Production research

Content
Could be original or optioned- both require research to be done
An option is a contractual agreement between a potential film producer and a writer or third party that is holding ownership of a screenplay.
The owner of a piece of writing can sell a specific script to a film producer however if they have not created a film or production using this within 2 years the owner of the script has the authority and right to sell this piece of work to another producer.

Copyright- cannot use another individuals or organisations work as your own. You have to have permission to use work that has been copyrighted.
Copyright owners can decide to licence others to use their own work retaining the ownership over the rights themselves.
Short film makers unlikely to not have the correct funds or budget to afford or pay for copyright or use another individuals sound or music in their production.

Viability
It is important to demonstrate that your planned production is viable.
Testing the viability of your short film at a number of different levels is important:

• Is the production financially viable?
• Do you have the skills that are necessary to undertake the process?
• Do you have access to the required equipment and technology that is available?
• Will you require help and support and if need be what is it?
• Do you have enough time to create the production?

Placement media

Financial costs
Is the production financially viable?
Short film producers have to consider significant costs such as:

• Crew
• Locations
• Props/ Costume
• Talent
• Permissions
• Equipment
• Miscellaneous (food and drink)

The overall costs of the production will differ depending on what sort of short film you are looking to create.

Technological resources
Hardware and software options are available to use in the creation of your production. If you choose to work independently your equipment will have to be purchased or hired for the duration of the production process. Looking at this aspect you will have to undertake researching what equipment you will require and how much it will cost. Software will help you to tailor, cut and frame the short film how you want where as the hardware is the equipment that helps you to create the production.

Personnel
Hiring creative individuals to help research and develop your ideas is an important factor within creating a production. It is useful to also look at technical expertise to support you in the production stages. Marketing people can help sell the production and generate a significant income from advertising and merchandising. Marketing and advertising are important factors that need to be looked into in detail in order to determine how much it will cost and how it will be done.

Locations
The filmmaker needs to research potential locations that can be used and accessed to film the production. Using a Recce is useful in identifying suitable venues for the filming of the production, assisting in the planning of specific shots, assess potential problems or health and safety issues that might be faced by the crew.

Market research

Product market
Competition
Competitor analysis
Advertising placement
Advertising effect

Audience research

Audience research

Audience data- information that is received from the audience. I.e. screen testing, reviewing

Audience profiling- social and economic characteristics within the audience

Demographics- individuals that are linked together in some way. I.e. ethnicity, race, genders, social class.

Geodemographics- segments individuals included in this into further categories. 

Consumer behaviour- the study of the behaviour of these people that are included in this and what their needs and wants specifically are. I.e. types of productions, effects and storylines that attract the target audience.

Consumer attitudes- these can include the audiences beliefs, feelings and behaviour. This can have a significant affect on the production as you will be able to identify what these individuals are interested in, what issues they are effected by etc.

Audience awareness- recognising what your audiences interests and preferences are. Doing so will increase your reputation and amount of viewers you receive.

Self generated research

Self generated research is data that you have created yourself; it is your own original piece of work. I.e. script, photographs, audio, footage.

Advantages

• Authentic
• Fresh idea(s)
• Can tailor the production to how you want
• Up-to-date

Disadvantages

• Can be very time consuming
• Can have a significant cost for the materials required

Advantages

Authentication is an important factor of using Self generated research; it can have a significant outcome on the production. It is illegal to copy or use anyone else's work as your own without the proper authority/ permission to do so; this is called Plagiarism. The advantage of creating your own piece of work is that it is your own authentic thoughts and ideas that have created the production. Furthermore, creating an authentic piece of work will give the audience something new instead of being hit with the same idea and purpose as they have seen many times before.

Linking together with this is fresh ideas. The advantage that this has is that no one else has the same story line or ideas that you do. Creating new and original pieces of work will potentially draw the audience in as it'll be something different and improved from what they might have seen already. Creating fresh, new ideas for a production will draw your viewers in and potentially increase your number of viewers and the reputation of the creation. Introducing a new creation to your audience will get them interested and excited about the production, Viewers may also recommend the creation to their peers if they think it is of a high enough standard.

Tailoring the production to how you want is important and can be an advantage as it means that you can have full control over what you want to happen. No one else has permission or access to change what you have created.

The piece of work that you create will also be up-to-date, giving you an advantage in attracting your audience further. Having your production up-to-date with real life events and footage can have the affect of attracting more viewers. The higher quality of the production the higher number of viewers and individuals interested is likely to be received.


Disadvantages

Creating the production from your original thoughts and ideas can be very time consuming whereas it is a lot easier and faster to use Secondary research or already founded materials in your production. Cost is also very important in including within self generated research. Sometimes the amount of money an individual has access to will determine whether they are able to create their own footage, sounds etc. You also have to keep in mind that the production will have to have some sort of budget set in order to attract the target audience; otherwise the creation has just gone to waste.

Primary Research methods

Interview techniques- formal, informal
Formal

• A set time for the interview to take place
• Dress appearance- suit, smartly dressed
• Questions tailored to the applicant
• Most commonly taken place for a job interview

Informal

• A specific time is not set
• The individuals are dressed normally

Observations (studying behaviour)
Observations often study human behaviour and gather an understanding of why individuals do and act a certain way. For example someone could observe the amount of television an individual watches a week and could develop this into how and why they do this. If this individual has a lot of free time and does not work during the day they will be able to relax and watch TV a lot more so than someone who works full-time and has many responsibilities and roles they have to complete in the day. This would be the process of observing these individuals and understanding why they do this.

Questionnaires
Questionnaires can be useful in gathering people's opinions and views on certain aspects of your subject. You will be able to identify potential strengths and weaknesses within your topic after conducting the questionnaire. Once you have gathered all of your audience responses you will be able to analyse these and make a decision with what to do to improve your research or subject.

Surveys
Quantitative
Types of questions- open (can have multiple outcomes and responses), closed (restricted answers; yes or no)

Focus Groups- small groups that discuss specific topics

Audience panels- Focus group where the viewers are assembled to give feedback and their opinions to the producers of the show
Participation in internet forums

The purpose and nature of Primary Research

Primary Research is original research that the individual gathers regarding their topic/ subject.

Advantages

• It's your own findings
• You can tailor the information how you want
• Recency of the data

Disadvantages

• Time consuming
• High cost
• An increase of resources may be required

Collecting Primary research is an advantage as it allows you to create and tailor your material in gathering the information to your own preferences. With Secondary research you are less likely to be able to collect data that is specific to your topic furthermore using Primary research can assist you in gathering relevant and important information that can help you in your production process. Collecting Primary research will also allow and show your audience that you are able to identify and investigate data and collect this regarding your subject. Using Primary research will enable you to gather information that will be of great use to you in this section of the process of production. Primary data will also allow you to collect information that is up to date and new. Collecting data that is new enables you to work with material that is fresh which means that it will essentially give you a more accurate outcome.

Collecting Primary research can however be a disadvantage as it can be very time consuming as well as cost a significant amount. The timing and cost of the production are two of the most important elements as you do not want to go over the planned amount that you are setting yourself furthermore you want to ensure that you use the appropriate amount as well. You want to make sure that you use your time effectively and do not waste it. You also need to ensure that you spend enough money on collecting the data you require however you do not want to spend too much as you need enough money to make the overall creation of the production successful. When creating Primary research it can require more resources than what it would to collect Secondary research. For example you might want to create a questionnaire for your audience or the public to complete and gather the information  you receive from that; you might decide to create your questionnaire document on Microsoft Word which is a resource that you require furthermore deciding where you want to display this; do you want to print it off and hand it out to individuals? do you want to display this on social media websites?

The nature and purposes of Secondary research

Secondary research is the process of collecting data that has been originally found by another individual.

Advantages

• The data is already collected
• The information that has been gathered is sometimes extensive
• Cost efficient

Disadvantages

• The findings could be out of date
• The data could be inaccurate
• Might not be specific enough

Collecting Secondary research is an advantage as it can save you valuable time that you could've spent else where in the production process. Collecting your own data (Primary research) can also have a significant cost whereas it is a lot cheaper to use Secondary research in your work. The money that you save from collecting Secondary research you could spend on different aspects of the production. It is important to remember that you have a small budget when making your short film, you do not want to spend too much money on the research process of the creation and ensure that you have enough money to spend on other significant parts of the production. In some cases the information that has been gathered in the Secondary research can be extensive. You might not be able to access certain things that have been used in order to obtain this research, furthermore it can be an advantage to include this in your work as someone else has gone and completed this already and the data is already presented for you.

However, Secondary research can be a disadvantage as the data might be out of date. Secondary research can be done at any time and can be left for the public to view however it might not stay updated. Although Secondary research can still be valuable even if it is out of date; sometimes it can only be used if it is new material or is kept updated. In many cases the data that has been collected is inaccurate and incorrect. Many individuals or organisations can make mistakes and misread information and display this, in conclusion giving you the wrong or incorrect data. Using incorrect data in your work will not give you a positive completion and can lead to you ultimately misreading this information and making mistakes from this. Secondary research can also be a disadvantage as the information that has been collected might not be specific enough regarding your topic. Unlike Primary research you will not be able to edit or tailor your material to suit your subject.

Short film proposal presentation

https://prezi.com/8py80grbfiqb/short-film-proposal-pitch/

Secondary Research- 'The Importance of research in short film production'

Swimming Upstream: A Lifesaving Guide to Short Film Distribution by Sharon Badal

These two pieces of text taken from Swimming Upstream are significant in my secondary research as they identify some key elements that can be taken into consideration. For example viewing similar short films and examples and picking out features from these can be helpful in the planning and making of my own short film. The author also states that even though you may not agree with the research that is being presented it can be useful to know regardless. In the second piece of text Badal states that there are various different approaches in gathering this type of research and information; libraries, marketing divisions, distribution departments etc. 

It is important to be able to identify the various facilities and resources that are accessable in gathering the information required. It is helpful to use as many different methods of secondary research as you can so that you are expanding and developing your understanding of this type of research as well as gathering information of other people's experiences, opinions and views.

Producing and Directing the Short Film and Video by Peter Rea, David K. Irving 

This piece of text is important in my research as it tells the reader what to do when trying to gather the information. It states that the reader would benefit from contacting as many companies that is possible and to avoid wasting time they should identify the types of projects each company has funded in the past that will link to their theme or subject. Identifying specific information that relates to your subject will give you an advantage in developing the research making your planning and making of the short film stronger.

Writing the Short Film by Patricia Cooper, Ken Dancyger

This piece of text explains how you can use various ways in conducting research and tailoring it to your own preferences. You are able to do your Secondary research gathering information that is relevent and significant in your studies furthermore digging deeper into this finding other pieces of data that can be used and analysed. Secondary research can lead to other pieces of text and authors which will improve and develop the information gathered however this first initial research can always be gone back to.

The purpose of using these pieces of text and the reason for including it in my Secondary research is because it evidences some key points that can be taken into consideration and help to build the research gathered. This will enable you to progress with the making of films and understanding relevent facts and opinions of certain aspects of film making and the research needed to be able to create these. Every image that has been taken from the three books is significant in my Secondary research as it allows me to see these individuals perspectives and opinions on the research they have undertaken and how important they think it is themselves with the work and film making they have done.

Using the Internet

https://shortofstories.wordpress.com/2012/12/21/writing-a-short-film-research/

This author states that they use their own personal process to undergo research while working on the writing of their own short film script. The author explains how important it is to evidence research in your work. You need to be able to develop your research increasing your chances and possibilities of creating high quality and positive films that are more likely to survive in the market. It is important to research so that mistakes are not made within the film, characters etc. It is easy for the audience to spot mistakes and disadvantages within a film which can have a negative affect on the producer as well as the film itself.

Using Forums

http://www.filmmakerforum.org/general-discussion/6142-tips-for-writing-an-interrogation-short.html

Using Journals

http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/intellect/sfs/2014/00000004/00000001

Survey Monkey Research Analysis 2

Survey Monkey Research Analysis