Behind the Scenes

Here is a speech I gave at toastmasters this morning. Enjoy!


Behind the Scenes of a Movie
By Ben Kayser

Movies. Everybody likes to watch movies. Whether you are young or old there is a movie out there that you can relate to. I am going to show you how much work is put into your 2 hours of entertainment. So where does it start?
It starts with the producer. Lets say he’s driving somewhere and then he suddenly slams on his breaks and yells, “I’ve got a great movie idea.” He then writes a short synopsis about the story. A synopsis would be a short description of the general plot of the story. One would sound like this, “Arnold Shwarzenager finds out he is slowly turning into a butterfly, the evil praying mantis man sends out his hoard of butterfly nets to catch Arnold.”
After the general story is laid out, the producer sends it to a screenplay writer of his choice. Several months pass by before the screenplay is finished and is then presented to some financial sponsors.

It then moves into Pre-Production where the producer will cast his crew. The crew can range anywhere between 5 and 500 people depending on the budget.
We all have our favorite directors, producers and cinematographers. But for those who get lost in the titles I will set off to explain the duties of the crew.
As I explained earlier, the producer is in charge of what goes on behind the scenes. But the director is in charge of everything that goes on in front of the camera. The main thing that the director is in charge of is the creative elements during the filming process. The director is always heavily involved with the actors. In a way, the director is the visionary of the film. A director almost has to know every thing about filmmaking. Whether it’s cinematography, lighting, script writing or audio recording the director needs to know how to do it. Trust me, being a director is a lot more than just bossing people around.
Many people may think that cinematographers have a really easy job. Push the record button and point the camera at the actors. Actually, cinematographers have the most technical job on the set. They need to know cameras like the HVX200, Cannon XG A1S, or the Panasonic AG-HPX300. They need to know about the film stock, color filters, how focal length affects the depth of field, aspect ratio and framing. This is just a little bit of what a cinematographer must master.

A day of filming can be very chaotic if the producer doesn’t have a detailed schedule. The crew usually arrives on location a few hours before the actors to get everything set up. The cameras are adjusted, the props are being set and the lights are being rigged. All the while the actors are in the wardrobe and makeup department getting ready. On films like The Lord of the Rings, the wardrobe and makeup department can have hundreds of workers. This can literally take hours. Once the actors are prepped and the crew is assembled they start filming. Filming can be a very long process because of retakes. If the director isn’t happy with the shot then they re-shoot it. Once they get the shot he likes, they move on. A day of filming sometimes takes 14-16 hours of work. That’s a long day.
After filming is done it goes to the film editor. The editor goes through all of the video and sticks it together with editing software. Not only that, but they have to put in proper transitions and fix the color correction. Editing is it’s own art. If the movie is poorly edited the movie can be choppy and very confusing. When you’re listening to a classical piece, you will notice that it flows very smoothly. That is how a film must be edited. If you move from one shot to anther too quickly people will not be able to keep up.
Once the movie is edited in a way where the director approves it moves on to the sound editor. The sound editor must create fake sound effects for things that were not recorded on the set. Things like a punch to the face, a gun being shot off or a person stomping on the floor must be separately recorded. A lot of times they have to record sounds that sound similar instead of actually recording that specific object. Once that is done, it goes to the composer to create a soundtrack.

Once the soundtrack is created the movie then goes back to the production company that sponsored the film. They make deals with the cinemas and then it gets released into theaters. That’s where you come in and spend your $8 to watch the movie.
Now, I don’t have a lot of experience with filmmaking. But for the past 5 years it has been my hobby to study filmmaking. I hope you’ve learned a little and I hope this gives you a little more appreciation for your favorite movie.