Film Festivals And Film Makers? Everything You Ever Wanted To Know

The national film festival of Cannes is celebrated for about 12 days in May. More than 200,000 people which includes film makers, film fans and many star gazers gather at the Croisette to take part in the national film festival. On the 12th and the final day around thousands of film are screened and many careers are launched and like another film festivals disappointment shows. More than 200,000 people gather. Also many stars form all over the world come here and grab attention.

The filmmaker has to do many things like writing a script, shooting the film, editing and then it has to be distributed to the public. This totally depends on how complex the subject is and also various problems that would come up while making the film.

Development: The idea of the filmmaker or any story that a producer finds is first transformed into a script. The source of the story can be many like it can be from a book or some play, or it could also be remake of a older movie. An outline synopsis is prepared as soon as the story is chosen. This breaks the movie down into various scenes, which are of one paragraph each. This is made into a treatment of 25 to 30 pages, which describes the characters, and the mood of the story.

Based on the story a screenplay is then developed which is then edited again and again until the story becomes viable. At this time the filmmaker would want to contact the film distributors to know how these films are doing in the market to make sure the film becomes a success. The film is now presented to its financiers. If they are impressed with the film then they will offer financial backing for the movie. This may be major film studios or a major film council or even independent financiers.

Pre-production: the production company banner is made and an office is opened for it. The company is made and then a life is given to the story on a story board and is drawn out using the help from concept artists and illustrators. The estimate budget for the movie is laid at this time.

The film maker then hires the crew which is determined by the estimated budget for the film.

Production: the filming for the movie starts now and more and more crew will be required. To help manage this stage in a film making process a director is hired and he will in charge of everything that happens.

Post production: The film shot will be of more running time and hence has to be edited and the best scenes are chosen and are made into a proper movie.

Distribution: the movie is then released in theatres and then is formatted according to the need. The press releases, posters and other materials are published and proper advertising is done. Now enough publicity is given to the movie and then it is launched.

However, for the independent filmmaker, all you need is a working script and you are on your way!

The competitions in the film festivals are usually open only to normal narrative films, but sometimes documentaries are also introduced. For example: Michael Moore’s controversial documentary ” Fahrenheit 9/ 11″ walked away with the prize in year 2004. The film makers are welcome to enter both features and shorts. There are awards in each category.