pre-production When to plan the source for the movie?
- Thread starter sfrost82
- Start date
The budget should be the first thing you do. For both my features, we had the financing in place and budget done at the beginning of pre-production - although admittedly the allocation of money within the overall budget DID change on several occasions.
I wouldn't "plan the music" until you have the budget and financing locked in, because if the money isn't there you won't be able to get what you want.
I wouldn't "plan the music" until you have the budget and financing locked in, because if the money isn't there you won't be able to get what you want.
Anything from a known artist will probably cost a huge chunk of your budget. One project on which I worked wanted to use "The Middle" by Jimmy Eat World. The cost was US$10,000 plus points.
You'll also find that you may have to do substantial rewrites of your script once you have your funding.
I have no idea what sort of budget you envision, but be sure you include audio post and marketing.
I plan the budget as I write.
You have already planned the music but you haven't looked into how
much that music will cost. Do it now.
You need to do that with everything – find out how much everything
will cost right now. Renting equipment? Budget that. Paying actors
and crew? Budget that. Are you going to have to pay for any
locations? Better budget that right now.
Music is one of the last things, so it often gets what is left, both little money, and of course what little time is left - "We can give you 3 days to do the score."
There are so many options, though. I belong to Production Crate, for $5 a month. You can download visual effects and as many music tracks as you like. Though I compose, I grabbed some tracks for a project that I was editing, just to get it finished quick. It was for somebody else, and they were asking for a ton of re-edits, so I gave them the free (er, $5) fast score.Ideally, you want a dedicated composer. Some people do it for cheap or free, but you should really pay them something. What is paid usually depends on the project - no budget indie, some budget, medium, pro, etc.
My question for you is, what is your budget? Did an investor give you a blank check?
Someone is giving me 10K to make a bigfoot movie in August, so I took that budget and applied to what was absolutely needed, such as 3K for the bigfoot makeup. I already have equipment, so aside from 3 hard drives, I figured what gas, food, and permits cost. Are you paying an editor, or DP (I'm doing those)? How many crew do you need? I have that down to 4 people. How many actors. I've got 12. Uniforms? (4 rangers, 2 sheriffs, 1 deputy).
Again, I have equipment and am covering post, so I can divide what's left to give the actors and crew a small amount per day. I have 7 days budgeted. I figured approximately 9 (crew/actors) per day X 7 days = 63 wages. If you can, budget a certain amount for contingency. Something unexpected, always pops up. 10 to 15% of the budget would be wise.
Are you making a feature? You'll probably need to add E&O insurance, and Title search costs. Many people budget in promotion costs, such as artwork, film festival fees, advertising, etc..
Thank you for describing your way to it this detailed. What is a Production Crate, and how does that work?Music is one of the last things, so it often gets what is left, both little money, and of course what little time is left - "We can give you 3 days to do the score."
Ideally, you want a dedicated composer. Some people do it for cheap or free, but you should really pay them something. What is paid usually depends on the project - no budget indie, some budget, medium, pro, etc.
My question for you is, what is your budget? Did an investor give you a blank check?
Someone is giving me 10K to make a bigfoot movie in August, so I took that budget and applied to what was absolutely needed, such as 3K for the bigfoot makeup. I already have equipment, so aside from 3 hard drives, I figured what gas, food, and permits cost. Are you paying an editor, or DP (I'm doing those)? How many crew do you need? I have that down to 4 people. How many actors. I've got 12. Uniforms? (4 rangers, 2 sheriffs, 1 deputy).
Again, I have equipment and am covering post, so I can divide what's left to give the actors and crew a small amount per day. I have 7 days budgeted. I figured approximately 9 (crew/actors) per day X 7 days = 63 wages. If you can, budget a certain amount for contingency. Something unexpected, always pops up. 10 to 15% of the budget would be wise.
Are you making a feature? You'll probably need to add E&O insurance, and Title search costs. Many people budget in promotion costs, such as artwork, film festival fees, advertising, etc..
It's a website. Do a search for it. When you join, you can download all sorts of assets; VFX, sound FX, music, backgrounds, etc.