Pre-production

During pre-production I am mainly looking at the project as a Producer.  This is a CEO-level job. “Whatever is to be — it's up to me.”   The Producer is responsible for choosing the project and the story.  And it is the Producer's responsibility to tell the story.   Some people think this is the Director's job.  The Producer delegates part of that responsibility to the Director.  But Director's can be fired and replaced.  Ultimately, what the project amounts to in the end is up to the Producer.

Some people think the main activity in pre-production is planning .  I disagree.  I think the main activity in pre-production is answering questions.  And from the answers, a plan emerges.

As a Producer, the answers are not as important as the questions.   Anybody can generate answers.  It's asking the right questions in the right order that makes a good Producer, and therefore, a good production.

I have two sets of questions that I try to answer in pre-production.  I call the first set the “MVVs” and the second set the “W&H's”.  And it's important to answer the MVV's before answering the W&H's.

The “MVV's”
Most people jump into project management and logistical tasks first.  I think this is a BIG mistake.  The first thing I do in pre-production is to establish my Mission, Vision, and Values (MVVs).  This is not an abstract exercise.  It is a very practical activity for a Producer.  It enables the Producer to  make difficult split-second decisions later on, to collaborate with others, and to judge project completion.  Without MVVs, these activities generate problems that are extremely difficult to manage.

There are two signs of failure to set MVVs.  First, is finding myself in circumstances where there seems to be NO correct choice.  Second, is finding myself in circumstances where what I am choosing seems to make no difference — seems arbitrary.  It's these situations that create a lot of stress, a sense of being overwhelmed, and the feeling that the production is becoming ‘out of control'.  And all that can be prevented by setting MVVs.

• MVVs enable you to know when and whether the project has succeeded or failed.  Without MVVs a major setback could have you languishing for months trying to figure out whether the project can be salvaged or whether it should be shelved.
• MVVs enable you to collaborate and delegate.   They help you explain to people how to do their job, tell you how to answer their questions, and enable you to judge whether the job is getting done and whether it's time to find someone else to do the assigned work.  Without MVVs, you will often find yourself quietly muttering “What the #@$? was he thinking?”
• MVVs enable self-consistency.  Everyone else may think you're crazy.  Your decisions may make no sense to them.  But decisions made in the context of MVVs are going to move you towards your goals.  Without MVVs, you will often find yourself in post-production yelling “What the #@$? could I have been thinking?”
  

I'll come back to the MVV's in a minute and clarify with some of the questions I ask and reasons behind them.

The “W&H's”
These are the project management and logistical questions:  “Who, What, Where, How, When, Why ... How long is it going to take... and... How much is it going to cost?”

These are easy questions to answer.  But it's important that you approach them in the right order.  You have to look at it like a diagnostician: “My patient might be dying.  What do I need to examine first?”  

In emergency medicine, it starts with breathing, then heart beat, bleeding, temperature and so forth.  It's a logical progression. Digestion is pretty far down on the list.

Same thing with Producing.  No actor, no movie.  The actors have to be present and breathing first, or there is nothing to shoot.  Then... “Do I have the gear to film and the people to operate the gear?”  Then location.  Catering/food is pretty far down on the list.

If I don't' have the right actors I might have to change the script to fit the actors I do have.

As a Producer I'm thinking like this:  “Before this production is over, someone is going to have to say nearly every line of text that's in the script to the camera for the story to be told .”  So my first task is to make sure that all those lines are spoken to the camera.  After that, I can worry about the quality of what is being said, the image that's being shown, and so forth.

Directors often think like this: “If I don't get it all shot, then we'll find the story in post .”  Well, maybe you can find the story in post and maybe you can't.  That's a crap shoot.  As a Producer I'd rather read the whole script into the camera myself.  At least I can draw faces on my fingers and make a finger puppet movie out of it.  At least the story is there.  Then I can focus on improving the quality and suitability of the product for its intended purpose.

My Experience with the MVVs

Mission
Mission buys purpose and gives structure and direction to the work.

The mission “Why am I doing this?  What will I have in the end?” establishes your definition of success, failure, and completion.  Am I doing this because a) I LOVE the story, b) I want the experience?, c) For Money, d) Because a friend asked me to?  What's the priority among my reasons?  What gets sacrificed first?  At what point is the sacrifice to great to continue?

It's no secret.  Film is a time-and-money-hole.  By definition there will not be enough resources, to do what you want.  You will have to make hard choices, and often with no time to think about it.  If you know in advance what your “walk away” alternative is to finding a better solution, it relieves a lot of stress.

The mission tells you when you've succeeded and when you've failed.  It tells you WHEN to declare victory, and WHY to declare victory — what you've accomplished.  It also tells you when it's time to shelve the project, take the lessons, and move on.

Vision
Vision buys the ability to make swift, confident, decisions.

What is the result going to look like?  I'm talking about marketing and design here.  Even if the project is for yourself, there is a customer or audience that you are trying to satisfy.  What kind of mood, look, feel, genre are you going for?  Not all projects are fine films.  You may not need that multi-million dollar look to accomplish your mission.

If you know in advance what you are trying to accomplish then it makes split-second decisions easier.  You will know whether an alternative is going to damage the project creatively or financially.  

Examples : Actor “A” isn't available.  Is actor “B” a viable alternative?  Location “A”, the bar scene, isn't available.  Can we move it to location “B” and use the coffee shop instead?  Is it still a variation on the story you wanted to tell, or does it ruin the story?  The “money shot” used a special effect that's no longer available.  Is the product still saleable?  Is it still worth doing?  Is there a replacement that can put the “sale” back into it?  Can it be repositioned for a different audience? Or... is it time to pull the plug?

Values
Values buy consistency and make delegation and collaboration possible.

What are the limits within which possible solutions are acceptable?  “Do we use cursing in this movie?”  “Will we ever PAY for more money for assistance or quality improvement?”  “Will we EVER change cast or crew if it's not working?”

If you are working with other people, simultaneous independent decisions are going to be made.  If you have established and communicated your values, then these decisions will be in the “acceptable” range.  If not, then you will most likely find yourself muttering “What the HELL was he thinking?” and trying to clean up.

Writing down your values is a great exercise.  

Most people are less consistent over time than they think they are.  That's frustrating for the rest of us that have to work with that bastard .  Seems like he's always changing his mind.  I can't do anything right for him.   And it's not nice being on the other side of that equation either, when the bastard is ME , and nobody can make a single correct decision without my direct involvement .

It's an accountability game.  For the first couple of weeks of pre-production go to your list of values and verify that the decisions you are making and plans you are making are consistent with the values you've established.  “Did I really mean I'd NEVER accept that alternative?”  Correct the list in the first week or two and then live with it.  If not, you will most likely find yourself yelling in Post:  “What the HELL was I thinking?”

I think writing down your mission, vision, and values.  And then talking about them with your partner(s) and main delegates  is a key so successful production.

Here's the facts :  The plans that come out of the “W's and H's” are just a suggestion.  They ARE going to change.  They WILL run into problems.  That's the nature of creating something new.  Birth is a messy process.  If you have your Mission, Vision, and Values in place, then you can navigate through those changes and rapidly adapt, innovate, and overcome the challenges that are presented.  You will also inspire people.  Because they will experience you to be a Leader, confident, decisive, able to delegate, able to make hard decisions on the spur of the moment without enough information.  You don't need all the information if you know enough about yourself, your project, and your purpose, design, and limitations.  That's enough to pick an acceptable solution and go with it.

Can you do all that without actually writing it down?
Sure.  It will just be tough when you have to use those skills during production and you are asking yourself deep philosophical questions about the design of the film, it's purpose, and whether a certain alternative is off-limits or not.  Those are things you DON'T want to be thinking about when there's a cast and crew standing around waiting for your to make a pronouncement.

If you write it down in advance, absorb it, live with in through pre-production and all those decisions, which are less urgent — then when you get into production it will be natural for you and it will look like a magic trick to everyone else.  Because they won't be able to grasp how you could operate like that .

There is no magic trick.  It's all in preparation.  And all that happens in pre-production.