CHAPTER        3           THE MAKING OF A FILM                                  

By now all of us know that the film is the result of the combined efforts of a number of people (let’s better call them professionals, which in any case they are) who practice various arts and crafts, like a writer, cameraman, recordist, editor, music director and above all the Director.  Director is given the pride of place in the team and is actually called the captain of the ship.  In the present day context, it will be more appropriate to compare him to the CEO of an organisation.  He has the final word in almost all the matters, but has other qualified, experienced and talented professionals to head and get the things done in other departments like the production, marketing, finance etc. Understandably the success or failure of the organisation affects him more than anyone else.  But generally everyone connected with the organisation will try and do and contribute his best to drive the company along the winning track., otherwise the mediocre among them may lose their position.  The situation is no different for the professionals connected with the making of a film. 

Please note that we are not talking about the role of the producer, as we are referring to the production of a film in India. Normally a producer will also take active part in the production of a film in Hollywood, where he can be compared to the Chairman of the company, while the Director will function like the Managing Director.  But in India, films are being produced by all sorts of individuals and sometime they have no knowledge of the technique of film production, but have ventured into the line, only because they feel that they can earn huge gains, rather quickly.  The scene is changing here in India too and this is more discernible in the TV networks, where the producer has a bigger role to play, like his counterparts in the west and this is a welcome sign.  However for the purpose of our study about the art of screen play writing, it is enough for us to accept the Director as being the head of the organisation or the CEO, as far film production is considered.

When a number of professionals come together to work and produce a film, it stands to reason that each one must,  not only be a master of his art or craft, but also should have sufficient knowledge of the other branches of film production, so that the end result is the one they had planned for and the one that can make them feel proud of their contribution. It is not only because the result will affect their career, but also because each branch has a bearing on the other branches, that will affect their own contribution.  So in order to maintain the standard of their own contribution each one has to cooperate and work in unison with the others.  This is true from the very first stage, which is the preparation of the screen play for the film.                                        

Let’s now have a look at the various steps of film making.  It comprises of the selection of the story, preparation of the screen play, filming, (picturisation, if you prefer to call it that way), editing and re recording, in that order.  If you already have some knowledge of the different stages of film making, as learnt from magazines etc, you may wonder why no mention has been made of important phases like photography, music recording and dubbing etc.  These have not been omitted by mistake, we did not refer to these only because they are normally treated as part of the production stage  and  post production stage.  We will elaborate on these later.                                        

POINTS TO REMEMBER                                                                                                

1.           Film is the result of the combined efforts of many creative artistes and      technicians.

 2.          Even though it is a team work, the team needs a captain and in film production, it is the director,     
              who heads the team.  He can be compared to the CEO of any  organisation ,who has the benefit of
              professionals hading various departments  to get the result he wants.        

3.         In a team that is responsible for the final result, all the members of the team must  not only know what is his role and what is expected of him but also what others expect  from him and what he can expect from them.  For this the screen play  writer must first know the various professionals involved in the production of the  film and their roles in it.  

4.         The various steps in the production of a film are, the selection of a story,  preparation of a screen play, filming (picturisation), editing, re recording.