How to make a Film

• Development. From idea to signing of contracts.

Development includes all stages from the germ of the idea to the hiring of the talent, and includes fundraising, screenplay drafts, and initial location scouting.

• Preproduction. All the technical matters that can be settled before shooting.

After the dust has settled, the business of making a film actually begins. Preproduction is the stage at which war plans are formed: The rest of the crew and cast are hired, the shooting schedule is planned, and so on. Again, the producer is very active here. The director is now playing an increasingly large role in determining how the film is going to be shot.

• Production. The actual shooting of a film.

This is the part that budding thespians dream about: the moment when the movie is actually filmed. As it turns out, this part can be incredibly boring for actors, who are sometimes surprised to see how exciting their movie can be, when their only memory was of sitting around and waiting.

• Postproduction. The technical portion of filmmaking that turns raw film into finished product.

Postproduction takes place in the time from "That's a wrap" to "delivery" of the finished film print. It includes the various kinds of editing—in sound and celluloid

• Marketing. The process of getting the finished product to its audience.

After spending millions of dollars on making a movie, the studio spends millions more on letting audiences know about it. Movies have to be a hit on their opening weekend, often on their opening day, otherwise they tend to disappear very quickly, and the studio stands to make a loss on their investment.