Exercise 47 Role-play a dialogue.

Student A. You are an experienced film director who is ready to give advice on becoming a filmmaker.

Student B. You are about to apply to a film school and you are lucky to have a chance to speak with an experience film director. Ask a number of questions.

Suggested ideas: ask about responsibilities, necessary knowledge, working with the cast and crew, formal training, skill, equipment.

Exercise 48 Solve the puzzle and discuss the quotation.

This is a quote by Quentin Tarantino. What philosophical question does it raise? What’s the difference between stealing and borrowing in art? Discuss the questions with your partner.

Exercise 49 Role-play the dialogue.

Student A: You are a film school student. Think of the classes you are taking and whether you like them or not. What are you studying more: equipment or principles of filmmaking. Do you have any film screenings? Do you study history of films? Do you have any master-classes?

Student B: You are thinking of applying to a film school and becoming a film director. Ask you partner whether he likes his film school or not, what classes he is taking, are the classes focused on working with the equipment or theoretical principles, and whether any famous film-directors come to lecture in his film school.

At the end, Student B should make a decision about entering the film school.

Exercise 50 Read the article on movie producers’ job.

Responsibilities of a Movie Producer

(taken from http://entertainment.howstuffworks.com/movie-producer.htm)

A movie producer is the person responsible for making high-quality movie on time and within budget. That means he supervises and packages the project from conception to distribution to theaters, he communicates with the studio and manages the work of hundreds of individuals.

As you can see, movie producers do indeed have to wear many hats during movie production. Here are some of the main producer’s responsibilities:

Pre-production

To find material from a book or script.
To get the script into good enough shape to attract a director (and studio, if this is not a studio-initiated production).
To secure financing for the film, if it is not being made for a studio.
To choose the director and other members of the creative team.
To cast the actors, working with the director.
To determine locations and budget.
To decide on cinematographer and special effects.
To hire a production team including crew and producers.
To develop a shooting schedule.
To create a detailed plan of action for production.

Production

To offer creative suggestions to the director.
To handle problems with actors or creative staff.
To monitor production timetable and budget.
To review video dailies, the film shot each day.

Post-production

To discuss order and selection of scenes with the director.
To review the final cut of the film after it is edited.
In some cases, to polish, revise and restructure the film to create the final cut.
To work with a distributor to secure distribution for the film. This may include showing the distributors the final cut of the film.
To review the distributor's advertising campaign for the film.

Types of Movie Producers

If you watch all the credits roll at the end of a movie, you know that a lot of different people take part in producing and distributing the movie. If you read closely, you may notice that the credits name movie producers of several different types.

Movie production is such a complicated process that usually one producer, known as the executive producer, needs help from others who take on part of the producer responsibilities. We've already discussed the role of the main producer. Here's more about the specific jobs of producers, taken from the Producers Guild of America.

Executive Producer – Supervises one or more producers as they perform their duties for one or more films. The executive producer may represent the film studio and keep watch over the producer to make sure the movie is within budget. Or the title may be given as a symbolic gesture or to give a movie visibility. George Clooney, for example, is listed as executive producer for "Far from Heaven" (2002) to generate publicity, but didn't spend any time on the set, according to the film's producer Christine Vachon.

Associate Producer – Handles certain aspects of production. Usually the associate producer works through all three stages of the production, from preproduction to post-production. Sometimes the associate producer title is given to a key backer of the film who does not have a major role in producing the film.

Assistant Producer – Works on tasks assigned by the associate producer.

Co-Producer – Shares producer responsibilities as a team or group with other producers. One producer may take on creative responsibilities while another handles business functions. Or one of the producers may be a major investor who is not directly involved in the movie production. Or a co-producer may bring the script or the film's star to the production.

Supervising Producer – Oversees one or more producers as they perform some or all of their duties. The supervising producer may take the place of an executive producer or work for the executive producer.

Coordinating Producer – Coordinates the work of several producers to create a final product. Coordinating producers are valuable when a studio produces several related films, as with "Spiderman," or particularly when two related films are being produced at the same time, as with the two sequels to "The Pirates of the Caribbean."

Line Producer – Handles the physical aspects of a movie's production and usually doesn’t take part in creative decision-making. This is the person who oversees the budget and day-to-day activities during filming. He makes sure the movie stays on budget and handles any crises that may occur.

To become a movie producer, you'll probably move up through some of these jobs. But expect stiff competition because jobs are limited at the major studios.

Summary.The producer makes sure that a high-quality movie is produced on time and within budget. That means supervising and packaging the project from conception to distribution.

During pre-production the movie producer in the USA:

finds a script
raises money
chooses the director
casts the actors, working with the director
determines locations and budget
decides on the cinematographer and special effects
hires a production team
develops a shooting schedule

During production the movie producer:

offers creative suggestions to the director
handles problems with actors or creative staff
monitors production timetable and budget
watches daily rushes

During post-production the producer:

discusses which scenes to select with the director
watches the final cut of the film
works with a distributor

There are several types of movie producers:

Executive Produceris the main producer. He supervises the other producers.The executive producer may represent the film studio. He makes sure the movie is within budget.

Associate Producerusually works through all the three stages of the production. He handles certain aspects of production which the executive producer assigns to him.

Assistant Producer works on tasks given to him by the associate producer.

Co-Producermay have creative responsibilities or handle business functions. Or he may be a major investor who is not directly involved in the movie production.

Supervising Producersupervises the work of the other producers.

Coordinating Producer coordinates the work of several producers to create a unified end result when a studio makes several related films.

Line Produceroversees the budget and day-to-day activities during filming. In addition, he handles any crises that may occur.