris Kearns Goodwin told Spielberg she was planning to write Team of Rivals, and Spielberg immediately told her he wanted the film rights.

DreamWorks finalized the deal in 2001, and by the end of the year, John Logan signed on to write the script.

Playwright Paul Webb was hired to rewrite the script and filming was set to begin in January 2006, but Spielberg delayed it out of dissatisfaction with the script.

Lincoln, Cont’d

Liam Neeson was cast as Lincoln in 2005, having previously worked with Spielberg in Schindler’s List.

However, in July 2010, Neeson left the project, saying that he had grown too old for the part.

In November 2010, it was announced that Daniel Day-Lewis would replace Neeson in the role.

Playwright Tony Kushner replaced Webb.

By late 2008, Kushner joked he was on his "967,000th book about Abraham Lincoln.”

Lincoln, Cont’d

in May 2008, Spielberg announced his intention to start filming in early 2009, for release in November, ten months after the 200th anniversary of Lincoln's birth.

Spielberg arranged a $50 million budget for the film, to please Paramount Pictures CEO Brad Grey, who had previously delayed the project over concerns it was too similar to Spielberg's commercially unsuccessful Amistad

Filming finally began October 17, 2011, and ended on December 19, 2011.

Lincoln premiered on October 8, 2012, at the New York Film Festival. The film was released on November 9, 2012, in select cities and widely released on November 16, 2012, in the United States by DreamWorks.

Lincoln, Cont’d

“So I think that a lot of planets lined up in a good position, but that was out of my control... At that point I had just accepted the fact that I would make Lincoln if Daniel decided to play him, and I would not make Lincoln had Daniel decided not to play him. It was as simple as that. It had gotten to that point with me.”

A Tale of Two Lincolns

“So, the timeline was simply I approached Daniel first to play Lincoln, he turned me down. That was about eight, nine years ago. And then Liam and I had a very healthy flirt about possibly doing this together. And then we both decided to do other things. And then I came back to Daniel. So, that’s the timeline.”

An 11 Year Gestation

“And at that point, without putting any extra pressure on Daniel, because I didn’t say this to anybody, but if he had finally and ultimately said, “No” I would never had made the movie Abraham Lincoln. It would never have been in my life anymore. It’d be gone.”

-Steven Spielberg

“Well, I don’t think I ever did know it was the right choice, but I ran out of excuses at a certain point [laughs].

It seemed inconceivable to me that I could be the person to help him to do that thing that he wished to do. And least of all did I want to be responsible for irrevocably staining the reputation of the greatest President this country’s ever known [laughs]. Not just in a self-serving way, but quite literally I wouldn’t have wished to…

...it seemed to me a very difficult thing to try and tell that story, very difficult to try and do that in such a way that it could live. And I just really felt I wasn’t the person to do that.”

- Daniel Day Lewis

Pre-Production, Cont’d

Having secured funding, the producer will hire a director, who will then spend months with key people responsible for design, photography, music, and sound.

The script will likely go through extensive re-writes. (Lincoln had at least 3 writers, and many drafts.)

During the process of “previsualization”, before shooting, the director and chief collaborators will decide how they want the film to look, sound, and move.

Pre-Production (Still!)

Small details come next:

scheduling studio space

scouting locations and getting permissions to use those locations,

arranging for the design and construction of sets, costumes and props,

and then more time for rehearsal!

Transition to Production

By this time, a year or more has likely passed, longer if the production is waiting on a star or director (Spielberg wooed Day Lewis for 8 years)

It is likely the new Star Wars film will not be released until 2016 at the earliest, as its director, JJ Abrams, is currently attached to the Star Trek re-boot

If there are any problems with production costs, stars, talent, etc, a film could go into “turnaround” and never see the light of day

Many potentially excellent films never get made because the business end of the deal isn’t right, and many terrible films do get made because the business end does work out right. Consider all those low budget horror flicks that get dumped into theatres at odd times of the year. They don’t need to make a lot of money to be profitable for the studio.

Raising Kane/ Apocalypse When?

Orson Welles, a first time film-maker meticulously planned out nearly every aspect of Citizen Kane, which was shot entirely on the RKO lot, was finished on time, and was almost on budget.

Francis Ford Coppola, fresh from the success of the Godfather films, began Apocalypse Now without a clear plan, or script, and decided to shoot the film in the Philippines under difficult conditions, ultimately exposing 115 hours of film for every hour actually used. It took 4 years to complete the movie!

We will watch both of these in our class!

Two Mavericks

Production

Actual shooting can last 6 weeks to several months, and even longer, with the director taking charge.

The director breaks down the shooting script into manageable sections, then sets a goal of shooting a certain number of pages per day. Typically, 3 pages is a full day’s work.

Most directors try to shoot between 15 and 20 setups per day in the studio, and fewer when working on location where logistics can be more complicated.

Production, Cont’d

During the height of production, hundreds of people will be involved in the process (consider the lengthy credits that follow the average film)

This involves actors, the director, one or more “film unit” of cameramen, directors of photography, etc.

Think of all the small jobs that need to be happening in order to shoot even a single scene, from hair and makeup to pet wrangling to the creation of artificial snow, wind and rain.

On Set

Post- Production

When the shooting has been completed, post-production begins. This consists of 3 phases:

Editing

Preparing the final print

Marketing and distribution

Editing

Editing consists of assembling the visual images and sound recordings, adding the musical score and sound effects, adding the special effects, assembling the soundtrack, and doing any necessary rerecording.

“The phenomenon of editing deals with all aspects of filmic rhythm - from the transition of one image to another or the detailed musical rhythm in a small sequence of edits, to the most general balancing of pace and rhythm in the overall narrative structure.

When we watch a film, most of us have great difficulty in consciously perceiving the editing. Of course we know that every time there is a shift from one image to another, it is an edit, and we know that editing in general has to do with the establishing of rhythm in film. But we are often not sure of the concrete function of editing, and likewise of the contribution the editing process makes to the final film.”

• - Vinca Wiedemann

Editors at Work

The Final Print

Preparing the final print includes

timing the colour print, a process of inspecting each shot and assigning colour corrections and light values so as to be consistent across the entire film;

completing the first combined picture and sound print, in released form, of a finished film

possibly previewing the film and then making changes in response to audience feedback.

How much money would Pretty Woman have made if Julia Roberts’ character was kicked back onto the street and became a junkie, as written in the original script!

Bringing the Film to the Public

Bringing the film to the public consists of determining the advertising and marketing strategies and budget,

setting the release date and number of theatres,

finalizing distribution rights and ancillary rights,

and finally exhibiting the film!

Hopefully, after all that, a film will find its audience and meet or exceed expectations.

Marketing and Distribution

After screening a movie’s answer print (the first combined print of picture, sound, and special effects) for the production company, the producer may show the film to test audiences at previews.

These preview audiences represent the likely demographic for the film, and members are asked to provide specific feedback to gauge their reactions.

After reading this feedback, the person in charge of the final cut may wish to make changes.

Because films are essentially commercial endeavours, it makes sense to go this route for larger films which are intended to find the largest possible audience.

“Smaller” films will likely find their audiences through media coverage, festival screenings and awards, and audience word of mouth.

Beasts of the Southern Wild

A Final Hurdle

One of the last pieces of the puzzle to fall into place is the rating of the film by the Motion Picture Association of America, the trade association of America.

The rating of the film is incredibly important as it determines the marketing of a film and also the size of its potential audience. Some theatre chains will not show NC-17 films, and Wal-Mart will not carry them. A PG-13 is very different than a G rating, as younger children may not be allowed to attend the film without adult supervision.

There are many stories of directors being compelled by producers to edit their films in order to get a desired rating. An NC-17 is a commercial kiss of death, and generally is avoided at all costs. It is not unheard of for directors and “the money” to fall out over “final cut”

Production in Hollywood Today

In 2005, there were 7 major studios, most of which date back to the 1920’s and Hollywood’s Golden Age . Exceptions are Sony and Dreamworks.

There were also some 30 independent production companies, many of which are assembled to make a single film.

Studios exist now to make movies one at a time, unlike the old days when they had large stables of contract employees who would produce many films in a year.

Oscar 2013

There are 9 films nominated for Best Picture this year:

Amour Argo

Beasts of the Southern Wild Django Unchained

Les Misérables Life of Pi

Lincoln Silver Linings Playbook

Zero Dark Thirty

Hollywood 2013

Together, these films represent a diversity of subject matter and scale,

from a tiny film like Beasts of the Southern Wild to a major prestige production like Spielberg’s Lincoln,

from a a big budget musical adaptation like Les Miserables to the topical hunt for Bin Laden film Zero Dark Thirty,

from a prestige literary adaptation like Life of Pi to Tarantino’s latest blaxploitation epic Django Unchained,

from the recent- historical drama Argo to the very current Silver Linings Playbook

The Shawshank Redemption

The film industry is a remarkable fusion of art and technology, commerce and creativity.

No other art form is so dependent on technological advancement, yet, in the end, it still comes down to an act of alchemy!

When it works, it’s magic!