Pre-Production
Pre-production, like the filmmaking as a process as a whole, is complicated and can be daunting for independent filmmakers. Rock Salt ensures a steady, fruitful film shoots from day one. We provide the following services :
Finalize a Shooting Script
While movies are magical, they don’t come out of thin air. Even before the pre-production process starts, you need an idea, and often a fairly polished screenplay to work off of. But when it’s crunch time, you need to finalize that screenplay and convert it to a shooting script—one that reads for the director, cinematographer, and camera crew as well as it does for the actors.
Tweaks and whole scenes may be edited, added, or deleted at any time (sometimes even in post-production!) but for the most part your shooting script should be ready to shoot by the time the director first calls action.
Storyboards & Shot Lists
Storyboards & shot lists go hand-in-hand with shooting scripts—creating a visual interpretation of the screenplay for the director and cinematographer to reference and prepare for. While some directors know exactly what they want in their hand and can draw it themselves, usually storyboard artists are hired to bring the story to life.
Once a film is seen—even in black-and-white sketches—it comes alive in a way that the entire crew can see and gives them a concrete vision to strive for.
Find the Right Crew
While some crew positions might already be attached or recommended for a project, and other positions, like your writer and storyboard artist, could be hired very early in the process—you should work to get the entire team rounded out before pre-production gets too involved. After all, these are the women & men who will be carrying out a lot of these tasks, and the sooner they are involved in the creative process, the more valuable their input will be. All of filmmaking is a collaboration—not just the shooting!
When it comes to Creative Development, you can count on us to continue working until it’s exactly what you’re looking for while still staying within your timeline and budget. If you have questions, contact us today.
Location Scouting
Outdoors - You may need to tailor your storyboards to your location or vice-versa, so finding them early is the key. Many hands-on producers & directors may want to do this themselves, but often the smartest thing to do is hire a professional location scout who already has locales in mind or knows how to find original ones perfect for your script.
Finding real world locations early is just as important because you’ll want enough time to process the necessary permits & paperwork.
Indoors - If you’re shooting in a studio or soundstage, you’ll want to find the right one early and make sure it’s not booked before you can lock it in—treat them as you would reception halls for your own wedding!
Create a Proper Budget (and Stick to It!)
By now you should be finalizing your budget, to make sure you can find the gear and afford the locations you want to use. Sometimes this is the professional thing to do; sometimes it’s the necessary thing to do because you’re not working with any credit or financial backers willing to give any more than they already promised.
This is never the most fun part of pre-production, but very often it’s the most important.
Choose Your Gear
Are you shooting digitally or going old school with some 16mm film? Or are you saving money and shooting the entire film on your iPhone? Once you have the answers to these questions you can acquire your gear—often from a rental house.
After your first film you may establish a relationship with a particular rental house and can negotiate discounts and figure out just exactly what your budget will allow when it comes to peripheral equipment. Maybe you can afford that ultracool fog machine after all!
Clear That Red Tape – Permits and Insurance
Once you know what gear and locations you want, you’re going have to get into the paperwork—namely, permits and insurance. Permits are required from municipal governments to shoot on public property and location agreements are typically needed for use of private homes—especially if you’ll need to move furniture or equipment around or repaint the walls after the shoot, etc.
You’ll also need insurance to protect yourself in the event you or one of your crew members accidentally do damage to the location or your rented film equipment. Finally you may need to cover your crew and cast as well—better safe than sorry!
Find the Right Cast
With your dominos falling in place you’re going to need to finally decide on your cast—this could feel impossible, no matter how many actors your audition. You might be frustrated you can’t find the perfect person for the role you envisioned in your head, or maybe you found two equally brilliant performers and you’re pulling your hair out trying to decide between the two. Either way, auditioning early and often and even employing a casting agent to find even more performers, possibly from outside your locality, will go a long way towards giving your movie the perfect cast.
Post-Production
With a team dedicated to Post-Production, we guarantee to provide the highest quality result for all of our clients. No matter what type of project you’re looking to create, we’re here to make it a reality.