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The Development Phase of a script into a film is the process where accumulated ideas are workshopped. Workshopping scripts is an exercise where narrative is spoken out aloud in order to test whether or not your characters are three-dimensional or flat. It is also a platform to create an audience for your work and a committed creative team around you. These exercises are practiced and encouraged by such organizations as the London Screenwriters Workshop and The Script Factory. The purpose of the development phase is to seek out and intensify the inner thoughts of your characters, lifting the narrative into poetry and propelling the story forward. It also acts as a conduit between the story and the audience - are the general public willing to pay money to see what you have to offer?

To write a screenplay is to write from your heart. To rewrite your screenplay is to write from your mind. D.W. Griffith said that there are only seven or eight basic story plots , which means that the final draft of your script has to conform to an established format: Is it an Orpheus plot? (Love lost, Love found, Love lost again). Is it an odyssey? (the protagonist setting out on a journey to achieve a goal). To write from your mind is to give your story a basic plot.

The development phase is also the redrafting stage of a script where a director works with a writer to produce a final script that can most effectively be realized on the screen. It is a collaboration that enables the writer and director to invest themselves in the characters, establishing tension in the script, and pacing it in order to penetrate the audience.

In order to develop a script, you have to understand what is the spine of your story. What lies at the heart of the plot? Does the protagonist have a conscious and unconscious desire? Do they have an inner and outer problem? What do they need to react to? What will it take to restore balance to their life? Only when you know the answer to these questions will your script have a soul in order to possess an entity of its own.

One way to develop your screenplay is to read other screenplays. This can be done free of charge by visiting www.simplyscripts.com or www.dailyscript.com, or by purchasing scripts from The Screenwriter's Store in central London. The inspiration that you receive from reading another person's screenplay can be applied to the development of your own work, as though you were reworking their material to produce your own. To rework someone else's material is to re-dream their dream by recreating your own personal experiences and building it into the story. The polished screenplay then becomes a portrait of yourself for the audience.

The last stage of the Development Phase is to raise the finances for the project. This is where autobiography collaborates with commerce. Who is willing to invest in what you have to offer? Before Spike Lee came on to the scene there was a school of thought that black films were hard to market. Do the Right Thing proved the critics wrong. If this is the case, then more or less any project should be able to secure the finances necessary to mobilize a film.

PRE-PRODUCTION

Once you have the green light to make a film you need to decide on a budget for the project. Let's say for example your budget is £2,000,000. Your budget should be broken down in the following way:

Cast                                          £420,000

Set                                            £220,000

Costumes                                   £43,000

Make-Up and Hairdressing      £29,000

Location Work (Two Days)      £49,000

Film Stock and Processing        £67,000

Music                                          £45,000

Cinematography                         £66,000

Crew                                            £53,000

The next thing that you need to do is to enlist the services of a production manager who will spearhead the preparations for the production. Their responsibility (according to the Directors Guild of Great Britain) is to book equipment, find overnight accommodation for cast and crew, liaise with film commissions (London Film Commission/British Film Commission), break down the script, draft up a shooting schedule, organize travel and food arrangements, monitor cash flow, survey locations and facilitate the producer. In effect, the PM (Production Manager) provides the creative freedom for the director to operate within.

Apart from the director, the most important person in a film crew is the director of photography. Their responsibility is to order, test, adjust camera equipment and supervise the setting up of lighting equipment. They collaborate with the director on deciding camera positioning, movements, panning, tilting, dollying and zooming. An ideal candidate would be an art graduate who is highly image conscious. They need to be able to sociologically tell details that show in character's environment, allowing the audience to set back and dream without effort. The Director of Photography facilitates the dialogue between the audience and what takes place on the screen.

Although it may not seem important, having a good sound recordist is worth its weight in gold. The responsibility of an SR is to capture clear sound by keeping the mike as close to the source as possible. An ideal candidate would be a music graduate who has perfect pitch and an ear for sound.

The role of a Grip is to fetch and carry camera and lighting equipment. The Gaffer is responsible for rigging and maintaining lighting equipment.

Once you have crewed up for the project, the next stage is to secure the services of talent that will guarantee box-office returns. One way of advertising is through PCR (Production Casting Report), which is a free service for the industry. You can consult all the personal management companies and agencies that are listed in Contacts, as well as going to the theatre to see live talent yourself. Some actors want to read the script before they commit themselves to a project, so it would be in your interest to have at least 25 copies of your script for circulation.

PRINCIPAL PHOTOGRAPHY

Once the first day of filming begins, a standard dialogue comes into play:

DIRECTOR: Sound

SOUND MAN starts recording. When it is up to speed:

SOUND MAN: Speed

DIRECTOR: Camera

The CAMERA OPERATOR starts camera and when it is up to speed:

CAMERA OPERATOR: Rolling

The CLAPPER holds a slate in front of the camera.

CLAPPER: Scene One, Take One (claps slate, and quickly exits)

DIRECTOR: Action

The Director of Photography has his own team that consists of Camera Operator, 1st and 2nd Assistant Operator, Gaffer/Grip, Best Boy, Electrician. He is regarded as a painter of pictures, using his camera as the paintbrush, his 35mm reel shot in Technicolor as the canvas, and the actors as the characters in his picture. The cinematographer is the modern day Gainsborough in moving pictures.

The Sound Mixer has his own that consists of Boom Operator - Cable/Playback.

The Art Director's team consists of Prop Master/Make-Up - Hairstylist.

The Wardrobe team consists of Costume Designer - Set Decorator - Scenic Art - Special FX - Set Construction.

The role of the Production Designer is to paint the backdrop to the picture that the audience will see. They provide the skeleton or structure to the painting that the cinematographer will orchestrate.

Although the director is in charge of the production, the 1st Assistant Director will be the most audible personnel on the set. They sometimes step in for the director when they are unavailable to supervise a scene. The 1st AD role is also useful for being an understudy to the director.

However, creative people have big egos, so do be prepared for souring of relationships, even between director and cast/crew. Even Alfred Hitchcock had troubled relations with Tippi Hedren in Marnie and parted company with composer, Bernard Herrmann, and cinematographer, Robert Burks.

The last thing that takes place during principal photography is the Wrap Party. It is like an end of year party where all the cast and crew get together either in a pub or on the studio premises to celebrate the end of production. The budget for a wrap party that consists of unlimited drinks and food is approximately £6,000.

POST-PRODUCTION

Once Principal Photography is completed, the film is brought into the lab for processing and printing. It is edited to produce a first rough cut where all the shots are put together. It is then edited down to a fine cut where excess scenes are cropped. From there, the sound is mixed together and synchronized with the picture to create a married print. At this point a print known as the work print is sent to the composer to score some incidental music to. Once that has been completed, a final cut is made. This is done in collaboration with the director (i.e. Alfred Hitchcock) and editor (i.e. George Tomasini).

To complete the piecing together of the film, title cards need to made and shot for front and back credits. It is like the hardback binding cover of a novel to introduce the reader to what it is to come, and to highlight what they have just read. This can either be done in-house or outsourced to an independent company for approximately £300. One of the most significant title card designers in Hollywood during the 50's and 60's was Saul Bass who worked on Vertigo, North by Northwest, Psycho and The Birds.

Now that the visuals have been pieced together, it needs to be synchronized with sound. This process is called Dubbing. To dub a film you need to lay down tracks of sound: footsteps, background noise, doors opening and closing, vehicles, etc. On top of that, you need to add the dialogue via the assistance of a continuity cutting script. It is like a conductor orchestrating a 70-piece orchestra, bringing together all the different instruments in a symphony of sound to create melodic music. Once all the different sound tracks have been laid and synchronized in concert with the dialogue, then the film is ready to create poetic music.

The last stage in the post-production phase is to score the film. A budget of £17,500 can be set aside for the composition, as the composer is possibly the third or fourth most important person on a film (after the director, cinematographer and possibly principal artiste). One of the most renowned composers in Hollywood of all time is Bernard Herrmann who did the soundtrack for The Man Who Knew Too Much, The Wrong Man, Vertigo, North by Northwest, The Twilight Zone, Psycho and Jason and the Argonauts. It is only when this stage is completed that sound and vision can be seen in concert with each other in a symphony of cinematic orchestration.

The next stage in the proceedings is to hire a venue for the screening. The London International Film School has an auditorium that can be hired out at cost effective rates for independent filmmakers on a low budget. The Institute of Contemporary Arts also has cinema space at more commercial rates. Once you have settled on a date for the screening, invitations need to be sent out to cast and crew, as well as any desired guests to attend the screening. If any of the participants are not able to attend and have agreed to receive a copy of the film upon completion of editing, then a copy should be posted out to them. The participants that attend should also be given a first-generation VHS copy of the film. Hospitality to celebrate the completion of the film is encouraged, but this is not always feasible for those who are on a tight budget.

Copyright © Jason Young

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