Lesson 7 Plan

Lesson 7 Plan

Off the Set

Overview

With each passing year, more and more of the artistic work of film is done in post-production―in the editing room and the post house. Increasingly, the footage that is shot on the set is only raw material for post-production.

In a parallel phenomenon, as time passes, the movie that a filmmaker produces, distributes, and exhibits is becoming less and less important in the Hollywood economic equation. More than half the revenue of the average film (and sometimes considerably more) comes from video, TV, DVD, and licensing sales.

In Lesson 7, we’ll review the changing post-production environment, take a quick overview of the film industry business structure, and discuss the changing distribution system.

Time Estimate

It should take 4 1/2 hours to complete this lesson’s material.

Objectives

After successfully completing this lesson, you will be able to:

Understand the post-production process, which is increasingly critical in film making.
Describe the significance of "FX."
Talk knowledgeably about film distribution windows.

Activities

During this lesson, you will complete the following activities:

At the Movies: The Player: We’ll watch Robert Altman’s The Player, one of the best films ever made about the movie industry.
Outside the Theater: Researching the Industry: In this activity, we’ll be doing some group research on the Internet to try to collect information about new and potentially profitable film exploitation technologies, as well as information on technologies and schemes that have failed in the past.