Conceptos Principales

In addition to the people involved in the preproduc- tion, production, and postproduction processes, the director/producer will encounter many others: 1. Agents and managers (your own or those

representing the talent you hire)

2. Accountants and lawyers (yours or your talents’)

3. Public relations, publicity, and advertising executives

As a director/producer, you work with the media on your own behalf, on behalf of the produc- tion, and on behalf of the talent involved in your production:

4. Music licensing personnel. In music licensing, you may work with someone who helps you find specific music and someone who helps you acquire the rights to that music. It may be the same person. The fundamental issue is that if your production is to have public showings, you must have the rights to any music you use. This requires rights from the composer or copyright holder and the talent.

5. Stock footage licensing personnel. The same provisions as for music licensing are

mandatory here. Most stock-footage houses charge for viewing and then charge per second of material used, based on the kind of usage.

The rates charged for commercials airing nationwide, for example, are higher than the rate charged to a local station. Some of the issues surrounding stock footage are covered in Chapter 7.

6. Caterers. Most of the time, the facility at which you are working has arrangements with a caterer, has its own kitchen, or offers a handy supply of menus from nearby

restaurants that will deliver. On network and local programs, staff directors, producers, and the rest of the staff take a break and buy their own meals. On programs where there is visiting talent and on-location shoots, a budget item is mandated to provide lunch or dinner. In most student projects, feeding the talent and crew is an important line item in the budget. 7. Transportation personnel. If there is any major

trucking that has to be done—of set pieces, instruments, gaffer rigs, and so forth—you may be required to hire union teamsters. Productions also use vans and let production assistants transport talent from hotels and crews to locations.

8. Location services staff. Location services arrange either a portion or all of the services required for location shooting, which may include:

a. Location scouting and securing of the location. Some homeowners or locations charge a great deal per day. Location fees can vary from a few hundred dollars to many thousands of dollars a day. (Whatever the cost, location owners are very particular about the condition in which the locations are left after the shoot.)

b. Security at the location c. Acquisition of permits d. Arrangements for catering e. Arrangements for housing and

transportation en route to and from the location

f. Arrangements for housing and transportation at the location

g. Cleanup after leaving the location. (It’s important to be specific about what the location service will and will not supply. Details about the cost of each phase of the service are essential.)

9. Insurance agents and their staff. Insurance for a shoot can be expensive. A great deal of

unusual gear comes in and out of a location, cables are laid across the floor, hot

instruments surround the shooting area, and accidents often occur. The location becomes a high-risk area. Insurance premiums reflect very valid concerns regarding location work. 10. Union and guild members. If you work on a

production that has workers represented by unions or guilds, ask the facility or the unit production manager about the specific contractual obligations that may affect your production schedule. Find out what the problems may be before they occur and arrange to work around them.

Along the way to completing a production, the director/producer will work with a great number of people, all of whom make a unique contribution to the project. Recognizing their specific needs and helping them do their jobs by giving them the infor- mation and the time they need helps to ensure a high-quality production.

REVIEW

Preproduction

People who are involved in making a television production:

1. Executive in charge: final responsibility for the program or series

2. Producer and line producer: runs the day-to- day program

3. Associate producer/assistant producer: assists the producer/line producer

4. Production assistant: takes notes, assists producers

5. Director: responsible for the production of the program, including blocking and calling shots 6. Associate director: readies shots, responsible

for timing

7. Stage manager: the director’s voice backstage and onstage

8. Unit manager: tracks costs and makes sure vendors are paid

9. Operations: assigns facility and, sometimes, crew

10. Engineering, represented by the engineer in charge: facilitates all engineering needs, both hardware and personnel

11. Accounting (sometimes)

12. Set designer: designs the set and may dress it 13. Art director/set decorator (sometimes): dresses

the set 14. Lighting designer/electrician 15. Graphics 16. Makeup/hair 17. Wardrobe 18. Talent 19. Music 20. Special effects 21. Stage crew 22. Paint crew 23. Prop crew 24. Animal handlers 25. Drivers 26. Explosive experts 27. Fan club representatives 28. Greens people

29. Martial arts experts 30. Security

Production

Production costs are divided between “below-the- line” and “above-the-line” charges. Productions almost always have people who represent the fol- lowing areas:

G A technical director: responsible for the crew,

video, and engineering standards

G Two, three, four, or more camera operators

(camera operator for robotic cameras)

G An audio mixer: responsible for all sound

Sometimes, any combination of the following is also included:

1. A sound-effects person

2. One to four utility/cable persons 3. A crane operator

4. A crane boom person

5. A jib crane operator/cameraperson

6. Stage manager: the director’s representatives on the floor. They deal with four different groups:

a. The production group (the director/ producer and his or her staff)

b. The stage and technical crews (engineering and set, paint, property, electrical and special-effects crews)

c. The talent d. Management

7. Prop crew: prop crew acquires or makes props and runs props for the program

8. Stage crew: responsible for the set

9. Light crew: the lighting designer designs the show. He or she arranges an overlay to the quarter-inch ground plan, which notes: a. The kind of instrument—fresnel, liko,

scoop, and so on

b. The wattage of each instrument c. The position of each instrument on the

pipe from which it is hung

d. The direction in which the instruments are to be hung

e. The function of each instrument (sometimes omitted)

10. Paint crew

11. Talent including chorus, extras, and so on 12. Graphics

13. Makeup/hair

Note that actual program slates are often found at the beginning of programs. Embedded slate data are always present. Using viewable slates is a particu- larly good idea for series productions so those airing the program can verify that the program they are air- ing is indeed the particular episode that is called for.

Postproduction

The people involved in the postproduction process are:

1. The account executive/sales 2. Scheduler

3. Reception 4. Librarian 5. Shipping

6. Editor, both online and offline 7. Graphics and assistants 8. Sound mixer