PRE-PRODUCTION: Producer's Statement

As the producer of VET-MAN, I am in charge of all paperwork and emailing out to cast and crew, but as well as this I have an overall creative decision on what goes on during production. My responsibilities include creating the schedules and call sheets, finding the most appropriate crew and locations, organising the auditions, advertising and marketing VET-MAN and fundraising for it. In addition to this, I also have the final decision on the costumes and props that we use.

The organisational side to producing

The organisational role consisted of arranging everything, this included the auditions, call backs, test shoots and room bookings. Once I had been sent the final story synopsis and character profiles, I was able to create the casting advert. I decided that the best place to put this was on Mandy.com because I had previously heard good things about the website. I initially advertised for five characters, these included Tim, Luke, Tess, Sheila and Pete. However, throughout the pre-production process Pete was removed from the story and the character for Mollie was expanded. Once the two weeks was up and the casting advert had closed we received 32 applications for VET-MAN. They were evenly spread between the three main characters, Tim, Luke and Tess. The next step was for Alex and myself to narrow down the candidates in terms of their location. Due to our low-budget, we only wanted to work with people who lived around Kent or London. Once this was done, we invited 20 people into the Studios for an audition. Throughout the two week period between emailing the successful candidates and the audition week, I ended up rescheduling most of the auditions and we lost a couple of candidates during this time too. Out of the candidates, 7 of them requested to send over self-tapes. This was not ideal but we accepted them so people who could not make it were able to audition. I received 3 self-tapes overall. Due to the option for self-tapes and the people who withdrew, we ended up meeting and auditioning 7 people out of the original 20. Nevertheless, amongst these 7 people, we found our cast. Once the auditions were over, it was my job to keep in contact with the successful candidates and regularly send over relevant information to keep them updated with our progress.

I felt it was necessary to arrange a call back for the chosen cast so they could all meet each other and we could have a run through of the script. However, due to some of them not being able to make it, it had to be cancelled to prevent wasting time with under half of the cast being able to attend. This was not a problem because I was able to email over the forms I was going to give them in person instead.

Organising the test shoots was another one of my jobs. Katie informed me when she felt it was necessary to conduct a test shoot and I filled out the relevant forms, whether they were the risk assessments or room booking forms. Some of the test shoots took place in and around Katie’s house, one was in one of the lecture rooms, a couple were held at The Kent Owl Academy and the final one was held at The Bell Inn. Alex had the contact for the owl academy so he informed the owner of the upcoming test shoots, but I contacted the pub for our lighting test shoot. I did this by phoning the landlord back on the number he gave me. Before I could tell Katie and Alex to go ahead with the test shoot, I needed to fill out the risk assessments appropriately to whichever location they said they were going to. Risk assessments were an essential part of my job role because they informed every one of the hazards involved with filming in certain locations. Each location came with a few risks which needed to be written down. Along with this, I had to state the control method for each one, for example what we would do to prevent this risk from occurring. There were different test shoots which were more dangerous than others, these being test shooting at the owl academy and in The Bell Inn’s car park. Here, we had the risk of filming around animals and cars. These both pose bigger risks than simply filming inside a house.

As well as filling out the risk assessments, I had other paperwork to complete. These included the call sheets and consent forms for the actors. In order to fill out the call sheet correctly, I researched into how important they are. I found that the call sheet is extremely detailed, right down to the weather on the day. As a result of this, I knew how to approach filling out the call sheets for each location. I made sure to fill out every box, including the location for the first aid kit and what props, costume and make-up are expected on the day so the cast are fully briefed on what we expect on the day.

Budgeting for the film was essential because we want to know how much our idea will cost. I researched into different ways to keep the budget low. I found that one of the main points included writing the script as a low budget film. For example, not including any special effects or anything too difficult with vehicles like a high speed car chase or crash. After taking on this advice, I liaised with Alex and made sure that he was keeping the budget down in terms of how the story was going. Once this was sorted, I had to list all the things which would cost money. These included props, costumes, travel and food for the cast and crew. I did not allocate a certain amount of money at the beginning of the unit because we may have gone over it and then felt like we had to get rid of some costs in order to keep the film within our budget. This would not have allowed us to create a successful film. Instead, I added up the costs and came to a total and then I looked at ways to reduce the amount as long as it did not ruin the production of the film. For example, I was able to ask one of the cast members if he was happy to get the train because it was cheaper for us to reimburse train tickets rather than fuel. He was more than happy to do this, and in the end this may work out better because he will not be getting stuck in any traffic on the way to the locations. However, I couldn’t have asked Alex to remove some of the props to save money as this would have had an impact on the look of the film.

To work out our fuel reimbursement, I researched into different companies to see what their rate was. I came to an average of these and made our rate, which in the end was 0.37p per mile. I liaised with Katie and Alex on this because we are the ones funding it so I wanted to check they were happy to give this amount. For the train tickets, I will simply take their receipt and reimburse them the amount that they paid. The majority of the food on the shoot days will be provided by us. I have created a small menu ready to be sent out to the cast, this included dishes such as soup, curry and shepherd’s pie. It was essential to look into warm meals to serve as we will be filming in the cold weather.

Schedules were another important part of my role as producer. I know best what is happening on what date during the shooting period, and it was my job to let everyone else know this information. To do this well, I researched into different schedule examples to see how other television companies have set theirs out. Once I had looked at each section to include and looked into the different types of schedules needed, I started to create my own. The first one was the pre-production schedule, this was something Katie, Alex and myself could follow in order to meet each of our deadlines. This changed throughout the pre-production period and I updated it accordingly. The next schedule was the production schedule. This was for the cast and crew’s benefit so we knew what was happening each day on the shoot. The shooting schedule was a more detailed version of the production schedule as I went through each scene and listed the cast involved, times and dates and what equipment and props were needed. This was also sent out to both cast and crew.

Finally, the post-production schedule was something for just Katie, Alex’s and my benefit because this one detailed the steps we needed to take after the shooting period. This included timetabled tutorials so we knew when we were busy or not. I also added in the different stages of editing and by what date each stage should be completed by. This schedule was set over a couple of months, March to May as this is how long we have to edit the film. Lastly, I added in the preparation time for the final degree screening and the deadline for when the film had to be finished.

The creative side to producing
As well as the organisational role, I also had an overall creative look at the project. This included getting the right locations, crew, costumes and props for our film. These aspects of production could not be underproduced because it would have impacted on the quality of our final film. To start the process of looking for locations, I liaised with Alex to find out what type of areas he wanted to film in. The locations I received from him were an animal sanctuary, two houses, two different external locations and a pub. Alex said he already had a place in mind for the animal sanctuary, but before I agreed I had a look around at some other places which may have been more suitable to be our animal park.

During my research into The Thick Of It, I learnt that we should always have a second option for a location in case something happens to the first one which prevents us from filming there. As a result of this, all the locations I looked into I contacted and asked if they would accept a film crew on their site. This was so if one of our final locations let us down, I had a head start on finding another one because I had contacted them previously. Alex set me up on sourcing the locations by giving me ideas of what he wanted. I knew that my choice of location need a reason behind it to which I could use as my evidence as to why the location was the best one for our film. Due to this, our final locations each have an aspect to them which makes them most suited to our film. For example, The Kent Owl Academy can provide us with access to the owls, and the volunteers are more than happy to help us out. They also have a big wooded area away from the public to make our shoot days that bit easier. The house in New Ash green is neat and well-kept which reflects Tess’s character and personality. In the same area to this is the road and drive. This house provides us with a drive big round the back, big enough to put the Vet Van on. The area is also secluded which will give us privacy when it comes to filming. The house in Margate for Sheila has a big drive on the front, suitable for crew, cast and equipment. Opposite the house there is a strip of road which we are able to film on. This is essential for when Sheila explains that she only lives across the road. The last location is the pub. The pub I sourced is small and traditional and is very quiet during certain times of the day. They have had a film crew there before which is reassuring, and the pub also has a car park to the side where we also have permission to film in.

I conducted a search for each location and found more than one area for each. The locations I chose had that one feature to them that the other locations did not, which made the final choices more appropriate for our film. I was briefed about each location from Alex as he was writing the script so I knew what he was looking for. Knowing what he wanted was essential in order to get the most appropriate location for his story. I had a couple of rejections but this did not stop me from finding the best location.

Another role I had within the creative side was the props. I initially read through the first script draft and listed all the props that we would need for the production of the film. This list changed throughout each script draft because the scenes changed. I knew that Alex wanted the best and most suitable props for our film. If the props are not very good, it could bring the quality of the film down. This role of sourcing the props could not be underproduced. As soon as I had my prop list, I looked online to see where I could find the best looking prop. At this point, it did not matter about the price because we needed the most suitable prop that I could find in order to make our film a success. Whatever Alex wanted, I tried my best to find. Every time I found a prop I liaised with Alex to see if it was what he had in mind. I had to make sure the props were very specific, for example, in the script Tess hands Tim their dad’s old bag with the tools inside. After reading this description, I could not buy a new bag as this would not be appropriate for the film. In the story, the bag has been put away for years after the dad died and he used it for years while he was working as a vet. As a result of this, the bag would be old, possibly ripped with a faded colour to it. I thought that a leather bag would be most appropriate as leather lasts a long time, and because of this it would make the idea of the bag being years old more realistic. It would still be in a bad condition but any other material would not have lasted that long. Due to this, I searched for an old leather doctors bag. I found the exact bag Alex had in mind on eBay, and it wasn’t a bad price either. I followed this structure for each prop and found the best one that I could. Some props weren’t very specific like the bloody tissues. This can be done with any tissue by dabbing it into some fake blood. As we already needed the blood for the scene with the dog, we will be able to reuse this particular prop.

Similarly to this, I had to make sure the costume choices matched the script and character profiles. Our costumes need to be believable so the audience stay interested in the film. Most of the costumes are everyday clothes but they are specific to the story. Alex has stated in the script when Tim and Luke get changed half way through. I had to take note of this and make sure I told the cast the correct clothing that they would need. As most of the clothes are every day, these can be provided by the cast. There are a couple of pieces which we will be getting dirty, like the stain on the hoodie at the beginning, and having Mollie covered in mud to look like she has just finished working with the animals. As a result of this, these clothes will be sourced by us because I could not ask the cast for their clothes and then get them dirty on purpose. I listed all the items of clothing and which we could source and which I could ask the cast for. After this went back online and searched for the best suited clothing items. Some were more specific than others, Mollie needed some leggings to get muddy so I was able to source these in a cheaper high street store. However, Tess needed smart clothing. As she is described as a successful estate agent, she should be on a respectable wage. Due to this, she would have good quality clothes, and I would not be able to source her costume from a low-priced shop in case it looked cheap. As a result of this, I had to look in a higher end shop like Debenhams in order to get the good quality clothing. In addition to this, as Mollie is the owl expert, she needs to look like one rather than being there in jeans and a top. When we were test shooting at the academy, I took a note of what the volunteers were wearing. Their clothing mainly consisted of black leggings, jeans and old trainers or wellies. They also had a fleece with the academy logo on it. To look the part, Mollie will be dressed similar to this. We will source the leggings and boots or trainers, and I will ask for a spare fleece at the academy for her to wear. As we are filming during the cold months, I added a coat to each of the character’s costume lists.

The crew were another important aspect of the production which couldn’t be underproduced. I found out through my research on crewing that all roles on a set are important otherwise they would not exist, therefore they need to be experienced within the job role or at least be interested in it. As producer it was my job to find specific crew members rather than anyone who was available. By having crew members who knew what they were doing, we will be able to get on with our own roles on the filming days instead of trying to help the other members of crew. To source experienced crew, I first looked at the other year groups on the Television Production course to see if they would be interested. I heard back from one person who had experience in sound and was very intrigued by it. I looked through her work and decided that she would be a valuable member of our group.

We were still in need of a camera assistant / runner and a make-up artist to work with the fake blood. I ended up combining the camera assistant role with the runner role because I liaised with Katie and she said that she will not need someone on the second camera the whole time. As a result of this, I felt that having someone purely on the camera would be a waste and while they are not on the camera, they can help me with the food and drinks. I looked at previous videos online from people on our course and looked at who the camera operators and runners were. There were a couple of people who had the same role as camera assistant for some of these films and I liked the look of the work so I thought they may be suitable. However, I emailed them and they never got back to me. As a result of this, Katie suggested someone she knew in the first year. Initially, I looked at her blog and found that she was the cinematographer for her latest group work and that she had a lot of interest in the camera. We got in contact with her and she said he would happily be the camera assistant / runner for VET-MAN. For our final role, I decided that we needed a make-up artist. This was because we attempted a fake blood splatter in the previous project and it did not go as well as we hoped. As a result of this, I felt it was appropriate to get someone who is experienced in working with fake blood as they may have better ideas than us. Katie and Alex both agreed and I started looking around for the most suitable person for our film. I knew someone who studied theatre make-up at college so I immediately got in contact with her. She was unavailable on our shooting dates but she put me in contact with her friend who was available to help us. I looked at her friends work and she has experience in fake blood and prosthetics, therefore, I thought she would be the best fit as our make-up artist. While I was explaining the scene, she was even giving me advice on what instrument would give the best splatter effect. I believe that she will be able to create a realistic blood splatter and black eye which will help raise the quality of our film.

I had to conducted some market research in order to find out our target audience and then which platform they were most engaged by. During the advertising stage, I needed to make sure I was relating back to my market research in order to advertise VET-MAN to the correct people. I chose to advertise on the following social media sites, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter. During my research, I found that not every young person has a social media account, and therefore I decided to hypothetically advertise on tubes and buses. Due to our low-budget, I would not have actually been able to do this. My reasoning behind this was that I found a statistic that showed that the biggest age group that get public transport was 18-29, which is also part of our target audience. I created a fundraising poster which I posted in areas where I thought there would be the most young people, this was another aspect of advertising because our social media links were at the bottom of the page so if people wanted to find out more then they could visit our sites. As a result of this, I didn’t feel that it was necessary to create an advertisement poster to go on a wall because I would have posted it in the same places that I posted the fundraising poster.

Throughout every aspect of the production Katie and Alex came back to talk to me. As the producer of the project, I overlooked every part to the film. For example, I was the script editor, so even though Alex was writing the script, I had to look at it and give my feedback. Although, he is the sole writer of this project, his work still had to go through me. I felt confident in taking on the script editor role because I looked into a couple of short comedy films. From this I took advice on what a comedy script should be like and then this gave me points to look out for. Some examples include keeping the story quick and to the point, and to not dwell on something that is not funny. From watching Ghost Family, I realised that they did not hang onto the fact that the boy’s family had just died, instead they got straight back into the comedic aspects of the film. This is the sort of thing that would happen in a dark comedy, which is what our sitcom is. My other research consisted of looking at specific producers rather than the shows. From Charlie Hanson, I learnt the distinct differences between a sitcom and a comedy feature. These differences are other aspects I can look out for when looking at Alex’s script drafts to ensure he is going in the right direction for a sitcom. As the producer, I liaised with Katie and Alex throughout the project to keep me updated on every part surrounding the production. By doing this, I was the source of information for both the cast and crew as I was able to pass the information on from us to them.