 Though
writing itself isn't planning, the resulting
script is the basis for every single decision
you'll make in prepping production. Without
a complete script, you can't cast the program,
design its look, determine the crew and equipment
needed, list the locations or sets, budget the
production, or set a schedule.
No,
an outline isn't good enough, even if it's 50
pages long. Only a true script is specific enough
for planning. How about a storyboard? Storyboard
sequences with complex action and/or special
effects work to visualize the layout of the
video, but use a written script for production
planning.
For
nonfiction programs, a two-column "A/V"
(Audio and Video) formatted script will include
complete narration and essential audio in the
left column and visuals in the right one. Fiction
films use the classic screenplay format. There
are samples of several script formats on the
Web; and for advice on how much detail to include,
see the adjacent sidebar. The bottom line is
this: when you get to production, you can't
shoot the plan unless you've planned the shoot
in detail.
Special
Effects
People
think that special effects are compositing and
computer graphics that belong in post-production.
However, the most convincing effects are fully
planned in pre-production so that location,
composite, and CG work can be seamlessly integrated
by implementing the detailed plan. That's why
you have to develop your special effects fully
even before you scout locations and budget props.
For
example, take a spectacular head-on car crash.
To achieve the actual impact, you'll have the
cars drive toward and past each other, maybe
two feet apart for safety, shooting the master
with a long telephoto to conceal the gap between
them. In post, you plan to speed up the collision
shot and then conceal the fact that they miss
each other by filling the screen with a well-timed
CG fireball over the live action.
So
far so good, but the secret of any effect lies
in selling it with supporting shots. To make
sure you get them, you need to plan high-speed
shots of the individual cars, closeups of the
drivers, and maybe a shot across the hood of
one car after the crash, as one victim struggles
out the door. You plan to put one side of the
car up on blocks to tilt it and to increase
the tilt by canting the camera off-level the
opposite direction. (Note to DP: choose a vague
background that won't reveal the Dutch Angle
shot, and throw a flickering "fire light"
on the windshield, door, and struggling victim.)
In post, composite a raging fire effect in the
foreground to complete the gag. Every part of
this must be planned, right down to the cinder
blocks and the fire effect.
The
moral is, you can't just say, "oh we'll
do the car crash in post." Only through
detailed planning both before and during the
shoot can you deliver the raw materials needed
to create a classy effect.
People,
Places, and Feedback
 Even
the biggest Hollywood productions are planned
and developed by successive approximation: the
script describes the requirements; the planners
come as close as possible to meeting them; then
the script is adjusted to eliminate the resources
that were unobtainable and maximize those that
were.
This
is always true with casting actors. Suppose,
for instance, the script demands a beautiful,
enticing, evil stepmother; but the closest actress
you can find is a frumpy, heavyset person who
would look silly vamping around on screen. Happens
all the time. So you do some fast script revisions
to create a frumpy, heavyset evil stepmother.
By planning to fit the circumstances, you save
both the actress and the show from embarrassment.
Or
take locations. If you can't find anyplace resembling
the dungeon where the evil stepmother imprisons
the heroine, you have three choices: remove
the dungeon part, create it as a CG virtual
set (if you have the resources), or just chain
the lady up in a storeroom or something.
Again,
if you plan these adjustments before production
begins, you can still shoot the plan; but if
you haven't invested in the planning, you're
going to arrive at an unconvincing "dungeon"
location and have to improvise a fix on the
spot. That seldom works very well.
|
The
All-Powerful Schedule
In
reality, budgeting and scheduling are two halves
of a circle. Scheduling brings the right cast
members, crew, and equipment to the right location
at the right time, crucial if you're paying people
by the hour or day and just as important if folks
are donating their time.
With
good planning, you can also save big bucks (that's
where scheduling and budgeting play tag with each
other). For instance, if that antique fire engine
rents for $200 a day, you'll want to schedule
all its scenes back-to-back so you can return
it as soon as possible.
 Oh,
and how is it going to get to your location? I
once rented an antique vehicle without knowing
it didn't really run. At the last minute, I had
to put out expensive, unbudgeted bucks for a day's
use of a platform-bed tow truck. This is also
true for anything else that's time-sensitive.
With meticulous planning, you'll always have the
correct cast list at the proper place with the
required equipment and props, all ready to shoot.
Without planning, everyone ends up standing around,
and that's not good.
And
if it rains or something else goes wrong? A planning
pro will have a contingency plan: a way to shoot
something else until you can resume the original
schedule.
Money,
Money, Money
Professional
production accountants must keep tiny altars to
the Spirit of Murphy, on which they burn symbolic
dollar bills, because on a shoot, anything that
can possibly go wrong will go wrong. Corollary
#1: everything that goes wrong costs money. Everything.
It goes without saying that good production planners
budget the show line-item by line-item, right
down to cold cream for the makeup department.
Then they run an eagle eye over every aspect of
production. Does one character throw a vase at
another? How many takes might that require, and
how many replacement vases? Does one sequence
call for actual snow? What will the weather be
like and how many days might be lost while waiting
for the fluffy stuff to start falling?
Obviously,
every production is different. If you're taping
the CEO's speech in her office, you're probably
very safe. If you're covering whale migrations
from the subjects' POV, good luck. Since you don't
have unlimited funds, you can't just say, "well,
whatever it takes." You have to cast a cold
planner's eye over every script page to spot every
place that could run over budget. Then you add
a contingency fee for protection.
Then
you double it, and pray. That's it for creating
a production plan. Next time out, we'll see how
that plan structures the actual shoot so that
you can end up editing the show you started out
to make.
Contributing
Editor Jim Stinson is the author of the book Video
Communication and Production.
How
Detailed a Script?
Whether
scripting in the A/V or screenplay formats, you
do not -- in fact, should not -- specify camera
angles and individual shots. For instance, if
the story calls for a character to window-shop
along a street, it's enough to write Marcie walks
down Main street, looking in shop windows, pausing
at some, then moving on. Half-way along, she spots
something in a window. It is the statue of a black
falcon. Surprised, she gets her courage up and
enters thestore.
Notice
how the paragraphing suggests a rough breakdown
of the scene content, but without trying to do
the director's job. Any director worthy of the
title will know how to distribute that action
among appropriate setups. On the other hand, the
production manager can learn enough from the description
to schedule the "Marcie" actor and plan
for a small town street, an antiques or pawnshop,
and a Maltese Falcon prop.
In
short, the script is detailed enough for planning,
without being too restrictive.
Proceed
to Part 2 of Production Planning
Proceed
to Part 3 of Production Planning |
