American cinematographer (Jan-Dec 1959)

WHEN SCENES are carefully detailed in the shooting script, they are invariably better photo¬ graphed because everything is spelled out plainly for the camera crew. (Photo courtesy AerojetGeneral Corp.) BLUEPRINTING THE BUSINESS FILM How careful pre-production planning can save money for both the in-plant and the business film producer. In the past decade the volume of mo¬ tion pictures produced for commerce and industry has snowballed to such a degree that this field of production now accounts for a huge and lucrative percentage of the total film exposed in the industry each year. A small proportion of such pictures are produced by large organizations maintaining elaborate production facil¬ ities, but a much greater percentage of films for business are made by small producers all over the world — many of them representing the only source of film production close to certain im¬ portant local industries. To the in-plant or business film pro¬ ducer, caught between a low budget and the desire to make a picture that looks “big” on tbe screen, effective pre-production planning is a must. Good motion pictures of all types and categories are made, not on a sound stage, but at a desk long before the cameras roll — and the business film is no exception. Blueprinting such a pic¬ ture carefully can spell the difference between a good film and a poor one, as well as between profit or possible loss to the producer. At what point should this blueprint of production begin? Actually, the first rough lines of structure are sketched in during the very first conferences be¬ tween the producer and the client or, in the case of the in-plant film maker, the company’s public relations man. This is a getting-to-know-you phase in which certain basic decisions must be made: What budget is available for the production? Is the picture to be sound or silent, shot in color or blackand-white? What is the proposed audi¬ ence and special slant of the film? What cinematic style and techniques of production will best put across the point of the film? And, most important of all, “What does the client want to say in the film?” Each of these elements will figure importantly in the blueprint of pro duction and will dictate in some mea¬ sure the ultimate character of the en¬ tire picture. It is important to learn from the client in the very beginning just how much money he plans to spend on the proposed film. Most clients who have never sponsored a film tend to under¬ estimate the cost of this medium, and it is dangerous to sell such a client on the idea of a super extravaganza only to discover later that he has in his budget only half the amount of money that it would take to produce the pic¬ ture on the scale proposed. If the pro¬ ducer catches himself in such a trap he may end up making the film at no profit to himself just to maintain client good will, or (if he cuts down the scope of the film in order to keep from going in the red) he may find himself with a client who is disgruntled be¬ cause he believes himself to have been misled by visions of a super epic and then made to accept something consid¬ erably less. If the client is willing to name a certain budget figure, tell him that you By CHARLES LORING will prepare a prospectus of the type of film that can be made for that figure and that you will present the prospec¬ tus to him as soon as completed. If the client refuses to name a figure, then you as the producer must insist that he give you a very detailed resume of what he wants in that film. Clients are fond of asking: “What will a twenty minute picture cost?” The an¬ swer to that is that while the length of a proposed film will certainly figure somewhat in its cost, the various ele¬ ments that are to go into that film are Continued on Page 626 OCTOBER • 1959 619