How films are made: development, pre-production, shooting and post-production
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Watching a finished film, it is easy to forget that it may have taken years and hundreds of people to make. The process varies enormously between a studio blockbuster and a low-budget independent film, but most productions pass through the same broad stages.
1. Development
Development is where a film becomes possible. It can take months or many years, and most projects never leave this stage.
- The idea: an original concept, a book, a play, a true story or an existing franchise. Adapting someone else's work means acquiring the rights first.
- The screenplay: a writer produces drafts, often many, with notes from producers and financiers along the way.
- Packaging: attaching a director and key cast makes a project far easier to fund.
- Financing: money may come from a studio, a streaming service, independent investors, pre-sales of distribution rights in different countries, public film funds or tax incentives. Independent films often combine several sources.
- The green light: the point at which the people paying commit to making it.
2. Pre-production
Once a film is green-lit, pre-production turns the script into a detailed plan.
- Budget and schedule: the script is broken down scene by scene into cast, locations, props, effects and costs, then organised into a shooting schedule. Scenes are usually shot out of order, grouped by location and actor availability.
- Crew hiring: heads of department such as the cinematographer, production designer, costume designer and first assistant director are brought on, and they hire their teams.
- Casting: a casting director runs auditions for the remaining roles.
- Locations and sets: scouts find locations, permits are arranged, and the art department designs and builds sets.
- Visual planning: storyboards, shot lists and sometimes animated previsualisation map out complicated sequences.
- Rehearsals, tests and safety planning: camera and make-up tests, stunt rehearsals and risk assessments.
3. Production (the shoot)
Principal photography is the period when the main footage is filmed. It is usually the most expensive stage per day, so time is tightly managed.
- A typical day: the crew lights and rehearses a set-up, then shoots several takes from different angles before moving to the next. A single scene can take hours.
- Sound is recorded separately on set, with a production sound mixer and boom operator.
- Continuity is tracked by the script supervisor, who notes what each take covered and anything that must match between shots.
- Daily footage (rushes or dailies) is reviewed so problems can be caught while sets and cast are still available.
- Second units may film action, landscapes or inserts at the same time as the main unit.
4. Post-production
Post-production often takes longer than the shoot.
- Editing: the editor assembles a first cut, then works with the director through several versions to a final cut. Pace, performance and structure can change dramatically here.
- Visual effects: from removing a stray sign to creating whole worlds.
- Sound: dialogue editing, re-recording lines that were not usable (often called ADR), sound effects, Foley recordings of footsteps and props, and the final mix.
- Music: a composer writes the score to the edited picture, and licensed songs are cleared.
- Colour grading: the colourist adjusts colour and contrast to set the mood and make shots match.
- Titles and deliverables: credits are added and the film is output in the many formats cinemas, broadcasters and streaming services require.
5. Distribution and release
A finished film still needs an audience. Distributors and sales agents decide how and where it will be released: festivals, cinemas, streaming, television or a mix. Marketing, trailers and press screenings follow, and in many countries the film receives an age rating before release.
Which stage of filmmaking would you most like to know more about? Share your questions in the comments.