think it, produce it...make it look awesome!

You might be thinking of what in the world does that title stands for? well, as you may realize in this blog we discuss film and television, how it is created, what composes it and some of its secrets, and even though this is not a secret for filmmakers; it may be something that people that are not related to film doesn't know about.  Said in different words, Think it, Produce it...make it look awesome! are just substitutes for the stages of film production: Pre-Production, Production and Post-Production.



In order to create a movie or film, its just not to "have an idea, grab the camera and hit the red button." Filmmaking is a complete process that takes months of work, and is divided into three main stages, called the Pre-Production (or planning stage) the Production (Filming stage) and the Post-Production(The Editing stage.) Once the movie is "locked" meaning, finished, it is then distributed for a period of approximately 6-12 months (without counting the DVD rentals, Online sales etc.)


Pre-Production: The Pre-Production is probably the most important stage of the whole filmmaking process (and is recommendable to always have a checklist on this one). This is the stage where the story is born, the script is written down, revised and re-written if necessary, the production is break down into scenes and from here the locations, props, budget, cast members, crew members, costumes, special effects, visual effects, production calendar and deals for distribution are done. This is the whole planning stage for the movie, the backbone for the next two stages, if a poor pre-production or planning is made, results are going to pop out during the production process and the whole project would just come down.

Production: This is probably which everyone most relates with, the filming stage, during this stage the strengths and weakness of the pre-production stages comes to surface. This is the stage at which all the filming is done. All scenes planned out in pre-production are filmed at several locations. Each scene is retaken or filmed as many times as the director seems fit, to ensure that the best quality scenes are the ones that will make it in the film. When the production stage is over (usually 1-3 months of filming in big movies) the film reel or material is handed to the editor to start the post-production stage.

Post-Production: The editing stage, this is the stage where the editors assembles the film. This stages begins by selecting the best quality images taken in the production stage to create a rough cut taken from sequences (scenes) based on individual takes (shots). The purpose of this first cut is to select and order the best shots or "takes" in the movie. The next step is to create a fine cut by having all the shots flow smoothly in a story, all digital effects are also added on this stage. The final cut is then presented to the director and producer and if approved the film is "locked", meaning no more changes are made.

The film is now ready to be distributed (part of a producers job, new subject to talk about later on) and  next part is for you to decide if you like it enough to go watch a movie in the cinema, if you do, then the making money of the film industry begins!

Some information retrieved from:

http://www.inspiredfilmandvideo.co.uk/content/stages-of-production

http://howiconquered.hubpages.com/hub/preproduction