We all have them, big dreams of writing a blockbuster screenplay and selling it for big bucks and one day seeing our names roll across the screen in the credits. As I’ve stated before, most writers fail to realize that writing a screenplay is just one small step in the process of making a movie, in our minds we have oversimplified the process into a quick three-step procedure:
- Write a screenplay.
- Make a big sale.
- Film the movie.
Filmmaking is nowhere near that easy and you aren’t the only player in the process. Getting a sale isn’t even the hardest step of the process. Even after a script is sold it doesn’t guarantee the movie getting made, unless it is written on assignment.
If you’re breaking into the business with an original screenplay (a.k.a. spec script) studios may never acquire the funding to get the movie into production. If it does make it to the first phase, a production team will need to be hired and put together to get things started.
Production Teams!
In a movie production, each person has a specific job to do and works closely together with members of their team: writers, editors, actors, set crew. The movie set crew plays a large part in making movies. They are the hands and feet of moviemaking. The complexity of a movie can be seen in the size of its production team. For this article, I want to share the numbers of some of the bigger crews in filmmaking.
1. Iron Man #3 – 3,310 crew members.
2. Avatar – 2,984 crew members.
3. Marvel’s The Avengers – 2,718 crew members.
4. The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey – 2,709 crew members.
5. Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe – 2,622 Crew Members.1
Each team plays a small part in bringing your story to life. Moviemaking is an art that requires a specific creative process.
The Process!
Just like writers have a unique writing process, studios have a filming process to produce the best possible return on their investment in your script. Hollywood has developed a tried-and-true process for the art of moviemaking:
Development- This is where the project is birthed. It is the creation, writing, organizing, and planning stage of a project. In development, a preliminary budget is made, the key cast are attached, key creatives are chosen, main locations scouted and multiple script drafts may be written. It’s all the groundwork to show what the project will be and how much it will cost to make. It starts the moment a Producer thinks of a project or a Writer starts penning words on a page.
Preproduction– Pre-production (or ‘pre’ as it’s called) is where scripts are amended, budgets are adjusted, actors are cast, locations scouted, the crew employed, shooting schedules amended, sets designed and built, costumes made and fitted, and everything to do with the shoot is planned and tested. The pre-production stage can last many months from the initial greenlighting of a project to when cameras actually roll. As this date draws closer, the crew grows with many people being employed about two to eight weeks before the shoot starts.
Filming (Production)- The production stage is where the rubber hits the road. The Writer, Director, Producer, and countless other creative minds finally see their ideas captured on film, one day at a time. Production is usually the shortest of the five phases, even though it is paramount to the film and where most of the budget is allotted. Production is the busiest time, with the crew swelling to hundreds and the days becoming longer in order to be as efficient as possible with all the gear and locations on hire.
Postproduction– This is where the footage is edited, the sound is mixed, visual effects are added, a soundtrack is composed, titles are created, and the project is completed and prepared for distribution. Although the shooting crew has done a lot of hard work, now the post-production crew face arduous hours of work ahead of them to piece together the scenes and craft a stunning story.
Distribution– Without a stringent and robust distribution strategy, the other four stages of production are fruitless, at least from a business perspective. Distribution is the final stage in a project for producers looking to make a return-on-investment. This can be from cinema distribution, selling to a TV network or streaming service, or releasing direct to DVD.2
As this post shows, filmmaking is much more than just writing a screenplay, as you can see each specific phase requires a different part of the production team.
Martin Johnson survived a severe car accident with a (T.B.I.) Traumatic brain injury which left him legally blind and partially paralyzed on the left side. He is an award-winning Christian screenwriter who has recently finished his first Christian nonfiction book. Martin has spent the last nine years volunteering as an ambassador and promoter for Promise Keepers ministries. While speaking to local men’s ministries he shares his testimony. He explains The Jesus Paradigm and how following Jesus changes what matters most in our lives. Martin lives in a Georgia and connects with readers at MartinThomasJonhson.com and on Twitter at mtjohnson51.
1 https://stephenfollows.com/how-many-people-work-on-a-hollywood-film/
2 https://indiefilmhustle.com/5-stages-indie-film-production/
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