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so you want to make a movie let's say
you've already written a screenplay you
want to shoot or I found a story you'd
like to adapt or maybe you just have an
idea that you think would make a good
film what's next
there are a few steps you should take to
sharpen your idea and get all the pieces
into place to make production go as
smoothly as possible most filmmakers go
through this process one way or another
whether you're making a big time studio
blockbuster or a no budget indie with
your friends it all begins with an
awesome pitch
a pitch is a brief verbal description of
a project you'd like to make it's
supposed to be persuasive you're trying
to get people excited about your idea
usually because you need their help we
pitch things all the time
kids try to persuade their parents to
get them a dog or car employees make a
case to get a promotion or a raise and
people try to convince their friends to
see the new Superman movie but in
addition to getting people on board with
your project a pitch can be a great way
to help you figure out if your story
works in the first place is this concept
compelling is the climax satisfying do
these characters feel real and
three-dimensional by gauging someone's
response you might decide to alter the
plot or rethink the entire film and you
can pitch an idea to just about anyone
the late screenwriter author and
educator blake snyder suggested telling
your film idea to as many strangers as
possible bank tellers uber drivers the
person waiting in the line behind you at
the grocery store he believed that you
get a more honest reaction by pitching
your story to someone you don't know
your mom might love whatever you tell
her the woman sitting next to you on the
plane in not so much on the other hand
sometimes you might need a little
encouragement and even if your parents
and friends don't give you honest and
critical feedback the act of telling
your story out loud can still help you
understand it better a lot of filmmakers
even pitch their movie ideas to
themselves in the shower in the car
pacing around the room talking to their
cat bottom line is stories get better
the more you tell them you can identify
pieces that work and figure out
weaknesses before you start producing
anything on the practical side a pitch
can get you thinking about the resources
you'll need to bring your story to the
screen and to help get your film made
screenwriters might pitch an idea to a
producer or a studio executive and hopes
that the person will pay them to write
the script directors might pitch a
project to a studio or an investor to
raise money to shoot it and film makers
often pitch their movies to well-known
actors hoping to persuade them to star
in the film developing a pitch can also
help you ballpark your film's budget not
just in terms of money but also how much
time it will take how big of a crew
you'll need and what sort of special
effects or extra equipment you'll
require so how do you craft a movie
pitch well there's not a single formula
but there are a few ingredients that
most good pitches have first of all you
should deliver your pitch with
excitement and confidence you want your
passion for your movie to be infectious
and you want whoever's listening to it
to believe you can pull it off
second you might compare your film to
other successful movies that explore
similar worlds or have similar tones we
call these comparisons or comps for
short like you might pitch the Martian
as castaway on Mars or maybe the edge of
tomorrow as
hagh day by way of Independence Day
concert meant to limit your story or
make it seem like a copy of something
else the goal is to convey the scope
genre and tone of your film another
thing most pitches include is a logline
this is a one sentence summary of the
movie that includes the genre a
description of the protagonist and a
concise outline of the plot to the
logline for jobs for instance might go
something like this when a killer shark
starts eating members of a tourist beach
town the new chief of police must
overcome his fear of the water to save
his community next your pitch should
include some information about the
characters and story this isn't a
painstaking scene-by-scene description
just the main plot points key character
moments and enough of the emotional arc
to communicate why this story matters
some pitches can include visual aids
posters photographs or even pre-designed
trailers these work best when the film
is set in another time or place like
fantasy or science fiction movies that
need a lot of world-building your pitch
could also suggest some casting ideas
would Reese Witherspoon be great for
your satirical comedy is your gritty no
are perfect for a brooding Elba
type even if you don't expect to have a
list actors in your film it can give
your listener a clear idea of what the
movie will look and feel like plus you
never know
Lucy Liu might be their second cousin
finally the pitch should tell us who you
think will watch the film how big is the
potential audience what kind of
resources are you going to need to
market and distribute it is it a short
film that you hope to screen at film
festivals or a blockbuster that will
open in two thousand theaters preparing
a pitch that covers all these points can
improve your chances of getting your
movie made while also making the story
clearer and stronger now let's say
you've honed your pitch written your
script and collected all the resources
you need to make the film next you have
to get ready to shoot it we call this
part of the process
pre-production it's the unglamorous work
of making all the creative decisions and
logistical plans you can before the
cameras start to roll depending on the
size and scale of your film there are
hundreds or even thousands of choices to
make during pre-production you'll cast
your film whether you're convincing your
family and friends to act for you or
working with a casting director and
watching audition tapes you'll need a
person to play every character that
includes lead actors supporting actors
and background actors to be extras
pedestrians on the street diners at a
restaurant fans at a baseball game
you'll also need to assemble your crew
these are the artists technicians and
craftspeople who will physically make
the movie from a cinematographer to
oversee the camera department
to an assistant director to make sure
that you're staying on schedule and on
budget there are a ton of people that
can be a part of the crew and we'll talk
about those roles in more detail in
later episodes
and besides assembling a dream team of
people you'll also need to establish the
look of the film you have to figure out
things like color scheme lighting plan
and when it takes place to tell your
story well you need unique props or
costumes are there special effects
involved and how do you need to plan for
those during the actual shoot
you'll also need to find and secure all
of your locations during pre-production
whether you need to build futuristic
spaceship sets or if you can just shoot
in your mom's basement and that's only a
fraction of the questions you should be
considering does your lead actor need a
dialect coach to learn a Dutch accent do
you need a stunt coordinator to plan
your big action sequence how many
sandwiches will you need to order on day
three to feed your cast and crew
pre-production can be an exhausting
process but also an exhilarating one
even though you haven't shot a single
frame yet you're already making your
movie and one of your biggest assets
while making all of these decisions is
that screenplay you've polished to
perfection either you or your line
producer will do a breakdown of the
script this is essentially a big list of
every character location prop costing
vehicle and any special needs of your
film if you're doing this on your own a
handy trick is to take a highlighter and
mark every single noun in your script
that way you can make sure you've
accounted for all the things you need to
gather to make your film no matter how
incidental they may be once you have
this breakdown you can figure out the
film shooting schedule which details
what scenes you're going to film and
went like let's say you're making a
movie based on the board game Clue armed
with the breakdown and shooting schedule
you'll know things like on day 5 you're
going to be shooting scene 14 you should
plan out when and where the cast and
crew are expected to arrive on set down
to details like meal breaks and
transportation times you'll need most of
your leading actors Colonel Mustard mrs.
peacock mrs. white and mr. Boddy you'll
need your actors to be fully costumed
and you'll also need some props
candlestick lead pipe and a knife you'll
need some fake blood too because this is
the scene where mr. body's been stabbed
and it all takes place in the study
location so that needs to be ready to go
too now all this information will be
compiled into a call sheet this is a
document given to every member of the
cast and crew before the next shooting
day so they have everything they need to
get prepared to work call sheets also
include a weather forecast for each
location times for sunrises
set the addresses of nearby emergency
services in maps from the set to things
like the hair and makeup trailer or to
the restrooms finally call sheets have
contact information for nearly everybody
in the crew this comprehensive document
is a culmination of all of the work of
pre-production armed with it you're
finally ready to get down to business
and make your movie today we talked
about what goes into a movie pitch and
who you might want to share it with we
learned the basic stages of
pre-production from assembling your crew
to building your schedule and next time
we'll visit the set and explore what the
crew actually does once the cameras
start rolling crash-course film
production is produced in association
with PBS Digital Studios you can head
over to their channel to check out a
playlist of their latest amazing shows
like PBS idea channel in the America and
gross science this episode of crash
course was filmed in the doctor Cheryl C
Kinney crash course studio with the help
of these nice people and our amazing
graphics team is thought cafe
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