Short films with a small crew of less than ten will often be able to get a special licence that is less stringent than that required for a bigger production. However, you will still have to obey the same health and safety guidelines and provide proof of insurance.
Location manager
Location managers deal with sourcing and negotiating locations. Anything that concerns a location is their domain. Most short film productions don’t have one, but if your short requires lots of locations and you can delegate this responsibility to someone else, then it will help with production.
STUDIOS
If you need to create an extremely controlled environment, or build a set of considerable scale for your film, then you are going to need to hire a studio or soundstage.
Shooting in a studio environment offers you nearly endless potential as a filmmaker. It is possible with enough time and resources to create just about any scenic or lighting arrangement that you could need. This is what makes shooting in studios so desirable; unlike locations you can create conditions where lighting and sound can be kept constant, circumstances that you would not otherwise be able to achieve.
On location you will often be working around factors such as background noise and bad acoustics, constantly fluctuating light or not enough, and the general upheaval of everyday life that can make filming slow or just completely impossible.
In a studio you can create bespoke sets that will be designed for the needs of your film: rooms without ceilings, views with permanent sunsets or different planets altogether. All of which can be maintained for days on end until you have finished shooting.
The drawback to this freedom is that shooting in a studio is expensive. A day rate for even a small soundstage professionally equipped for filming can be many times more expensive than the entire budget of many short films. This alone puts shooting your short in the confines of a professional studio beyond the means of most short filmmakers. It is, however, possible to find spaces where you can potentially set up your own studio (see non-professional studios).
If your film requires a studio set up and the budget is sizable enough to hire one, then these are the factors you need to consider:
NON-PROFESSIONAL STUDIOS
It is possible to find places that can be used as a film studio, or even photographic studios that will allow you to film. Sports halls, warehouses and large photographic studios are all often sizable enough to shoot a short film in. These places will often be hireable for a fraction of the price that professional film studios will cost. The drawback to this logic is that these places are not equipped for the needs of shooting a film and often by the time you have equipped them you may well have spent as much as it would have cost you to shoot at a professional premises. These are the factors you should carefully consider and budget before you make a decision.
These types of buildings will not be soundproofed, so you could potentially have background noise issues. Due to the size and shape of these buildings the acoustics will more often than not be terrible The only way to tackle this would be to soundproof the building, which would be an impossibility.
There will be no grid from which to suspend lights from the ceiling, or backdrops or drapes. You would need to hire scaffolding and at least one rigger to put it up to achieve anything close to what you would have in a studio. It would take at least a day each for both set up and strike (i.e. the dismantling of a set for a scene, which only takes place when it is definitely not going to be needed for other shots).
The power supplies for these places will not be capable of supplying the amount of electricity you will need to light a space of that size. This means that you would need to hire petrol-driven generators that will need to be outside the building and run cables inside for your lighting. Obviously you will also need some petrol.
You may also have great difficulty getting insurers to insure you for making a film in such places, simply because they are not designed for filmmaking and so the health and safety issues are exacerbated. You may well need to have a security guard.
All these factors add up financially and practically and it can be an organisational nightmare for what often ends up being a small saving. In a professional studio you will generally have everything in one place. It will be a short walk or shorter run to find just about anything you could possibly need in the middle of a shoot.
SOUNDSTAGES
Soundstages come in all shapes and sizes, ranging from the size of a tennis court to the size of a football pitch, with price tags to match. They are designed and maintained for filmmaking, but are essentially empty spaces, which means you will need to create or hire in everything that your film requires.
They are called soundstages because they are completely soundproofed. Once the doors are shut then you have perfect acoustics for sound recording that will remain uninterrupted until you open the doors again. Some studios will have stages that are not soundproofed, which will often be considerably cheaper than soundstages and ideal for shooting films with no dialogue or live sound recording.
As with most filmmaking equipment, hire prices will be quoted by the day or for a four-day week. Prices are often negotiable, but don’t expect to be able to compete with feature films or commercials for space or time. Studios often have what is known as down time, where soundstages are dormant – i.e. not in use – and this can sometimes be for very extended periods. The best strategy for obtaining a studio soundstage at a discounted rate is often to find out when these periods might occur, so that you are working around their schedule rather than them working around yours.
Grid
Soundstages have very high ceilings, designed to accommodate large amounts of lighting, while still leaving plenty of headroom for filming. The ceilings of soundstages are equipped with a grid made from intersecting girders that span the length and width of the stage. Lighting plans can be designed in advance of the shoot and then conformed to this structure by the gaffers and sparks.
Cyclorama/cove
Soundstages will often have a cyclorama (cyc). Constructed from canvas, wood or both, the cove goes from floor to ceiling and seamlessly curves round the contours of the studio walls.
Figure 18. Cyclorama of a soundstage at Shepperton Studios.
The cyc can be used for paintings of large scenic backdrops or as a uniform shade of green, for chroma key effects for example. Many studios have a policy that the cove is left as is, from the last shoot that took place there. This is an important consideration and if you are planning to use the cove as a backdrop you will need to budget for an adequate amount of paint to cover the walls and floor, as well as the time and facilities to change it to whatever colour or scene you require. This will probably involve hiring a tower to cover the dimensions completely. Many studios will have on-site painters who can re-spray a cove in a matter of hours and will quote with or without supplying the paint.
Lighting/power
Soundstages can be huge. To light an environment of such a scale can take a great deal of lighting. As attractive as the possibilities of shooting in a huge studio might be, if you can’t afford the amount of lighting that you need for the space then the potential to make proper use of it isn’t really there. Even ambient lighting for a small soundstage can require several trucks full of lights and cables.
Professional gaffers and sparks are essential for setting up this quantity of lighting and will need to be on hand throughout the shoot, even for minor changes that may need making. Contractually, the studio is unlikely to let non-professional gaffers or sparks operate in their spaces and it would be dangerous for untrained members of the crew to attempt to do so.
Soundstages are equipped with three-phase power supplies. Domestic single-phase power supplies might be able to handle a few small film lights but cannot deliver anywhere near the amounts needed for studio-style set ups. Three-phase power is a transmission system designed for supplying constant amounts of power to large loads such as film lighting. Another important
budgetary consideration to bear in mind is that the studio will charge you for the amount of electricity you use while hiring the stage. Although this is dependent on how long and how much lighting you are using the amounts can often be very substantial and should not be overlooked.
Services
Larger studio complexes are often like small towns, not necessarily in size but because they provide a full set of filmmaking services. Independent companies will normally be based at larger film studios so it is often possible to find most things you will need to hire or buy within the studio itself. This is not always the case, however, so it is worthwhile checking just what services are available when making your decision about which studio to choose.
Having everything based at the one location is ideal. You will potentially be able to hire your entire equipment for the film from that one spot. Camera equipment, lighting, props and costumes, special effects along with timber merchants, scaffolding and drape hire companies. The time it would normally take to collect or have all these things delivered can thus be minimised, making the coordination of the production considerably simpler, and often saving significantly on transport costs.
Equally, if something goes wrong, breaks down or is overlooked in the hire, you won’t have to stop shooting for long before it can be obtained.
Film studios will often have other facilities ranging from video conferencing to screening rooms, but what should interest you most are changing rooms, hair and make up rooms, and catering.
Along with your soundstage you may well need to book additional rooms. You generally won’t want, or indeed be able, to have hair and make up or costume changes taking place on set, so specific rooms located in close proximity to the soundstage are equipped for this.
Catering is also a major consideration. Studios will often have canteens and restaurants on site; either you can buy vouchers to hand out to your cast and crew or they can sign for their food and you pick up the bill at the end of the shoot. This is also much more convenient then having to organise independent catering.
Health and safety
Film studios will have extremely stringent health and safety rules. You or your producer will need to sign declarations to say that their guidelines will be followed. Lists of all members of the cast and crew will have to be provided and all crew involved in rigging or lighting will have to be certified. The rules will generally consist of practical rules that are designed to keep the studio and your cast and crew out of danger. Apart from the major risks that you could face if you don’t follow the guidelines, minor infringements, such as smoking cigarettes on set, can result in your production being immediately shut down; so it’s a good idea to read the guidelines carefully and make sure your crew follows them.
Pros
Shooting in a studio environment is an amazing opportunity that can simplify the shooting process. Everything in and around the studio will be explicitly designed for the task of making films. Using a studio to shoot in is very much like having a blank canvas; if you have the means to create in it, then you can achieve almost anything you want.
Cons
The hire of the soundstage itself is often out of the reach of many short filmmakers. Having a blank canvas can literally mean buying a lot of paint to fill it.
When considering a studio of any size then you really need to have the budget to take advantage of it. You will need to also budget for everything else you’ll require when using it, which often adds up to several times the actual hire fee. The soundstage will normally have to be insured for a minimum of £5,000,000 to £10,000,000. The other disadvantage is that the building of a set in a studio normally takes longer than shooting the scenes in or on it, so you’ll need to hire the studio for the duration of the set build and take down, as well as the shot itself.
BUDGET SAVING
Film studios are designed for commercial filmmaking. They are intended for making feature films, adverts and television programmes. The rate card prices that studios will list will reflect the type of budgets that these productions have. They will typically quote per day or four-day week.
Like all filmmaking hire services they are faced with down time. Soundstages will often be unused for weeks or months a year in between productions. This is when you will have a chance of hiring a soundstage at a discounted rate. Explaining to the studio that you are a non-profit-making project on a tiny budget can potentially help you get terms that might be feasible for your film. If you can be flexible about when you shoot, you may well be able to hire a stage for a fraction of what a large production would have to pay.
Another strategy is to try and get as many services as you can thrown in; studios will often add in changing, hair and make up rooms at no extra cost if they are not being used.
There is, however, no such thing as shooting in a studio for free. Electric bills, catering and insurance will all need to be paid for even if you are paying little or nothing for hire.
10. INSURANCE
Organising insurance is going to be an essential requirement for your short film. Even if you are shooting a tiny scale project, if you are hiring equipment, using a location or studio, and the shoot involves cast and crew, then an insurance policy is mandatory. It’s therefore crucial to the planning and budgeting of your film.
Insurance requirements vary from country to country, although they are often similar in nature and required for the same reasons. The following is a rough guide to insurance for film in the UK, the basics of when and why insurance might be needed. Different insurance brokers will have varying policies for different requirements.
You may find that your project can be made without needing insurance, but that is really only the case for micro productions that are made with borrowed equipment and have a cast and crew comprised of friends (who you are sure won’t sue you if they get injured or worse).
Insurance for short films can seem quite complicated, but depending on the needs of the film, breaks down into three distinct areas.
TYPES OF INSURANCE
Employer’s liability
If you are registering yourself as a company to make your film, or you are using an existing production company, then employer liability insurance is a statutory requirement (by law).
Employer’s liability will cover the cast and crew working on your film. The standard policy limit minimum is £10,000,000. Although this is a huge figure, a policy for just a day or a week can be a feasible sum, but may still be a large proportion of your budget.
Public liability
If you are not a company and not officially employing anyone on your shoot you may not need employer’s liability insurance. However, if you are planning on shooting in a hired interior or exterior location, or one that you need official permission to use, then you will require a public liability policy.
Public liability policies will cover you and your production against any injury or damage caused to third parties or property. For most location hire, proof of such a policy will be essential for you to be able to shoot there. For film studio hire this will be mandatory, with the studio setting the minimum cover you must provide, normally £5,000,000 to £10,000,000. Public liability insurance can be obtained for a day to a year depending on how long it’s required for your film.
Equipment insurance
Equipment insurance will need to be provided for any professional equipment hired from rental companies. Professional camera and lighting equipment can be worth huge sums of money and the amount you will have to pay for insurance is directly proportional to the expense of the equipment you hire. The overall price of the equipment will need to be insured against damage, theft or loss.
Even when you’re being loaned equipment for a discount rate or for free, you will still need insurance to be able to use it. Rental companies will not let equipment leave the premises without a copy of the insurance policy, and brokers will often need serial number information for the more expensive pieces of equipment such as cameras.
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Just because you have taken out one or all of these policies for your film, does not mean that you are covered in any event.
Insurance policies will have very stringent guidelines that must be adhered to. These guidelines can be as long as a small book, but you will need to read and understand the guidelines so that you are aware of the conditions under which the policy is valid.
You will also have to provide the insurers with accurate information about the specifics of your film. If you change any of these or do not adhere to their guidelines then your policy won’t be valid. Breaking health and safety rules or suddenly deciding to involve pyrotechnics or stunts in your film can make the policy worthless. So always make sure that you provide accurate information as to the nature of your shoot and stay well within the policy rules.
WHERE TO GET SHORT FILM INSURANCE
You may be able to find standard insurance brokers that will have policies that might be applicable for your film but it can often be difficult to find the type of short-term policies that you will want for a short film. For this you will have to find a broker that deals purely with the entertainment industry, or has a specific department for entertainment insurance. The advantage of this is that you can often get a bespoke policy that is tailored to the requirements of your film and because of their experience with dealing with film productions they will often be able to offer you advice on the various policies you might need. The other advantage of the broker’s experience is that they will be able and used to drawing up policies much faster than standard insurers. This is often essential for film shoots, where policies might need to be extended or modified days or even hours before the shoot.
Short Films Page 7
